# Opining that Jesus or God are fictional characters is trolling, by definition? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 2, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227 "2014-09-02T03:50:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/121 "2014-09-03T20:04:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s only a bomb because people bite. This is a terrible argument. Atheist threadshits should slide and everyone else should just accept them? What other threadshits get a pass or is it only this one? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/122 "2014-09-03T20:07:41Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Not at all. I said in my post that it’s perfectly acceptable to express an atheist viewpoint. > It’s not acceptable to make it a threadshit and it should be called out when it is. You’d have done well not to have gone off on that homophobia/misogyny tangent, then. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/123 "2014-09-03T20:08:22Z")
I got an “Official Warning ™” in this thread for saying the same thing several others have w/o mod action. Of course, the others weren’t foolish enough to use the horrendously offensive term “butthurt” to describe somebody so I hang my head in shame. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/124 "2014-09-03T20:12:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > You’d have done well not to have gone off on that homophobia/misogyny tangent, then. It was an example of a denigrating statement against a group of people and in that context it’s valid. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/125 "2014-09-03T20:13:22Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > This is a terrible argument. Atheist threadshits should slide and everyone else should just accept them? They are, or would be, a very small problem if they were just ignored. I think there is a real possibility that moderating them will make them a bigger problem than they are at the moment. That’s not the same as saying they’re good and lovely; it’s just pragmatism - if the solution makes the problem more acute, it’s not actually a solution. > [@](#): > > What other threadshits get a pass or is it only this one? Plenty of other drive-by comments get a pass. Threadshitting normally describes denigration _of the topic of the OP_ (e.g. “Macs is shit, innit” in a thread titled “what do you like about your Apple products?”). I’m not even sure that dropping an irrelevant one-liner (regardless how tiresome it may be) about your particular hobby-horse even _is_ threadshitting. It happens a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/126 "2014-09-03T20:14:24Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > It was an example of a denigrating statement against a group of people and in that context it’s valid. So are we talking about offensive comments, or are we talking about hijacks? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/127 "2014-09-03T20:18:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > So are we talking about offensive comments, or are we talking about hijacks? They’re usually both. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/128 "2014-09-03T20:23:42Z")
I guess I don’t understand why you think the viewpoint of atheists is horribly insulting and equivalent to homophobia/misogyny _in one context only_, but acceptable in others. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/129 "2014-09-03T20:23:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > They are, or would be, a very small problem if they were just ignored. I think there is a real possibility that moderating them will make them a bigger problem than they are at the moment. > That’s not the same as saying they’re good and lovely; it’s just pragmatism - if the solution makes the problem more acute, it’s not actually a solution. So when your kid is getting bullied at school you’re going to tell him to be pragmatic? That’s the way to deal with a problem? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/130 "2014-09-03T20:25:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I guess I don’t understand why you think the viewpoint of atheists is horribly insulting and equivalent to homophobia/misogyny _in one context only_, but acceptable in others. I never said the viewpont is insulting. I said making denigrating remarks about a group of people is insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/131 "2014-09-03T20:28:15Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I never said the viewpont is insulting. I said making denigrating remarks about a group of people is insulting. OK, but why is that insulting in one context and not others? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/132 "2014-09-03T20:29:21Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > So when your kid is getting bullied at school you’re going to tell him to be pragmatic? That’s the way to deal with a problem? Another irrelevant/inapt analogy? Can we finish dealing with the other ones first? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/133 "2014-09-03T20:31:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Another irrelevant/inapt analogy? Can we finish dealing with the other ones first? It’s completely relevant. You don’t want the comments moderated. I’m saying that’s not how you deal with the situation. Don’t hand wave away my concerns. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/134 "2014-09-03T20:33:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > OK, but why is that insulting in one context and not others? Saying “I don’t believe in God” = not insulting Saying “Your God doesn’t exist and you’re stupid for believing in him” = insulting You already know this I suspect but for some reason you feel this particular insult is A-OK ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/135 "2014-09-03T20:36:48Z")
Argument by analogy is pointless when the two parties cannot agree on the relevance of the analogy itself. If my kid is _being called names_ at school (a much closer analogy than yours), yes, I might very well counsel him to shrug it off and move on, if I genuinely thought that engaging with the controlling authorities would just stir up more shit than it put down. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/136 "2014-09-03T20:39:35Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Saying “I don’t believe in God” = not insulting > Saying “Your God doesn’t exist and you’re stupid for believing in him” = insulting The funny thing is that neither of those things are actually said. These are the meanings _you say are implied_ by ‘God’ as a response to "who is the most popular fictional character. You’re taking offence at a detail filled in by your imagination. > [@](#): > > You already know this I suspect but for some reason you feel this particular insult is A-OK I don’t know why you would say this. Please elaborate. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/137 "2014-09-03T20:44:08Z")
Because you keep arguing that nothing should be done about it. And if you don’t acknowledge the insult in that statement then I guess we’ll simply have to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227/138 "2014-09-03T20:46:20Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > **MODERATOR NOTE:** > > This is not the Pit, a fact all of you know – or should know – it’s even been mentioned in this very thread. > > Your posting privileges are now under discussion. **UPDATE ON THE SITUATION:** 1. Mod note changed to a Formal Warning. Do not throw personal insults in About This Message Board. We really mean it. 1. This thread has run its course and is now mostly bickering . It should be clear to everyone by this point what is considered appropriate behavior on these issues and what is not. If you want to slap at one another, take it elsewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opining-that-jesus-or-god-are-fictional-characters-is-trolling-by-definition/697227.md?page=6)