# Question regarding a horrendous injustice from a biased mod **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 4, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617 "2023-09-04T22:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/21 "2023-09-05T03:09:19Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I don’t think there is any way to attack what a poster believes without at least being seen to be attacking the poster. So, if a poster says, “I believe all this climate change stuff is a hoax,” and I respond, “Well, that’s a ridiculous belief,” I’ve attacked the poster? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/22 "2023-09-05T03:12:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Huh? That’s been allowed for as long as I’ve been a poster. It’s textbook attacking the post, not the poster. It says the opinion is silly, not that the person who wrote it is silly. That was my reaction as well. I’ve been posting in GD for a long time, and frankly, “your opinion is silly” seems to be the sort of thing that forum was designed for. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/23 "2023-09-05T03:14:02Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Of all the ambiguous, subjective, arbitrary, capricious, and downright vagarious actions on the part of the mods, announcing the nanoscopic differences between “attacking the poster” and “attacking the post” must be the most infuriating. Well, I wasn’t infuriated, but I was (and still am) perplexed. In my view I received mod guidance that I have no idea what to do with. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/24 "2023-09-05T05:38:47Z")
Count me as another one for the “That Was Attacking The Post, Not The Poster” team. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/25 "2023-09-05T13:47:17Z")
As for snark/sarcasm being considered an attack, I’ve more than once in the past few years flagged a post that seemed overly hostile (to the extent that they were deliberately misinterpreting/misrepresenting a quote from me) and was told that snark and sarcasm are key parts of the culture at SDMB, so the mods won’t do anything about them and I need to suck it up and take it. So I am absolutely clueless about what was being moderated here. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/26 "2023-09-05T15:21:17Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > > I don’t think there is any way to attack what a poster believes without at least being seen to be attacking the poster. > > So, if a poster says, “I believe all this climate change stuff is a hoax,” and I respond, “Well, that’s a ridiculous belief,” I’ve attacked the poster? I’m not a mod, of course, but I suspect that wording could be at least mod noted. There is a difference between saying “you have a ridiculous belief” and “your belief is wrong and not supported by science” (for example). Just as there is a narrow difference in my mind between saying “your belief is ridiculous” and “you are a ridiculous person for having that belief,” but they seem to be too similar for some mods at least. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/27 "2023-09-05T15:41:23Z")
There’s been a lot of silly moderating in that thread, i.e. > [@How many men have really been \*cancelled\* by #metoo?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-men-have-really-been-cancelled-by-metoo/989556/40): > > Moderating: I’m going to head this off pre-emptively. This is not the thread for a Joss Whedon Debate. There is one already for it. I will link to it shortly. [The Undoing of Joss Whedon - anyone else read this?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undoing-of-joss-whedon-anyone-else-read-this/957940) I want to make it clear, the 2 posters did nothing wrong. Just preventing a hijack. This wasn’t a hijack - it was perfectly topical. And the redirect thread? Stale for 9 months. Are we to understand that only one thread on the board is suitable for Joss Whedon discussions, and we’re to continually revive it though it’s been abandoned for 9 months? Will this be the sole and eternal Joss Whedon thread? It’s a considerable stretch. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/28 "2023-09-05T15:44:27Z")
I felt it was heading for a hijack. But if you feel a need for a new Whedon thread you can start one. I didn’t say you couldn’t. You’re making some assumptions. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/29 "2023-09-05T15:51:15Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > You’re making some assumptions. You wrote, in bold, " This is not the thread for a Joss Whedon Debate. There is one already for it." That strongly implies that the linked thread is where Joss Whedon discussions should go. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > though it’s been abandoned for 9 months? A year and 9 months. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/30 "2023-09-05T15:52:37Z")
That’s fair, poorly written. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/31 "2023-09-05T15:52:42Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > But if I had been chastised for an overly snarky tone given the forum, I’d probably have rolled my eyes and moved on. I’d see that as a judgment call, and even if I disagreed with it, I’d chalk it up to “well, the umpire called it a strike.” > > But that’s not what the note was for—it was for attacking the poster, and it seems to me that’s much more objective a matter. Again, it could be articulated as some form of, “Your reply (directly or implicitly) suggested the poster is a poopy-head / dummy / stinker.” I still don’t see it. I quite agree with you here. In my perception, “attacking the poster” used to mean personal insults, and this has slipped well down the slope to include mild sarcasm. Not that sarcasm ought to be anyone’s first resort, but sometimes it’s the right tool at the right time (this occasion was very well-suited IMO). > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I really don’t know what else to say. To me, your post is going after the poster. IMO if it can’t be made clearer than this, then likewise it’s not clearly an attack on the poster. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/32 "2023-09-05T15:58:22Z")
As someone who loves a good blast of sarcasm, but also as someone whose good blasts of sarcasm have frequently been misinterpreted - even face to face, where the other person can clearly see the expression on my face, hear my tone of voice, and yes, read my body language - I can tell you with absolute certainty that sarcasm is frequently not a good way to make a point. This is especially important in written communications. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/33 "2023-09-05T16:01:42Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’m not a mod, of course, but I suspect that wording could be at least mod noted. There is a difference between saying “you have a ridiculous belief” and “your belief is wrong and not supported by science” (for example). Yes, there is a difference, because they are saying different things. Sometimes a belief is not merely wrong and unsupported by science, it’s absolutely absurd. Why in the world is it beyond the pale to point that out, and how is that not attacking the belief (not the poster)? It’s right there in the statement: “Your _belief_ is ridiculous.” > [@](#): > > Just as there is a narrow difference in my mind between saying “your belief is ridiculous” and “you are a ridiculous person for having that belief,” but they seem to be too similar for some mods at least. IMO, there’s an enormous difference. My niece is a college-educated, functioning, normal member of society. She also believes in astrology. As far as I know, this is the only goofy belief she has. Her belief is ridiculous. She is not ridiculous, and I would never say she was. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/34 "2023-09-05T16:03:45Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > IMO if it can’t be made clearer than this, then likewise it’s not clearly an attack on the poster. Yeah, I am positively unenlightened by WE’s response. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/35 "2023-09-05T16:08:31Z")
Perhaps you can be the person who can finally help me get over this blind spot (apparently shared by several other posters). Whether or not sarcasm is your preferred method of communicating, can you paraphrase for me what attack on the poster my post inflicted? What veiled insult did it contain? The poster I responded to could reasonably infer that I think what, exactly, about _her_? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/36 "2023-09-05T16:17:49Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Perhaps you can be the person who can finally help me get over this blind spot (apparently shared by several other posters). If I could tell when sarcasm goes over the line, I wouldn’t have had a boss who had to tell my clients, “You’re going to love working with Kent eventually, but you have to wait at least a month before you ask me to take him off your account.” All I can advise is that we don’t unleash our sarcasm on people who don’t know us. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/37 "2023-09-05T16:22:07Z")
> [@How many men have really been \*cancelled\* by #metoo?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-men-have-really-been-cancelled-by-metoo/989556/47): > > Well, if you found her body language untrustworthy, that’s good enough for me. Your post reads as attacking another poster. The “you” is a big part of it. The sarcasm is allowed, but sarcasm does not excuse attacking the poster instead of the post. I suspect you disagree. So do some others. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/38 "2023-09-05T16:33:18Z")
What is the attack exactly that the use of “you” implies? What bad thing did I insinuate about the poster? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/39 "2023-09-05T16:34:30Z")
Seriously? That is a real question? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617/40 "2023-09-05T16:38:16Z")
Yes, seriously. If you think I attacked the poster, it seems as if you could articulate what exactly the veiled insult was about the poster. Pointing out the use of a pronoun without indicating how it was misused is not helpful. Give it a try. Something like “You implied that she is a dope.” Something like that. You’re not seriously saying that any post that contains “you” is self-evidently an attack, are you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-horrendous-injustice-from-a-biased-mod/989617.md?page=3)