# Regarding "witnessing" in Great Debates **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 29, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310 "2018-04-29T13:05:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/1 "2018-04-29T13:05:48Z")
More specifically [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=853922) by **mrka** titled “Goyim as slaves.” Was it the fact that this rambling rant involves religion the reason this wasn’t transferred to The BBQ Pit or at least MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/2 "2018-04-29T14:30:03Z")
I am gobsmacked that it wasn’t disappeared for trolling and antisemitsim. How exactly is shit like that appropriate? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/3 "2018-04-29T16:28:16Z")
He is mentally ill (check his profile), with a family impacted by the Holocaust (per an earlier thread). I am not speaking for the mods, but for myself. When I put those pieces together, I was willing to engage with him on the topic. I am not certain how far my flexibility will extend, and I am only one member. If he is offensive to the Board at large, then he should be given guide rails. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/4 "2018-04-29T17:19:35Z")
Nothing good has come out of “witnessing” threads, and this is another example. Though I see it as more of an incomprehensible rant of the kind that diminish the board when they’re allowed to stand. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/5 "2018-04-29T18:24:12Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > He is mentally ill (check his profile), with a family impacted by the Holocaust (per an earlier thread). I am not speaking for the mods, but for myself. When I put those pieces together, I was willing to engage with him on the topic. I am not certain how far my flexibility will extend, and I am only one member. If he is offensive to the Board at large, then he should be given guide rails. Unless it can be verified independently, I would have to say that profiles should be taken with a monumental grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/6 "2018-04-29T21:14:01Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Nothing good has come out of “witnessing” threads, and this is another example. Though I see it as more of an incomprehensible rant of the kind that diminish the board when they’re allowed to stand. But you know that as soon as they’re disallowed, a real prophet will turn up and some other board will get the kudos for predicting the end of the world. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/7 "2018-04-29T23:22:09Z")
Yeah, that’s about the only downside. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/8 "2018-04-29T23:59:19Z")
I can live with that. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/9 "2018-04-30T00:57:29Z")
That post is so bat shit crazy I don’t worry about it subtly causing a shift in thoughts and feelings 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/10 "2018-04-30T02:12:32Z")
Am I the only one seeing an ad for “Israel – Land of creation” at the bottom of this page? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/11 "2018-04-30T04:17:19Z")
Shouldn’t we have a poll? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/12 "2018-04-30T05:21:58Z")
Jesus, just fucking lock and delete the thread already. What possible good does it serve? If the OP is truly as mentally ill has his profile claims, you are actually harming him by encouraging his delusional reasoning. Not to mention the shitty antisemitism in the thread, which you all are apparently cool with. Baffling decision. But I guess you let **Cesario** spew his BS for way too long, so there is precedent. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/13 "2018-04-30T13:21:40Z")
We have long had a wide tolerance for disparate - even repugnant - points of view here at the SDMB. Provided posters are polite and respectful we take the bad with the good and live with the consequences. Are there times where we intervene? Yes, indeed. But it takes a longer than a single thread to make that happen. Even then, it’s a long and involved discussion among the moderation staff to do so. And it was clearly a form of witnessing. He asserts a position - one that is clearly debatable - without offering proof. If that’s not witnessing, I’ve never seen it before. And, since witnessing is specifically the province of Great Debates, it’s appropriate to leave it there. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/14 "2018-04-30T13:33:07Z")
Then why do we have hate speech rules? “scientific” racism (of the “Black folks are more dumber than chimps because…um…math”) is tolerated. Transphobic crap (The thousand post “Are trans people mentally ill?” thread for one) is tolerated, Caesario’s string of “I found a consenting little 2 year old girl. Can I have sex with her” pro-child rape stuff was tolerated. This bit of drivel is tolerated. Which is all well-and-good, but you have a “no hatespeech policy” which seems to be applied with all consistency and accuracy of a meth-addict lemur throwing darts at a board where the bullseye says “Hate Speech”. The only semi-consistent time it’s used is for bad words. And let me suggest that someone using the word “Nigger” is doing _faaaaaar_ less damage than someone who writes 10 paragraphs on why “The Bell Curve” proves black people are less evolved.\* Also, it’s _not_ debatable. The answer is “No”. End of debate. It’s no more a debate than “Does the sun, on earth, rise in the west?” “No”. End of debate. \*Heh–remember when Caesario’s non-stop pro-baby rape threads made the SDMB one of the top search results for “pedophilia”? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/15 "2018-04-30T14:03:48Z")
I read the post. It’s the ravings of a lunatic. > [@](#): > > I believe that I have found the proof that most Jews who died during the Holocaust were entirely innocent. I didn’t realize we needed any. > [@](#): > > The Polish will remind you that there were a lot of Jews who simply joined the Nazis. Jews were not allowed to join the Nazi party. In fact, they weren’t even allowed to say, “Heil Hitler!” ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/16 "2018-04-30T14:12:21Z")
Meh. Obviously some folks are getting something out of the topic, given how long the thread is already. I don’t like it. So get this: after scanning the OP, I closed the thread and didn’t go back! I should file a patent. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/17 "2018-04-30T14:14:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Nothing good has come out of “witnessing” threads, and this is another example. Hallelujah!!! Can i get a witness? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/18 "2018-04-30T14:47:14Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Meh. Obviously some folks are getting something out of the topic, given how long the thread is already. Half of it is snark, and the rest is more or less the “can’t resist a train wreck” phenomenon that attracts responses to other forms of drivel. I don’t think anyone is under any illusions that there’s anything worthwhile there; the disagreement is over what criteria should apply to shutting things down. I always thought “witnessing” in this context referred to religious stuff, which by definition is not amenable to proof. If it just applies to any claim made without evidence, it throws the door wide open to posting any gibberish – in fact, it throws away the door altogether. > [@Ruken](#): > > I don’t like it. So get this: after scanning the OP, I closed the thread and didn’t go back! I should file a patent. Or give lessons on the technique of not opening garbage or offensive threads. Just think – if enough people learned your patented technique, the site wouldn’t need any moderation at all! We could just let anyone blather about anything at all, or just have their cat walk on the keyboard and post the result, and people would know how to ignore it! That would be a great way to run the site! Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/19 "2018-04-30T15:03:53Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I don’t think anyone is under any illusions that there’s anything worthwhile there Some dozen or more posters have found it worth their while to post there. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310/20 "2018-04-30T15:25:30Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Some dozen or more posters have found it worth their while to post there. the OP is still hate speech. Fenris is right. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-witnessing-in-great-debates/813310.md?page=2)