On an unrelated note, Lib, will you be returning to your thread in GD regarding the problem of evil? I think it had great promise, and would hate to think that my perhaps rather abrupt and (unintentionally) dismissive corollary of your OP put paid to earnest debate.
Frankly, it was, Sentient. I cried when I read it. But that’s not entirely why I left it for others to debate. I’m undergoing a battery of tests right now to determine whether I have multiple sclerosis, so I’m gone almost every day for two or three hours. Plus, sitting up for as long as it took to write that is pretty excruciating. I’ll do my best to get back to it if I can.
Listen, wimp–whoops, too aggressive. Gimme some of that tofu burger. Ah, I can feel the testosterone receding already.
The above response brought to you by Cecil in this classic column. Fact is, the tone of this board follows the sarcastic hostility of Cecil’s columns, and thank God for that because namby-pamby niceness is just sickening.
Wimp.
My dear, dear friend. I ask that you forgive my insensitivity, and hope you realise that I would never intentionally cause you the slightest pain.
Love is all that matters, Lib. Your God go with you in this difficult time.
Lib, do please continue to let us know how you fare. I’ve no special insight or words of encouragement to offer, so I’m just going to reassert my love and respect, and my best wishes.
Well, if you take away the thing you mentioned it wouldn’t be the “pit,” now would it?
There is another thread going right now in which the OP laments other boards that “require” one to be supportive. Perhaps SDMB needs a “support” forum?
Or not.
Holy heck, Lib, I had no idea! Consider you and your family on my prayer list from now on.
Gee, and I had a big sarcastic response all set up, and something important comes in.
May the Lord go with you, now and forever, and especially now.
Regards,
Shodan
Thanks, Xeno, Sentient, and Shodan. Your love is uplifting. And Sentient, you’re my soulmate. You’re right. Love is all that matters, and the rest is just piddly shit.
Yes you do. If you don’t, all the 'mericans won’t understand. They’re all idiots. That’s why all the really intelligent posters are Aussies. Though I’m much smarter than Kambuckta.
I’ve never seen your face, but I can see your heart from here. Be at peace, friend.
You’re not alone, ThatGuy. As a matter of fact, askeptic started similar Pit thread on March 11th. “Holy fuck, is this the campus commons?”
My favourite part was:
I think you’re on to something. Often, while reading the latest flame war, I’ve suspected that the people (specifically men) whose posts are littered with things like “suck the maggot-infested dickcheese off a dead goat’s necrotized cock, you asshatted fucktard” are in real life nerdy accountants who are 5’3" tall, wear Coke-bottle glasses, have male pattern baldness, and would shuffle away wringing their hands and whimpering if you told them you didn’t like their shirt; and they’re venting their real-life frustrations on a internet message board because that’s the only place they feel they can do it.
I’d say you should try to look me up, and find out. 
Cheers,
Coldfire
(6’2", no glasses, not bald but slightly gray, and a banker. Oh, and an excellent fashion sense.)
Moral of the story: you see the words, not the person. The fact that you superimpose some sort of pathetic (in your view) real life image over a person you can’t even see might make it easier to dismiss the opponents words. If that’s the peace of mind you need, more power to you. Doesn’t make the image realistic per se, of course, but there you go.
Coldie, you rock! Have a Golden Earring on me!
Whiners, you roll with the punches here, or get rolled up.
Lib, will an atheist’s heartfelt wishes for your health be looked upon kindly by your God, think ye?
Definitely. Thanks, ETF.
5’10", 140 lb, lettered in football and track, tutor at college, better eyesight than most (better than perfect) … I’m sure there’s a picture of my non-balding, non-graying self somewhere around here. Don’t really give two shits if you like my shirt or not.
Lib, moments after my father checks his email, you’ll have a monastery in California (as well as any 3rd order monks not living there but on the mailing list) praying for you. Given the huge volume of email lists he’s on it would surprise me none to be told later on that he sent the request out to pretty much everyone he knows.
Best of luck, my friend:) And if you can figure out a way to type laying down, Godspeed with that:D
I think this reflects the culture of the board pretty well… I wouldn’t call it hostile, but it is somewhat exclusive, with lots of inside jokes amongst old timers, cryptic messages, threads that degenerate into ritualistic exchanges, etc., and a general alpha-dog and/or pack mentality where posters either try to eviscerate their opponent or several posters “pile on” one unfortunate fuck (who may or may not deserve it). This board prides itself on being smarter/more intellectually rigorous, but to some extent that is undermined by the alpha dog/pack mentality… I don’t know I’ve seen a friendly exchange of ideas or mutual respect among parties with different opinions… it’s hardly a lyceum, or even a structured debate, and the tone is often belligerent and arrogant. I would think that a public forum could have intellectual rigor and a higher minded debate. Not that I have exemplified this, but I’m just saying generally that I know where the OP is coming from, even though I wouldn’t use the word “hostile.”
I’m fairly new here, and I am sure every old timer will now say that I’ve got it all wrong, but I assure you that this is not the most hospitable or inviting board, as is evidenced by ETF’s name calling and tough-guy posturing above.
But do you (or Coldfire, who posted a similar “rebuttal”) go around flaming people with ridiculously over-the-top profanity? Not that I can recall.
I don’t make a habit of it. OTOH, I’ve done it more than once and I actually have a flame saved up for the next worthy victim. Besides, lately I’ve been trying to show more compassion toward people (yes, even in the Pit), so where I might previously have invoked the Beauteous and Worthy “goat-felching ass-licking bastard son of a syphillitic Babylonian sewer rat”, these days I go for something else.
Project whatever you want. A broken clock is right twice a day. Not good for anything else meantime, though.