# What is december still doing here? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 7, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519 "2003-08-07T04:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/61 "2003-08-07T15:03:04Z")
Given the high percentage of hand-stabbing atheists around here, **Lib** , care to name one? Daniel suspecting that the board’s many witch-burning Christians like to exagerrate ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/62 "2003-08-07T15:05:43Z")
Thanks for refreshing my memory, **Airman**. Trying to remember that name was driving me nuts! ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/63 "2003-08-07T15:13:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF \* > **If you’re thinking of Chumpsky, he wasn’t banned, he was busted for plagiarism, discredited, and shamed so badly that he chose not to return.** I believe one of the **Aceofwhatever** was banned. Maybe more than one. Second, **Sam** , you’re paranoia is showing. Leftist agitprop and jerk atheists are routinely shredded here. Remember **Chumpsky**? Or **Lolo**? Or the piling on of **Aldebaran** a few weeks ago? Extremists on either side are generally given the same treatment. Notice that I haven’t seen anyone call for your banning, or any of the other right wingers on the board. It’s pretty much limited to **december**. And there’s a reason. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/64 "2003-08-07T15:19:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*One, like the deceased Madalyn Murry O’Hair for example, that might stab your hand with a pen for responding to a sneeze with, “God bless you.” \*\* Ah, I getcha. I got the image of an atheist sitting rocking backwards and forwards, stabbing _themselves_ in the hand, going “oh no, I haven’t got a faith, what am I to do?” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/65 "2003-08-07T15:56:52Z")
Jimm > [@](#): > > Ah, I getcha. I got the image of an atheist sitting rocking backwards and forwards, stabbing themselves in the hand, going “oh no, I haven’t got a faith, what am I to do?” 🙂 Too funny! 😃 * * * Daniel > [@](#): > > Given the high percentage of hand-stabbing atheists around here, Lib, care to name one? > > Daniel > suspecting that the board’s many witch-burning Christians like to exagerrate Just what are you insinuating? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/66 "2003-08-07T15:59:16Z")
Seems december the ultra-right-wing athiest [has found Yaweh](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3810005#post3810005). ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/67 "2003-08-07T16:00:25Z")
Ban december? What would become of Christmas then? ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/68 "2003-08-07T16:05:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*Seems december the ultra-right-wing athiest [has found Yaweh](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3810005#post3810005). \*\* Many posters here don’t believe in God, but I’m the athiest. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/69 "2003-08-07T16:06:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*Seems december the ultra-right-wing athiest [has found Yaweh](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3810005#post3810005). \*\* You can imagine how surprised I am that he’s failed to comment on this strange contradiction. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/70 "2003-08-07T16:15:03Z")
It’s not a contradiction. He’s of Jewish ancestory but doesn’t believe in God. You guys know it’s not just a religon, right? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/71 "2003-08-07T16:27:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*Many posters here don’t believe in God, but I’m the athiest. 😉 \*\* Practicing your selective reading again? ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/72 "2003-08-07T16:30:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*Practicing your selective reading again? \*\* I’m making fun of a spelling error. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/73 "2003-08-07T16:37:15Z")
> [@](#): > > One, like the deceased Madalyn Murry O’Hair for example, that might stab your hand with a pen for responding to a sneeze with, “God bless you.” I’m still trying to track down any information on this incident or description. While I don’t doubt that it sounds like O’Hair, I’d still like to figure out where the story came from (it’s something I can imagine O’Hair saying, but I want to know if it came from an actual event). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/74 "2003-08-07T16:38:50Z")
Ah. “I before E” doesn’t apply, I’ll have to remember that. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/75 "2003-08-07T16:45:07Z")
Am I the only one who was badly disappointed to see that the first person to respond to **december** ’s OP with [ul][li]A misrepresentation of his position, and [/li][li]A direct personal insult[/ul] was none other than our own **Polycarp**? [/li] And **Gaudere** ’s response to this blatant violation of the rules of GD - the same sort of violation that led to **Collounsbury** ’s downfall - was not to warn the person issuing insults, but **to move it to the Pit where the insults could continue?** Followed, as does the night the day, by the latest call to ban, not the one who made the insult, but the one who received it. And yet you all think **december** is the one blinded by partisanship. The SDMB never ceases to amaze me, with the intelligence of some posters, and the narrow-minded bigotry of others. And sometimes both in the same poster. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/76 "2003-08-07T16:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gary Kumquat \* > \*\*You can imagine how surprised I am that he’s failed to comment on this strange contradiction. \*\* See, that’s the sort of thing that gives away the fact that you’re constantly smacking your teeth with your knee. There are a number of atheist Jews on the board. DavidB is one such, as I recall. * * * Apos > [@](#): > > I’m still trying to track down any information on this incident or description. While I don’t doubt that it sounds like O’Hair, I’d still like to figure out where the story came from (it’s something I can imagine O’Hair saying, but I want to know if it came from an actual event). I can tell you where I heard it if that helps. Sometime shortly before her murder, her son (the one that later converted to Christianity) was on a radio talk show in Charlotte. He told the story, all the while laughing as though he found it amusing. It was a memorable interview for a number of reasons: 1. The story he told about the hand stabbing 2. The manifold coincidences of his appearance, her death, and his conversion and 1. An old southern lady who called in and, after becoming exasperated with O’Hair screamed out loudly, “Well, you’ll know the love o’ Jesus when you’re burnin’ in Hell!” ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/77 "2003-08-07T16:52:14Z")
Oh, and on the OP: if you think that december argues and OPs with dishonest smear tactics, then I think the best response on this board is to programatically point them out: dissect the exact problems with the argument. When you see the same thing over and over patience can run out… and that’s what this here pit is for if you feel that way. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/78 "2003-08-07T16:56:18Z")
Okay, so it’s the son I’ve got to track down: that helps a lot. Thanks! I’m surprised that AA doesn’t have this story proudly displayed on their site somewhere: it’s the sort of thing they’d think was great. ::rolleyes:: ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/79 "2003-08-07T17:09:03Z")
Well, we have our CC and you have your AA. What a wonderful world. 🙂 Good luck in your tracking. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519/80 "2003-08-07T17:18:24Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Shodan \* \*\*Am I the only one who was badly disappointed to see that the first person to respond to **december** ’s OP with [ul][li]A misrepresentation of his position, and [/li][li]A direct personal insult[/ul] was none other than our own **Polycarp**? \*\*[/li][/QUOTE] First, **Shodan** , it wasn’t a misrepresentation. It was dead-on. Second, I took it as a sign that such an even-minded, generally fair poster went as far as he did. It says more about the nature of **december** ’s OP that it incited such a reaction in **Polycarp**. If the OP pissed **Poly** off so badly, then it must truly be execrable. And indeed it was. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > **And Gaudere’s response to this blatant violation of the rules of GD - the same sort of violation that led to Collounsbury’s downfall - was not to warn the person issuing insults, but to move it to the Pit where the insults could continue?** If you look back at the thread, I believe you’ll see that **Gaudere** moved the thread because the OP was “rabble-rousing.” The OP itself was a violation of the rules of GD, and it was believed that the reaction was justified. And indeed, it was. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > **And yet you all think december is the one blinded by partisanship.** And do you honestly, in your heart of hearts, think he isn’t? All of that said, I don’t support banning **december**. I also didn’t support banning **Collounsbury**. **december** doesn’t break the rules, but contributes very little of substance. His OP’s and his debating style can be offensive, but that seems to be his nature. _shrugs_ Whatever. However, if he’s not going to be banned and continues posting offensive, ridiculous OP, I believe he should have learned the lesson that he can expect the response that he gets. After all, he earned it. He may even like it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-december-still-doing-here/193519.md?page=5)