# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 246
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5203 "2025-06-17T19:13:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > There’s an old anecdote about the atheist telling the militant christian “I disbelieve in all the same gods you do, plus one.” That’s great! I’ll have to remember that in the future. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5204 "2025-06-17T19:15:10Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And I’d have been astonished if the people behind me complained, especially if they _saw_ her leave. The people in line behind Doc were following his lead. If he had been sympathetic towards the woman, they would have been so too, and in fact had already demonstrated the capacity when Doc knocked over his granny cart. In the original thread, I suggested to Doc that he could have done her a mitzvah and let her in. He scoffed. Evidently mitzvahs are for him, not others. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5205 "2025-06-17T19:49:07Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The people in line behind Doc were following his lead. If he had been sympathetic towards the woman, they would have been so too, and in fact had already demonstrated the capacity when Doc knocked over his granny cart. I hope so. On the other hand, the woman was black (which Doc felt was important to share with us). So who knows. Subtle racism is more prevalent than we like to think. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5206 "2025-06-17T20:03:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Oh so sorry..I didn’t mean you personally @carrps. I was speaking of the big picture. Sorry. Your reply was immediately beneath mine, and it seemed like it was a reply to me. It wasn’t. No apology needed! ---
**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:** [June 18, 2025, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5207 "2025-06-18T06:16:15Z")
Not just Black. _Foreign_ Black. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5208 "2025-06-18T06:40:30Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I hope so. On the other hand, the woman was black (which Doc felt was important to share with us). So who knows. Subtle racism is more prevalent than we like to think. QFT. (STFU, Discourse) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5209 "2025-06-18T07:47:02Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > > [@TroutMan](#): > > > > You then turned it into a rant about cultural appropriation. > > That rant was in response to **Hajaro** ’ post. > > > [@](#): > > > > There’s no reason they can’t modify a set ritual to better suit their purposes > > Well there is no reason not modify a set Kabbalah ritual other than basic tenets of Kabbalah. > Also, it’s cultural appropriation. Jazz and jambalaya are cultural appropriation, too. But I won’t be giving those up anytime soon just to polish my Righteous Liberal badge. Mea culpa! 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5210 "2025-06-18T20:06:47Z")
The last two years or so on the Dope, with regards to anything having to do with Israel, seems like both “sides” agree that Netanyahu and his far-right wing government are terrible, but one side seems to believe that, despite their dishonesty, bigotry, and general awfulness, pretty much every decision they’ve made, whether about how to deal with Hamas after the Oct 7th attacks, how and why to attack Gaza, how and why to attack Iran, and even how to distribute aid to hungry Gazans, has been nigh-perfect. Maybe they just really actually like Netanyahu and this government but are having trouble admitting it to themselves? If they think the government has been that on point since Oct 7th, why would they want a new one? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5211 "2025-06-18T20:21:11Z")
Eh, yeah, there have been two sides potentially, but it’s like 10% or less I’d say that support _everything_ Netanyahu has done since October 7th. I’d say that the majority feel some scope of counterattack was justified and even the “right” option, but most I’ve seen _here_ (extra strong emphasis) think that how the attacks in Gaza were done lacked sufficient care and are almost 100% critical of how aid for the civilians has been handled. Then again, 10% is NOT 0%. So your gripe is still accurate. (I’m a part of the 90% group that I described above, but I have a lot of Israeli family, so to be clear, I absolutely have reasons for bias) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5212 "2025-06-18T20:42:13Z")
IIRC I haven’t really had any strong disagreements with you or the position you describe - it’s only been with the die hards who appear to be insisting that every policy decision made by the Israeli government since Oct 7th was necessary the best and only way forward. That’s who I’m talking about. Before Oct 7th, I suspect they wouldn’t ever believe they’d be defending and supporting Netanyahu and his government’s decisions in nearly every thread on the topic since then. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5213 "2025-06-18T20:46:11Z")
Fair enough, and I may be wrong on the percentages: because I know I can’t be dispassionate on the issue I’ve largely stayed out of most of those threads, especially the ones in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5214 "2025-06-22T12:13:53Z")
natureboy I’d just like to thank you for this, > [@Israel, and the USA as of June 21, 2025, strikes dozens of targets in Iran, including nuclear program](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-the-usa-as-of-june-21-2025-strikes-dozens-of-targets-in-iran-including-nuclear-program/1019556/408): > > I didn’t attack any one person; I “attacked” his country. I realize we can’t “attack” God’s ‘chosen people.’ God’s ‘chosen people’ can commit genocide and can advocate for war and genocide as they do on these threads under the pretense of ‘debate’, whereas those who aren’t God’s chosen people can’t call it out for the violations of international law that it is. now, there can’t be any question about you being an anti-Semite. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5215 "2025-06-22T14:25:27Z")
Wait, **Natureboy**? Surely not _the_ **Natureboy**? # [Who is Natureboy? ‘Cult’ leader says Kayla Reid can leave at any time](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nature-boy-eligio-bishop-kayla-jean-reid-1.4033180) (Pretty sure he’s in prison now) ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5216 "2025-06-22T14:29:16Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > now, there can’t be any question about you being an anti-Semite. Denying that Jews are God’s chosen people is not equivalent to being anti-Semitic, even if you put “chosen people” in scare quotes. The idea of Jews being God’s chosen people is an article of religious faith, just like the resurrection of Jesus. Anti-Semitism means thinking that Jews are (at least in some way) inherently evil and deserving of having bad things happen to them. There is a huge excluded middle here. In the quoted passage, I believe natureboy is decrying the very common tendency of conflating Israel with Jewishness, so that if one attacks Israeli policy and/or actions of the government, one is accused of being anti-Semitic. (I have not read any of his other posts in that thread, so I can only go by this one passage. If other passages are more persuasive towards a verdict of anti-Semitism, they should have been quoted instead or in addition.) To me, a non-religious non-Jew, I regard any Jewish person as just a person, not particularly blessed or cursed by virtue of being a Jew. Many Jews have been victims of prejudice. Other Jews are (in my opinion) guilty of various evil acts. They are all individuals, and responsible for their own actions, just like everyone else. I hope others won’t interpret this post as a general defense of natureboy, for it is not. It is an argument against the sentence that I have quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5217 "2025-06-22T14:30:58Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Denying that Jews are God’s chosen people is not equivalent to being anti-Semitic, even if you put “chosen people” in scare quotes. The idea of Jews being God’s chosen people is an article of religious faith, just like the resurrection of Jesus. Anti-Semitism means thinking that Jews are (at least in some way) inherently evil and deserving of having bad things happen to them. There is a huge excluded middle here. No, but the whole “Chosen People” meme is _super_ groyper-coded. ---
**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:** [June 22, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5218 "2025-06-22T14:32:23Z")
So are you saying is that no-one can deny that the Jews are God’s chosen people without being _ipso facto_ anti-Semitic? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5219 "2025-06-22T14:34:34Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > So are you saying is that no-one can deny that the Jews are God’s chosen people without being _ipso facto_ anti-Semitic?. What are you talking about? I’m saying that “I know we can’t criticize _God’s Chosen People_” is a Groyper meme. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5220 "2025-06-22T14:36:30Z")
What is “groyper”? Also, i am a Jew, and i don’t support Israel. And that post certainly made me uncomfortable in a “this person hates me for being a Jew” way. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5221 "2025-06-22T14:39:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > What is “groyper” Nick Fuentes-influenced demographic in the alt-R [https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/groyper-army-and-america-first](https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/groyper-army-and-america-first) ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/5222 "2025-06-22T14:39:31Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > What is “groyper”? Nick Fuentes type White Nationalists and Neo Nazis. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=245) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=247)