I’ve noticed a number pit threads recently going after some of our fundamentalist members. Not for their beliefs, but for their attitude of absolute certainty in their own righteousness, and their ease of placing moral judgement and condemnation on anyone who acknowledges practices contrary to fundamentalist beliefs.
I don’t really want to put in links to those thread, because I don’t want to bog down on their issues. Suffice it to say, there were hundreds of posts in each thread, and those being pitted never really budged an inch, at least up to the point where I tired of following them. IMHO, a huge waste of time and bandwidth for all parties. Even mine, and I hardly contributed a post.
It seems there should be some recognizeable criteria criteria for identifying people with the mental flexibility of a brick. But I can’t spell them out.
How many times do YOU try and make your point before calling a halt? Sometimes your “opponent” never gets your point, but more often they understand very well what you’re saying and just don’t buy it or don’t care.
My personal indicator is when you have done your best to show them why they are/might be wrong, and they basically say “Thanks, but I prefer to live without facts”.
When they stop addressing the point or answering valid questions. Or when it devolves to a personal attack.
When it’s me on the other end, I have to concede to a reasonable alternative explanation (agree to disagree) or have facts shown to me that disprove my points ( I was wrong, hard words). But, even with the facts, I’m still likely to search for myself. Partly out of pride, and partly out of an almost overwhelming curiousity.
When they say that they have investigated or will investigate the evidence but will ignore it anyway because it does not mesh with the conclusions they want to reach, it’s time to give up.
Take this as you will, as I am often the one uttering the above phrase.
