I’m inwardly debating whether or not to call out certain threads. Maybe I’ll start by not calling anyone out and hope that people get what I mean.
There are certain qualities that pretty much nobody on this board has, or if they do, they keep it to themselves. And people will start threads asking something like “Hey homophobes, why do you think this?” or “Why do Nazis think thus-and-such?” And I’m just wondering, is there ANY purpose to those threads besides getting together to circle-jerk about how other people’s ways of thinking are inferior to yours?
I mean, I can’t imagine people honestly expect to get insight into how someone thinks by posing the question to a group of people who think like them. So is there some other purpose for asking these types of questions that I’m missing?
There are a few Token Evil types who will respond and thus be available for flagellation, plus hopes for a Lurker (whose existence is roughly as likely as that of Bigfoot) who will see the light and forsake his/her Evil ways.
You are correct though in assuming that in general these threads are an endlessly satisfying means of venting, and basking in the warm glow of enlightened self-righteousness.
Disclaimer: I don’t start threads asking questions (or any other threads, for that matter), so I can only speculate.
Sometimes the desire is to vent rage. But sometimes the behavior is so bizarre it’s honestly perplexing, and it seems there must be a glimmer of reasoning there that’s not obvious. Or perhaps the hope is to divine the process that brought these deplorable people to where they are so that steps can be taken to keep others from going down that dark path.
But yeah, it does seem to be a breeding ground for ragey criticism.
For the record, I’m probably a homophobe myself. Don’t ask me why I just admitted that.
Why are you assuming that this board is devoid of the groups you mentioned? Just because this board isn’t named the God Hates Fags Message Board doesn’t mean there are no homophobes here.
Also, people who identify as “recovering” fill-in-the-blanks post here–people who don’t believe X but understand belief X enough to be able to explain it.
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A number of years ago, I had lengthy debates with two Dopers about the subject of same-sex marriage. I know that at least one of them has come over to the “good” side, perhaps partially because of these debates. We are not all of like minds, and change is possible… otherwise, what are we doing here?
I don’t know, the recent thread asking for the opinions of transphobes sure brought a lot of transphobia out of the woodwork. Be careful what you ask for is I guess the lesson learned.