Thank you. You may lock the thread – unless, of course, leaving it open leads to a pileon (or pile-on) that will make me an easy $50… 
I figured he was providing comic relief?
Harborwolf? Nah, he’s OK.
That’s awfully harsh coming from the cuddly mod.
Giraffe is cuddly?
Let’s just say that he’s the only moderator with fluffy bunny jack slippers. For a cite, here’s his first pitting.
Sorry, but I think he has something valuable to say. He often says what I’d like to. He’s sort of like the Der Trihs of the atheist crowd. Over the top, sure, but he represents my viewpoint on religion (especially on days I wake up cranky and hating the world.)
I thought Der Trihs was the Der Trihs of the atheist crowd.
I guess this is an endorsement from TPTB that calling Jesus a cunt in Great Debates is acceptable behavior, and not jerkish. (Did they really want to lower the bar that far?)
Also, Giraffe’s post is my cite that the SDMB moderators, collectively, do not coddle to theists, since calling their (the theists) god a cunt gets a pass.
On a practical note, I suspect that the mods mucked around in private too long discussing whether to ban or not to ban, let the threads in the Pit get carried away into a pile-on, and now can’t ban the jerk without it looking like they are doing it to appease the majority of the SDMB membership. Just my $0.02.
So did I ! I’m an atheist, I’m Der Trihs . . . it seems to follow . . .
Clearly you don’t understand yourself as well as you thought you did… 
Meh. Quit trying to apply that new-fangled logic thinger to this! 
A man of your gifts might have heard of the phrase “to out-Herod Herod”, I’m thinking.
Hmmm…perhaps that was poorly put. I don’t really associate Der Trihs with atheism. I associate him more with loud, over-the-top leftist attitudes, particularly when it comes to the military, Bush, etc. A lot of people despise him for it, and he frequently annoys me, but to many people, he’s only saying what they’re thinking.
For me, it’s pretty much the same with badchad. I think religion is stupid, no matter how benign a form it takes. I don’t argue it any more because I’m tired of pounding my skull against that particular wall. But I’m glad somebody like badchad is stubbornly relentless about it.
In other words, it seems that they are giving him enough rope to well and truly hang himself.
Not just acceptable, but encouraged. We mods just love it when people call Jesus a cunt! It makes us really happy. We’re thinking about making a board rule forbidding any mention of Jesus Christ which does not also call him a cunt, but we’re still hashing out the details. For example, should non-cunt Jesus references result in automatic banning or merely a suspension? Hard to say.
With respect, Giraffe, you can be as sarcastic as you like, but you Mods are not actually giving anyone much guidance as to what behavior is preferred and what is frowned upon. I realize that “don’t be a jerk” is not a bright-line test, but when you overlook behavior that is to many of us clearly over the line, and then “sarcastically” encourage more of the same, you’re actually making a confusing situation worse.
Y’all tried that before with Martin Luther King. Didn’t work then. Won’t work now.
Making a confusing situation worse? By mocking the idea that any viewpoint or behavior that doesn’t receive a warning or banning from the mods is somehow implicitly endorsed by us? Anyone who has trouble grasping that concept is a hopeless moron. I don’t mind confusing hopeless morons.
Ignoring my unhelpful sarcasm, what sort of guidance are you looking for, exactly?
I’ve thought about this too. It’s kind of like how Al Sharpton is a jerk, and an ass, and over-the-top, and frequently indulges in wild hyperbole (Sharpton himself will pretty much admit to this), but he is a necessary evil, filling the niche of saying what a lot of people are thinking.
I used to see Diogenes the Cynic this way (and admire him for it), but he seems to have calmed down a lot.