His Esthetical Jesus threads are NOTHING BUT A BLOG!
I understand that GD is where witnessing threads go, but why is he allowed to have a multi-thread, totally content free, ‘you have to agree to my beliefs’ thing going on?
He has literally stated that there is NO debate when it comes to this subject so why is it even in there? Can’t a mod close the damn waste of space and make him use LJ or MySpace or some damn thing?
I’m getting pretty damn sick and tired of this board being retard slow and it’s because of crap like this that it is. Please fix it.
There are similarities between that series of threads and a blog, but there are enough differences–including, but not limited to, a direct interaction between Liberal and other posters that shapes the discussion–that I do not view it as a blog.
“Content free” is in the eye of the beholder. It is certainly no more “content free” than about 30% or more of MPSIMS and IMHO and it actually has fewer posts. I’d say that the most recent conspiracy nutcase thread was 80% content free with far more posts than all four of the extant Aesthetical Jesus threads in a shorter period.
Unless we have found a way to force you to open and read those threads, (and if we have, it was purely unintentional and I apologize), that thread is nothing more than a single line on the GD forum page. I know it is fun to be mad at Lib, but think of it this way: while he is pondering and keying that thread, he is not posting to other threads where a half dozen posters can jump in to take swipes at him and then complain that he is being an attention whore. I’d have thought that you’d look at those threads as public service efforts.
Liberal is “special”. No one but TPTB know why. I’m not sure even the mods know why.
But it’s hands off, let him spew his nonsense, skirt the rules, and when he steps over a line, they just move the line.
Honestly, cut Liberal off the SDMB, and not only could he suffer innumerable fatal diseases, but the whole SDMB structure would collapse. He’s probably responsible for 40% of all traffic out here, either his own threads, responses to his threads, the continual pittings, and just folks who read his threads for the twisted enjoyment of it all.
The SDMB without Liberal would be… well, a much better place.
But the truth is, it’s unthinkable.
Well, as Tom has explained in one of the threads, there is discussion going on. There are not a lot of participants, but when did a rule come down that to qualify for Great Debates, a thread must have more than X different people post in it? By my count, 19 or 20 different people have posted in this thread alone. It is therefore not Blog-like. PBear, for example, brought up some of the most interesting discussions of all. And even though they weren’t to the point of the series, they were, in her mind (and mine), important points to raise. (She, in fact, posted 27 times as of this writing.)
So, you may be right about the lurkers [being pop-ins]. And you may be wrong. But you are definitely wrong that I have typed out “a multi-thread blog about what * believe in with no room for dissent”. That is simply an incorrect statement.
This is a deeply unsatisfying answer, not least because it contends that the Aesthetical Jesus tetralogy is just another run-of-the-mill thread like what you might find in IMHO or MPSIMS–an assertion that is plainly false. I can think of no other thread where the OP is allowed such overbearing authority to basically structure the thread as didactic lesson between the OP and the other contributors. An attempt to do so by anyone else would be swiftly ended.
The defense that nobody forces anyone to read the Aesthetical Jesus is a pretty lame cop-out. Obviously; but then again, one could say the same for anyone else’s thread(s)-qua-blog, yet the rule is promulgated nonetheless. It’s a matter of forum hygiene. The SDMB has a distinct purpose, and there are other sites where other purposes may be pursued. And if the indulgence is designed to prevent Liberal from interfering in other threads, then perhaps his continued participation on the boards needs to be reconsidered. Moreover, having read some rather nonsensical contributions of his in other threads, the prophylactic justification doesn’t seem to be working. Some of the philosophy threads in GD could potentially be quite interesting, but they are ruined by Liberal’s inevitable injection of gibberish.
All things considered, the effect on my user experience is pretty minimal (except perhaps ruing that the philosophy threads always end up careering toward nonsensical badness), nevertheless the forbearance is pretty perplexing and it is easy to see why other users are frustrated at the refusal to enforce rules so flagrantly flouted.
Actually, I would say that while Fenris asked a similar question, the event which prompted his question was a bit more complex, involving an actual series of posts between Liberal and himself.
He was not simply expressing displeasure that threads in which he had no interest were being left open.
I hope that my responses in these two threads make sense to most posters. I fear that there is such a general hostility toward Liberal among some posters that no answer other than “We’ve banned 'em” will ever satisfy.
Considering how many of these debates have ended because neither side could agree on a definition, I would think that many would appreciate the effort to get them nailed down ahead of time.
If it was done in an honest manner, you may be correct. But Lib just wants to spew his definitions onto the board and hide behind the label of “witnessing” when questioned on them.
It’s common knowledge that **Liberal **has sponsored many, many dopers over the years. His big bucks may be the only thing that’s keeping this place going. (I keed of course…)
Actually, from this side of the fence, the only thing I see are posters with ancient grudges against Liberal who are mad that they cannot shut him down simply by complaining.
No rules have been bent regarding these threads. Multiple posters have challenged Liberal, both on topic and off topic in these threads and I have intervened with exactly one Moderator post throughout that entire period, on one occasion when a poster specifically called statements by Lib “lies”–a direct violation of forum rules.
If Liberal chooses to refrain from responding to some posters, (and I have seen little of that in any of the threads, so far), it is still his prerogative. I do not recall a long tradition of Mods ordering posters to answer every question or challenge.
Despite the views of some posters, (unfortunately furthered by a couple of Liberal’s comments), Liberal is not dictating what may be posted.
Now, see, I was being nice. First I did not Warn you for the insults, then, and now I did not mention your transgression, (since my admonition was included in my single Moderating post), and you have gone and publicized your sin for all to see.
Have you even been outside of SDMB and around on the Internet in the last few years?
Blogs are JUST THAT. Blog owner will start an entry about something, people comment, blog owner responds. Blog owner dictates what the content is and decides what the rules are for reader comments.
Message boards are similar in someone starts a thread in a forum designed to contain a particular type of thread. Readers comment. Thread starter often replies.
BUT
You can’t really have a “great debate” forum and allow thread starters to say “no debates in this thread” because that defeats the purpose of defining forum topics in the first place.
Why the admin of this place allow Liberal to continue to do this crap is beyond me. If I tried that in Great Debates you guys would tell me to FOAD and if I didn’t want debates in the thread to move it to my blog.
(I keed of course…)
