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Pastimes : Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: c.hinton who wrote (3046)	12/15/2008 11:43:50 AM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3816

Nothing on these threads is called for unless specifically requested and specific requests are often ignored or skirted, like me requesting that you stay on topic and off other posters who are not a topic for me. Of course good manners is admirable but I can't relate to the degree at which you take this stuff personal. With regards to other posters, an invective of any sort is likely to be met with hostility. The term 'idiot' is an example of name calling that qualifies 'like a slap in the face', one that is deserving of a hostile response rather than furthering rational discourse. You might do call some one an idiot because you think their opinion is tainted by some unworthy influence but labeling them an ‘idiot’ is tantamount to a slap in the face, not an opinion. They are not severely retarded, which is the only qualified definition for that term, so idiot without some qualification of the term is not a valid descriptor. Expecting civil discussion to follow would be irrational. I try to avoid the use of invective name calling simply because I don’t agree with the opinions of others. I try to provide information and an opposing view when I disagree with someone’s opinion, hoping to enlighten them with additional understanding. Sometimes I find they have information I wasn’t aware of and so I become more enlightened in the course of discussion... all well and good, even in the midst of confrontation and argument. Occasionally when I see an opinion that is extreme on a topic I know something about, I label it as one form of extremism or another and push information that contradicts the extremist view. So I might call you a partisan extremist or a bigot but I qualify those labels. When I see someone comporting themselves and all their rhetoric from an extreme position, I don’t mind pointing out to them that they are being an extremist, because in this instance we are talking about a general characteristic not just one opinion. Extremism is a sickness, used as an excuse to abandon reason while appearing to be the virtuous expression of loyalty to a group. Extremists permit themselves to limit justice, devoting themselves instead to the dogma of their demographic. They deny conscience and compromise purpose, while forgetting the principles of human decency, and to claim their places on this Earth among similar fellows. Government has one beneficial role and that is to help us organize a peaceful coexistence. I also don’t believe in forced choices…forced choices are clubisms that result in a race to destruction. This life need only be a race to destruction if you buy into that myth, which is really a race to be more awful than the evil thing you fear most. Belongingness is one of the most powerful and natural human needs. But when the cost is a principled identity of self, we forsake our noble human condition, for lesser endeavor... from threads like this one to terrorism; which seems to be the plague, with no antidote, for our generation. Passing judgment on people you haven’t met and know little about except that their affiliations are exclusive of your own, or on the basis of birth conditions is an act of extremism. Best Regards, less_