Oh no Tara, haven't you read what that new kid wrote?  There is no such thing as agnosticism.  And he even knows how pissed I am that he is correct!!

Just acouple points:
>Any forum that is open for anyone and any POV, will contain both wheat and chaff so to speak.  You have to go through alot af chaff to reach any wheat, sadly.
>Any time a human expresses himself, a part of what he seeks is validation.  That applies to you, me and anyone in between.  For some that's validation as a rebel or iconoclast, for others as conventional, or liberal, or radical, or as I read more and more postings, nutcase.
>Most people are not ready to actively think to form an opinion, so they spout the responses their "training" (upbringing and experience) avail to them, rather than any creative insight.  That's why it is so easy to pigeonhole one another.  I am gaining insights thru these that I wouldn't have had otherwise and I find that of great value to me, and I suspect that you do as well, or you would have stopped writing here.  Your question, and many others I've encountered, do make one think, and formulate a statement of belief.  That's a good thing.  For some posters it seems like it's just a reason not to think but to rant.
>One of things you seem to have addressed is the lack of a true examination of the rationale behind what one has said or believed in.  That's probably true.  But it's also true that traditions and customs can be adopted in a benevolent way as a means of getting through your day, without being turned over and over for justification.  In other words, I say "hello" to the people I meet without needing to understand that I've said it so they are not hostile.  People follow religious rituals with almost the same automatic response.  Certainly, many people find comfort in religion.  That triggers a negative response in many who don't share that religion, including atheists presumably without an ax to grind.  If you're helped by worshipping fire, light up.  I guess the other point is that we have an experience as mankind that collectively unites us, but as a man individually collides with the guy next to us.  The things that make you, you, are different from the things that make me, me.  But all of this is what makes mankind, mankind.  So we posit these questions in each life that someone sitting at the mouth of a cave came up with, only now in this generation our experinces don't resonate with the rhythms and comprehension of nature.  So our questions are newly relevant, and we look for Buddha on the internet instead of under the banyan.

I refuse to validate that.


That's true.  Sometimes a forum can get a critical mass of wheat so that the chaff becomes a less than ordinary obstacle.

What do you do if someone keeps taking a grumpy in the wheat?  It is a universal problem of moderation to strike a balance between killing the fun that draws people and letting defectives have the run of the place.

I would switch metaphors here to that of a bar and bouncer.  If a bar gains a reputation for tolerating undesirables, it will both draw more undesirables and fewer of the patrons it would have preferred.

Yes this was something that had to be said.  *sigh* I must admit that my initial draw to IAP was the P&R section.  Now a days though you can't get a thought or a word out without someone telling you it's wrong because they believe something else.  It's all about religion now, the philosophy seems to have vanished.  *sigh*

trolls yes yes.... maybe we should start a troll thread in the inferno   (did I just type that?)

and JIMP regardless of how Barnes is with you I have always gotten a great deal of respect from him

That assumes a bit much.

IAP affords any window licking asshat with a keyboard an avenue to spew drivel.


I'm living proof of that.

I appreciate that, Tara.

While I may lack Barney's humility, D9's incisive wit, chemart's integrity , zuk's warmth,
and JIMP's sense of style & rugged good looks, I do have a realistic grasp of
my limitations.