Libra
When someone calls another a name without any support, as in evidence, they are a bully. On this medium you can only judge people by their words. It is so easy to copy and paste someone’s words to make a cogent argument backed up by the evidence, that there can be no excuse except that you wish to bully, or are too dumb to understand the process.
Because someone feels stung by another’s words, it does not automatically qualify as bullying. Political correctness without using reason leads to conformity.
Cyber posters are the very root of democracy; they display human social shenanigans down in the gutter of our passions “Ethical sewage.” There is only one real defense against bullying of any kind: Confidence, through self Awareness.
It is very plain to see entrenched religious prejudices, underscored by hate and superstition, here. On another website I watched a post on whether creationism should be taught in American schools balloon from zero to over 12,000 in a matter of 10 days.
It was the most inane example of navel gazing I have ever witnessed. The fact, in the end, is that the believers have no logical ground to stand on, because their foundation rests on belief. This was evident to me from the fifth post on.
Anywhere that you find religious posters defending their faith, you will find dishonesty, oppression of others, rude taunting and insulting behavior: CYBER BULLYING. These people are the slimiest, racist, most unreasonable on the planet as witnessed by reading their words.
Religion is all about self serving aggrandizement and the oppression of others with a different point of view. This is the same as it was during the crusades, only the means are different.
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Re: Cyber Bullying: what is it?
By luyen, May 20, 2008 at 12:38Hi Bud, interesting article.
I too have often witnessed the incredible flaming that takes place when it comes to "defenders of faith", and it's really unfortunate, because instead of being a source of strength and usefulness, it seems to be a source of subversion for some.
There seems to be a strong mental tendency in all of us to grasp at some things as permanent, and absolute, and often religion fits that bill all too neatly!
I do think it's not so much the belief systems as external philosophies of thinking, but the mind of persons which hold onto them as being inherently true and absolute, belief systems can be relative and very useful for making sense of our sensory and mental world.
So i strongly agree that self-awareness, free thinking, critical reasoning is very important to constantly analyze belief systems, and to know they are relative constructs which are useful, but not absolute.
Re: Cyber Bullying: what is it?
By Bud Oracle (not verified), May 20, 2008 at 21:58Luyen,
that's very interesting. I had about the same conversation with Omar young American Saudi attending university in California. I met him today in Crab park on the waterfront . He was visiting Vancouver for the day. He asked me (wearing my Oracle hat) to take his picture with the city in the backdrop. It was a pleasure to range wide and far on these subjects with an intelligent young man of his heritage.
I believe the first point of contention I dispelled was his assertion that you need religion to establish a moral bottom line. I hope he emails me the pictures he took of me in the same position with Vancouver behind the Oracle.
One thing we discussed was France's new laws against displaying religious paraphernalia. It is my belief we should allow all personal expression of belief, but disconnect church from state by laws forbidding speaking about politics in a religious venue and conversely speaking about religion in a public/political venue.
I hope more people from every culture who want reason in our government and religion in our churches come forth and join the conversation.
Re: Cyber Bullying: what is it?
By Bud Oracle (not verified), May 21, 2008 at 09:56To some my comments on the lovely story about Faith the miracle dog (http://www.orato.com/lifestyles/2008/05/14/she-walks-faith-miracle-dog) might seem like an example of Cyber Bullying, or even nit picking.
To me, who wishes everyone to discover Spirituality on their own by using their “God-given” minds, rather than serve up unlikely belief fantasies or incredible fantasies of logic, it makes no sense. Why not leave your view of the cause of this miracle out entirely, or, explain how you believe that I am to get a vision of the Higher Power from it.
Why not let me come up with mine if I choose to, whatever I choose to. If we choose to have a religious conversation we can then discuss this in depth with that as a topic, and leave well trained dogs, which walk on two legs like I’ve seen many circus acts do, out of it?
Otherwise I feel bullied by someone else’s demand to think of their version of something sacred to me, through their simplistic vision.
I take the fact that a human and animal can communicate through training, love, to achieve a physical goal and spiritual bond to be an example of the common thread of a single unifying life force in the natural world, in which we exist. Nothing higher in my vision of life--all is sacred and within us, around us. Nothing outside or higher exists than you, or the dog as proof, in your story, or real life.
Only you and the rest of the life on this planet are sacred, contain the spirit of life. And everything in your story points to a simple version of life, love and spirit in an elegant, two way, interspecies communication.
Nothing hokus-pokus higher power in my opinion, NO EVIDENCE OF IT, EXCEPT YOUR ARROGANT UNSUPPORTED ASSERTION-WHICH BY DEFINITION USING THE ART OF RATIONAL DEDUCTION----IS A LIE!.
Simple sharing of compassion for another living being is all there is in your story and in life.
If anything else (VISION OF GOD)climbs into someone else’s heart, it is not your creature to control, to define. For everyone else it will be the same duty to figure out from what is within them, between them and God, not them, YOU and Your vision of God.. As soon as an impressionable younger person gets someone else’s idea pasted on a warm fuzzy story, they may believe it makes logical sense to think there is a God every time an act of kindness occurs, directing its occurrence.
This is why ignorance is Rampant in the USA. People are trained to be marketed to everything from Religion to Bambi, through, Chinese Trinkets. Believers are taught to shun reason and trust blindly-- this condition 'is defined as being "GULLIBLE" in the dictionary. D*mn right these tiny little semantics are important, especially if you wish to develop the art of critical thinking. That's right, I'm an ACID HEAD advocating critical thinking! I'm going to let the truth shine forth from my words. As you see there is no evidence that God has inspired his righteous minions to come against me with vitriolic insults, as you see everywhere else on the Lord's cyber playground. I just love it when no one challenges my critical thinking, that in itself underscores my veracity.
If anything, it is a “Higher Power” that is created in the act of simple kindness, even between species.
That is exactly opposite (and a bullying of me and 4.5 billion people with your thoughts on faith) to what is said by you in this statement: “Once you see her in person and see her walking on two feet, with no one holding her up, you start realizing, “Wow, if a higher power can do this for an animal, what can he do for me?””
Logically from the story anyone could come up with something like this, “You will be drawn to the wonders and resilience of nature created by the bond between two living creatures who are devoted to each other. I might say that it demonstrates a sense of spirituality in this bond, for me. What about you?”
A higher power is a cop out con for me. It means that you aren’t responsible for every moment that you live. It’s the myopic thinking and insidious, odious con perpetrated on society. It is a lie that there is a higher place for a reward (heaven), if we believe in and follow a higher power. It's the lie at the heart of the con "The Axis of Evil." where believers intimidate the rational thinkers with screams of patriotism: http://live.orato.com/podium/2008/03/24/protest#comment-3064
It has been the traditional way to harness the gullible for "noble" acts of war. for 2000 years and more. The way to make tithe, or tax slaves of society to support huge war machinery. You'll see all the "godly" nations well armed with weapons of mass destruction and standing armies, supported by the diligent Godly at home marching to a patriotic/godly tune. 2000years of Christian dominance awash in bloodshed.is what it all about with the reward for this crime against nature soon coming home to roost on us dumb arrogant monkeys. http://www.topix.com/forum/ca/vancouver-bc/TTHAE72HT8ABGRGJM.
It’s called MONOTHEISM-- the scourge of the last two millenia, in all of its judgmental mutations. In the Bible it says that you can judge the tree by the fruit it bears. The "fruit" of Christianity, Muslimisn, ectera is awash in bloodshed, greed, and oppression. .