Have you adopted the "us vs. them" mentality of R+S?

I adopted an "us vs. them" attitude as soon as theists started trying to get creationism into science classes.

I honestly think it's rooted in poor attention to language.

Someone writes a question saying Why do _____s pick on us _____s? Then someone gets bent out of shape for the first person generalizing and takes it out on another question. And then a third person who enjoys pretending to be above it all says _____ and ____ are both wrong. And so on.

And then there's the person who says I don't do _____. You're wrong. You're mean for saying that ALL _____ do ____. Why do all ______ say such mean things about us?

In other words, they're furiously generalizing about how furious they are about generalizing.

It's hard work to find ways to gracefully incorporate modifiers like some and most into Q & A. And it often weakens the perceived impact of the writer's line of thinking. (Some people will take it as an indication that the writer isn't sure of his/her point.)

What would help is if we would all step back and remember that people aren't always speaking in absolutes, even if they haven't modified every word. And when someone says something about whatever ____ you are, look at the behaviour of other ____ before you attack the writer.

That's how I see it. No doubt someone will tell me I'm wrong. :-)

Well you know what they say that in 'polite society' (which I dont think it exists any longer)

topics of disscussion that you should avoid are RELIGION and POLITICS.

They have always been a source of turmoil,bloodshed,anger,frustration etc

In this forum it is no different and I think people are more inclined to be at the worst (not all mind you) but to be at their worst because they are not face to face with you trying to calmly discuss their viewpoints.

I am open to hear all viewpoints since I dont know it all nor claim that I do. I know what I beilve and I know what I base it on.If someone wants to hold an adult conversation calmly and not make threats or hurl insults or make generalizations then i am all for it.

I make it a point not to let myself start making unfair generalizations. Everytime someone asks a generalizing question, its always bombarded by "Not all Christians are like this" or "Not all atheists are that way". No one gets down to the heart of what was really asked. Not only does it divide us, but it hinders REAL discussion, which is what I'm assuming we're all here for.

It isn't all of us, just those of us that lable people according to their beliefs. If you take a look at my contacts, you'll see people of just about every religion, some of them are even "fundies," but they all have contacts from many other theological perspectives. Some of us are more concerned with the behaviors that come from certain beliefs than the religious backgrounds of the people we question.

As for why R&S seems to have such a polarization, well, you know what they say about religion and politics...

haha yeah

atheist, pagans, agnostics and Buddhist Vs Christians VS Muslims.

Damn, you're right. I've gotten caught up in that mentality. It is easy and as an atheist it's nice to have people actually agreeing with you... But it's not conducive to progress. I'll start questioning atheists immediately.

in real life, people aren't only atheists or only Christians, they have multi-faceted personalties and can therefore interact with each other.

Here, you've got one subject and you've got the anonymity of the internet, emboldening people to act like they would never do in reality. and you've got just flat out toolbags.

It's a magic combination

lost.eu/21618

Some people just like to stir sh!t, especially in an anonymous forum.

I avoid the "us" and the "them", and try to associate with those somewhere in the middle.

It's just like anything else. Strong opinions lead to strong stances; we all choose sides eventually.