Take your ball and go home
Posted on 04/01/2005 4:26:00 PM PST by Poohbah
First, this is NOT an April Fool's joke.
I am leaving Free Republic.
Over the past two years, civility and thoughtful discourse has vanished from this site, replaced with demands for ideological conformity that are straight out of Stalinist Russia or China's Great Cultural Revolution, and unrelenting uncivility if said conformance is not forthcoming. This trend began with the California recall election, where certain posters were allowed to flame the living beejezus out of those who didn't wholeheartedly support Tom McClintock, or thought that he wasn't running a campaign capable of winning. It extended into the Keyes campaign last year, where any critique of Keyes' campaign strategy was shrilly flamed, despite the obviously flawed execution of his campaign.
(Aside: one person who flamed me during the Keyes mess later said that he hadn't intended to start a fight with his remarks that accused me of homosexuality, pedophilia, and other evils; I was instantly reminded of the time I had to bail one of my Marines out of the local lockup. "Honest, Sarge," this Marine told me, "I didn't mean to start a fight when I called that Army Ranger a faggot." My response was not [and still isn't] suitable for public consumption.)
Since then, the Terri Schiavo case has pushed FR over the edge. We had posts calling for people to ensure that "accidents" to befall Schiavo and Judge Greer. We had posts praying that Iran would soon develop nuclear weapons, so that they could destroy the United States. And until the FBI started making arrests, those posts were allowed to stay up, completely abnegating Free Republic's standards.
We had people on both sides of the issue point out that the Schindlers were associating with some people of extremely low character, and that our uncritical embrace of these parties would not rebound to our favor. Rather reasonable attitudes to take, actually; but the loudest of the loud were in no mood to think.
My personal favorite was the following exchange:
The issue is not legality, but public opinion. Which will not be helped in this case if the pro-Terry side becomes associated in the media with Christian Identity, white supremicists, neo-nazis, racists and/or anti-semites.
Diva Betsy Ross made a valiant attempt to...ahem...whitewash Christian Identity, but it didn't work.
To top things off, we had people embracing as some sort of conservative icon, to the extent of posting a fundraising link.
I always thought that conservatism valued thinking over feeling, careful contemplation of facts over wild-eyed repetition of every damn rumor to come down the pipe, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. For a while, Free Republic met those criteria in spades.
Those days are long gone, and I have serious doubt as to whether or not they're coming back.
I know that many of the usual suspects will cheer this on, as their longtime nemesis is leaving them the field.
Be careful what you wish for; you are in the process of getting it. You may succeed in driving the folks who disagree with you from the site; but you will end up being just another collection of shrill voices in Bedlam. When everything is an over-the-top scream, no one will be heard.
Farewell.
But think about taking a break and coming back. Lileks is taking a break from writing Bleats. He's burned out from reading too many Schiavo blog posts, and based on today's entry, I think he's been lurking here too: link
frannie, I hope you stay. FR needs more like you, ma'am.
There are plenty of people (a majority I'd wager) who don't know that "Christian Identity" is a proper noun referring to a particular white supremacists' group.
BTTT!!!!!!
Posts like THAT are why I came to and stayed here at FR, whiny-butts be damned!
Unlike many here,I do NOT talk about things I know little to nothing at all about. Try following my lead. :-)
I thought you left again?
I dont remember you being very big on at least the civility either. As far as thoughtful, *shrug*, maybe.
Damn!
If I could have waited a second longer, I could have a superstitious occult figure to play the lottery with for the rest of my life!
Thanks, JN.
Wrong. One judge reviewed the facts. And one three-judge appellate court reviewed it. That's it. The rest were just procedural BS. And none of those reviews included an MRI, PET scan, etc.
"Self-Absorbed Attention-Seeking Drama Queen"
Considering your post, that sounds like it would be a good choice for your tag line.
Another voice of reason gone; we are now richer in unmoderated extremist ideologies.
It extended into the Keyes campaign last year, where any critique of Keyes' campaign strategy was shrilly flamed,
Keyes was hammered big time here. In fact, more Freepers slammed him the supported him.
No, ace, saying it's always like this means it doesn't NEED a solution. Like the weather, it is what it is. If you can't cope with all the alleged toxicity and viciousness, you can always write an opus and depart again. The rest of us will, somehow, try to go on.
Nam Vet
I am not sade at all - but, amused to see how much attention a temper tantrum can attract.
But, I'm staying. The fringers have been driven out of the religion forum.
News/activism is next.
Is this some kind of threat?
What a pathetic thread. Jim Robinson has always been pro-life, but on the Terri issue, he not only said the right thing, he stood up for the Christian pro-life position and shut down the culture of death rants of some of the anti-theist Libertarian types here.
It was a rare, if not singular event. Now look at the grinding and gnashing of teeth.
Its no different than when the MSM got taken to the woodshed by the Pajamadim. The MSM had a hissy fit. This thread is no different.
Jim, you can continue your stated goals,
As a conservative site, Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights, pro-gun, pro-limited government, pro-private property rights, pro-limited taxes, pro-capitalism, pro-national defense, pro-freedom, and-pro America. We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc.... We believe in defending our borders, our constitution and our national sovereignty.
or you can give in to the whining of these anti-Christian, Libertarian types who scream for free reign on your Forum to mock God and those who Love Him.
Those who desire to defend Godly principles and the Constitution, and overturn the judicial tyrrany that killed Terri, are your conservative base, Jim.
Jim, you have some disabilities too. Many of us, or close loved ones, do too.
You clearly see where this culture of death, and this judicial tyrrany, is heading. It affects you personally.
And this week, you stood up and said, "ENOUGH!"
I'm proud of you. This Forum has been degenerating into one in which open mockery of God, His Laws, and Christian believers themselves, has become a mainstay.
I'm proud of you for taking a stand this week, Jim.
The fringers have been driven out of the religion forum. News/activism is next.
If fringers like Sinkspur plan on driving the mainstream Christian pro-life conservatives from the News forum, and are so bold that they can say so publicly on this Forum with impunity, and brag about already accomplishing it on the Religion Forum, then the decision in which this Forum is heading must already have been made.
If what Sinkspur claims is true, "The fringers have been driven out of the religion forum. News/activism is next then you have far more to lose from your Forum than Poohbah and Hchutch.
Don't let the "Sinkspurs" of this Forum succeed in censoring the traditional Christian view here from the News Forum, as they brag to have done with the Religion Forum already, Jim.
A little hyperbolic, wouldn't you say?
You went after Chad Fairbanks over nothing. I'll mark you down in the "can dish it but can't take it" column.
It is not a requirement to be a born-agin fundamentalist to be a freeper. I do hope most of these lunatic fringe paid goons will soon go away as their budgets dry up.
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