And now I'm UBER offended because I thought EVERY single one of those quotes from the OP was real, and now I feel like a total loser.
Thanks for thoroughly insulting my supposed intelligence, Lynx.
This thread is a prime example of why I think many good people stop posting (or at least, I can say that it's a major reason as to why I've stopped posting.) Someone is going to get offended, and anytime you say something here, you have to be quick to put up all your shields because you can guarantee the attacks will come from every side.
I used to enjoy writing threads and would always try to use a personal example to give a clearer illustration of what I was trying to say, but now days, that completely backfires, because too many people will tell you how they think you should have handled the situation even though it happened years ago and completely miss the actual topic of the thread.
As Lynx said, every time you write a thread, you have to count on babysitting it constantly for at least 3-5 days because it's guaranteed that some sort of fight (and usually more than one) is going to break out. And if a person has a job and a life outside of the forums, who really has that kind of time just to sit around and argue with people? But apparently, some people thrive on that, or else have nothing better to do.
And so, the people who live for contention get louder and louder, while the good-hearted people who actually care about helping other people in a Biblical way sit back in silence because they're afraid that even if they try to say anything, they're going to be shot down or criticized back into silence.
I have actually been pondering writing a run of like 20 threads, one after the other (while allowing the requisite 3-5 days minimum of bickering in between each one), with the ulterior motive of then writing a summary thread at the end that tallies up the number of fights, arguments, and criticisms in all of those threads. However, I'm guessing that final thread wouldn't be approved--because it would offend too many people. And besides, who really has that kind of time to waste?
I joined this forum in 2009, and while I'll always be grateful to the administration for the awesome friends I've made here, it's been very disheartening to see how much negativity has taken over the forums over the years. Sure, we always had disagreements and fights going on, but back in the day, you could at least joke a little with people in the threads. This is why you'll find me bantering with the same people over and over again. It's not because I'm dating them
, it's because if I've found someone I can joke with over and over again, I consider them to be part of my "safe zone" that I know won't go postal if I want to start some trouble!
This is just my own observation, but I think the forums have become a lot like political correctness in America: yes, you want to be careful about what you say, especially because we are Christians and are commanded to build each other up rather than tear each other down.
But it's now gotten to the point where you simply can't say ANYTHING, let alone try to make a few jokes for fun, because it's guaranteed to offend someone and then when a person gets offended here, all bets are off and suddenly, any manner of insulting the other person back is somehow permissible.
As much as I love and appreciate CC, the easiest thing I've found... is just to not say anything anymore at all.