A gentle reminder

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jamie26301

jamie26301

Senior Member
#1
May 14, 2011
1,154
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#1
When it comes to new people who come to this site:

Sure, there are trolls out there, who pose as inquisitive, but only mean to cause drama and strife. There are many of them.

That said, we would do well to remember these are people we don't know, never met, and haven't even seen, on the other end of these posts. As someone who once struggled with an episode of emotional illness while chatting on a forum, I was banned and thought to be a troll bent on making everyone miserable. I wasn't - I was literally suffering a mental breakdown. The ban made it worse. That is not commentary on the other site, mind you.

I only mention it to demonstrate that it is very easy to judge from behind a screen, or draw conclusions hastily. So while I'm not advocating to never ban anyone or to put up with trolls, let's try to remember we are not omniscient, and that things aren't always what they seem.

Thank you.
 
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jamie26301

jamie26301

Senior Member
#2
May 14, 2011
1,154
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#2
How we handle people that we think are troublemakers and how quickly we do so, says a lot about our tendencies to judge and draw conclusions, or how far we will let our mercy carry someone when giving a benefit of a doubt.

It does not look good to people who are already wary of Christians in general, when we act quickly and base our decisions on so little - and it confirms their already conceived stereotypes. It also testifies to how weak our desire is to know and love the unlovable, as our Lord did so effortlessly.
 
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Siberian_Khatru

Guest
#3
#3
I like this.
 
B

BibleReader

Guest
#4
#4
Yep, its very important to remember we're all going through things.

We all have a story. Many of us all have unresolved trauma.
 
blue_ladybug

blue_ladybug

Senior Member
#5
Feb 21, 2014
70,869
9,601
113
#5
jamie26301 said:
When it comes to new people who come to this site:

Sure, there are trolls out there, who pose as inquisitive, but only mean to cause drama and strife. There are many of them.

That said, we would do well to remember these are people we don't know, never met, and haven't even seen, on the other end of these posts. As someone who once struggled with an episode of emotional illness while chatting on a forum, I was banned and thought to be a troll bent on making everyone miserable. I wasn't - I was literally suffering a mental breakdown. The ban made it worse. That is not commentary on the other site, mind you.

I only mention it to demonstrate that it is very easy to judge from behind a screen, or draw conclusions hastily. So while I'm not advocating to never ban anyone or to put up with trolls, let's try to remember we are not omniscient, and that things aren't always what they seem.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

there are many trolls on here. They just haven't all been banned yet.. You can usually spot one right away just by the content of what they say. But you're right, they ARE still people.. highly disturbed people but people nonetheless..
 
jamie26301

jamie26301

Senior Member
#6
May 14, 2011
1,154
10
38
39
#6
blue_ladybug said:
there are many trolls on here. They just haven't all been banned yet.. You can usually spot one right away just by the content of what they say. But you're right, they ARE still people.. highly disturbed people but people nonetheless..
Click to expand...
Oh, yes, I agree, and they seem to prefer the place that is naturally slanted towards conflict - Discussion (debate) forum. It just astounds me how long it takes some of these to get banned, as I saw a couple that were disruptive with "banned" on their name now.

The particular incident that made me want to post this was different, I figured, and the actions were VERY swift. Like, the discord caused by some debaters is far more worthy of such action. But that's my opinion.
 
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