patooyee
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2008
- Messages
- 5,692
Oh, hi. Guess I'm un-banned now.
I don't really know where to start. Judging by the amount of hate in that other thread that started after I was banned I don't think anything I can say at this point will ever make some people hate less. And during the time I was banned I was in contact with Casey via text. I apologized to him there and he indicated that he did not feel as though I was attacking him. (I wasn't.) But for what it's worth, I do apologize again to him and to anyone that feels that I was.
And while I guess some people's faith was tested, I do not think that Casey's was at all. In his texts he did not seem at all deterred from his faith as he attempted to explain it and help me appreciate it. (Which I do.) IMHO, Casey may be one of the truest believers on this site.
In the post that John deleted I was attempting to debate an illogical statement, not Casey or religion specifically. Since the thread was about Casey I used his name as part of the argument. It could have just as well been any other name or a generic pronoun. In fact, it should have been a generic pronoun, I realized it almost instantly, and tried to go back to edit it but it was already gone. As it was, I do understand how it was easily misconstrued as an attack directly on Casey, so I apologize for my lack of proper wording.
More importantly, it was the wrong thread to be arguing the point to begin with given the important role that faith is playing in both Casey and John's lives right now. I don't really know why I chose that thread to bring it up. I was not my logical self at the time for whatever reason. In the hate thread tacomajd used a good analogy about a campfire discussion in real life that is similar to analogies I normally try to internally apply before posting. Everyone by now has probably read my philosophy about how the internet is real life and should be treated as such. My posts in Casey's thread were in direct contrast to that logical analogy. I would not walk up to a group of people who were discussing faith and start an argument. So again, I failed my own logic test. So for my lack of tact I also apologize.
Everyone seems to have firmly latched onto the most negative interpretation possible of the argument I was trying to put forth and run with it. I'll be honest, after almost 2 decades of posts and being in this community, I am disappointed. Anyone who really knows me knows that I would never attack a friend during a sensitive moment such as Casey's. (I do consider Casey a friend, hope he still considers me one.) In the fervor to hate, they made up their own stories and facts about me, ones that they could never possibly know to be true, and put them forth as fact for no other reason than to inflict pain. Most of those people I've never even met before. Thus, I do feel as though some self defense is appropriate. I want to point out that I did say that I was proud and happy for Casey before I ever raised any argument since that seems to have been completely ignored. Family is the most important thing in the world to me. Children more so than anything. When I read that Casey's left him I was filled with profound sadness. So much so that I almost cried. Maybe being so emotional is why my logic faculties were reduced. Even after the ban hammer dropped, the more I thought about the loss of children, the more I wanted to cry. And that weekend in the truck on the way to Chocco I told Mark sitting next to me that, if I saw Casey there, I was going to walk up to him and give him a big, long bear-hug. If I did I surely would have had tears streaming. So naturally, to hear that he was off that which led to the loss of his children, my profound sadness was mixed with dilated elation. Very odd state for me as my wife generally complains of me, and I am admittedly generally guilty of, having no emotions. Whatever the reason he's off the poison, it's got to be better than being on it. He could worship the flying spaghetti monster and I would be happy for him.
Lastly, I want to address faith a little bit. I'm not going to go into great detail on it because there is simply no way for me to explain myself at this time without everyone getting butt-hurt. But I do believe that faith can play an important role in people's lives. I appreciate that roll deeply which is why it is so hard for me to ignore when I see it abused. Don't misinterpret this. I am not referring to Casey or his thread here. But some of the abuse I see on this site led to my outburst in Casey's thread. I may discuss it further in the future, I don't know. I've been trying to figure out the best way to formulate it.
I guess that's about all I have to say. I already know that people are going to bring the hate still. People are going take what I've said, twist it around, and turn it into more hate. As I do not wish to be a part of this, I will not be replying to this thread further. You have my heartfelt apology, it's all I can offer.
I don't really know where to start. Judging by the amount of hate in that other thread that started after I was banned I don't think anything I can say at this point will ever make some people hate less. And during the time I was banned I was in contact with Casey via text. I apologized to him there and he indicated that he did not feel as though I was attacking him. (I wasn't.) But for what it's worth, I do apologize again to him and to anyone that feels that I was.
And while I guess some people's faith was tested, I do not think that Casey's was at all. In his texts he did not seem at all deterred from his faith as he attempted to explain it and help me appreciate it. (Which I do.) IMHO, Casey may be one of the truest believers on this site.
In the post that John deleted I was attempting to debate an illogical statement, not Casey or religion specifically. Since the thread was about Casey I used his name as part of the argument. It could have just as well been any other name or a generic pronoun. In fact, it should have been a generic pronoun, I realized it almost instantly, and tried to go back to edit it but it was already gone. As it was, I do understand how it was easily misconstrued as an attack directly on Casey, so I apologize for my lack of proper wording.
More importantly, it was the wrong thread to be arguing the point to begin with given the important role that faith is playing in both Casey and John's lives right now. I don't really know why I chose that thread to bring it up. I was not my logical self at the time for whatever reason. In the hate thread tacomajd used a good analogy about a campfire discussion in real life that is similar to analogies I normally try to internally apply before posting. Everyone by now has probably read my philosophy about how the internet is real life and should be treated as such. My posts in Casey's thread were in direct contrast to that logical analogy. I would not walk up to a group of people who were discussing faith and start an argument. So again, I failed my own logic test. So for my lack of tact I also apologize.
Everyone seems to have firmly latched onto the most negative interpretation possible of the argument I was trying to put forth and run with it. I'll be honest, after almost 2 decades of posts and being in this community, I am disappointed. Anyone who really knows me knows that I would never attack a friend during a sensitive moment such as Casey's. (I do consider Casey a friend, hope he still considers me one.) In the fervor to hate, they made up their own stories and facts about me, ones that they could never possibly know to be true, and put them forth as fact for no other reason than to inflict pain. Most of those people I've never even met before. Thus, I do feel as though some self defense is appropriate. I want to point out that I did say that I was proud and happy for Casey before I ever raised any argument since that seems to have been completely ignored. Family is the most important thing in the world to me. Children more so than anything. When I read that Casey's left him I was filled with profound sadness. So much so that I almost cried. Maybe being so emotional is why my logic faculties were reduced. Even after the ban hammer dropped, the more I thought about the loss of children, the more I wanted to cry. And that weekend in the truck on the way to Chocco I told Mark sitting next to me that, if I saw Casey there, I was going to walk up to him and give him a big, long bear-hug. If I did I surely would have had tears streaming. So naturally, to hear that he was off that which led to the loss of his children, my profound sadness was mixed with dilated elation. Very odd state for me as my wife generally complains of me, and I am admittedly generally guilty of, having no emotions. Whatever the reason he's off the poison, it's got to be better than being on it. He could worship the flying spaghetti monster and I would be happy for him.
Lastly, I want to address faith a little bit. I'm not going to go into great detail on it because there is simply no way for me to explain myself at this time without everyone getting butt-hurt. But I do believe that faith can play an important role in people's lives. I appreciate that roll deeply which is why it is so hard for me to ignore when I see it abused. Don't misinterpret this. I am not referring to Casey or his thread here. But some of the abuse I see on this site led to my outburst in Casey's thread. I may discuss it further in the future, I don't know. I've been trying to figure out the best way to formulate it.
I guess that's about all I have to say. I already know that people are going to bring the hate still. People are going take what I've said, twist it around, and turn it into more hate. As I do not wish to be a part of this, I will not be replying to this thread further. You have my heartfelt apology, it's all I can offer.
![20180217_135718[1].jpg](http://attachments.www.hardlinecrawlers.com/xfmg/thumbnail/25/25891-00f51192efd55b8041ead6bab45d506f.jpg?1652262880)
