Blocked ..lol

A new variation on blocking, or perhaps not. Perfectly civilised chat at 9.00 this morning, said goodbye and went to a Zoom call, came back to say hello, blocked!!! I know it goes with the territory here, but seriously? I can't help feeling quite pissed off lol... if you happen to see this, the blocker, I mean, grow up. Just tell me to piss off but blocking is so absurd

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

Some will block you if you don't share their opinions or change yours to agree with theirs.

If they are so frightened to be questioned, disbelieved or opposed, why do they use public discussion-groups in the first place?

I am not sure but the one who blocked you might not read your post anyway, because I think the barrier works both ways.

What annoys and upsets me more is that SimilarWorlds creates an automatic message whose clumsy text implies the victim of a block is the guilty one even when innocent - rather like one of the signs of coercive and controlling behaviour.

The last who blocked me, a few days ago, was some woman who sent an unsolicited PM, and she blocked me because I had made clear, but politely, that I do not share her predilection revealed by her "Forums" [[i]sic[/i]] to be cruel to her children. Next I knew I was "... you are not allowed to contact this person" as if it were [i]me[/i] advocating domestic abuse!

Also, if you block and try to report someone for genuinely bad behaviour you are faced with a database-like menu of reasons, yet your reason might match none of them; and again, the block message will say [i]you [/i]are not allowed to contact the miscreant!

I have blocked only about three people I think, all for bad conduct [i]not[/i] their opinions - but in one case the moderators even stood up for the wrong-doer.

......

That skewed version of guilt is not confined to SW. I used to contribute to "Answers", a Wikipedia off-shoot, with a large Maths and Science section. When I criticised two people hell-bent on making it very difficult to learn how to convert Imperial to Metric measures, the moderators reprimanded [i]me[/i] and did nothing to stop these saboteurs! (I think the questions were from American school-children's homework, and such as, "How many km in 40 miles" or "Kg in 20 pounds".)

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

@TheEmperor I think most are simply trying to justify their own ideas to themselves by mutual support; and the less real or credible their idea, the more aggressively they defend it.

Some though may be trying actively to push their particular belief for reasons they will not or can not tell you. It may be as simple and crude as feeling personally somehow "powerful" or "influential"; or it may be connected to some unstated, institutional or cult purpose.

They have no time for any opposing ideas, or for any analysis, reasoning, subtlety or concession. Either you agree with them or with the liars, many of them say, occasionally explicitly.

Challenged to explain their motives, the most they do is simply re-iterate their belief. Or they resort to cowardly tricks somewhat similar to those found in the type of domestic abuse called in law, "coercive and controlling behaviour".

SW does not help though, with so many "I Love..." or I Hate... " something, Forum titles. Far fewer "I Like..." or "I prefer...". What a binary view of life!

OogieBoogie · F

@ArishMell I think there are also those who post [b]to [/b] be controversial or [b]argumentative [/b].
There are some that pose the same questions in different ways, over and over again.
Something they have debated and argued 10 times before ...at length. But keep doing it.

To what purpose ?

If they found no enlightenment, conclusion, or resolution the first 10 times, why keep asking ?
It's like you say, it's almost as if they need to [b]prove [/b] to everybody else that they are right.
And if you feel that strongly about something, why put it out there to be debated? - be happy with what you believe 🤷

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OogieBoogie · F

@TheEmperor the religious posts are prolly the most notorious for this type of thing.

Or rather , religious bible quoters that lack philosophy or their opposing Bible bashers who lack spiritually of any kind .

These two types of extremist make religion and atheism a bad thing .
When in fact those of us who get on with life, and use our belief as a guide rather than a thrashing stick ....seem to get along jist fine and can have logical debates 🤷l😂

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@OogieBoogie I agree. They just like to be thought the fount of all wisdom - or just like to pick a fight!

Your phrase "Bible bashers" made me smile because I know exactly what you mean, but hard-line Christians who try to impose their beliefs on others are often called "Bible-thumpers"!

I do wonder if this site makes things worse by encouraging totally binary division of the world's religious views into "Christianity" and "Atheism"; and a quaternary political split into America's only two Parties, and vague Far-Left and Far-Right. As if no other faiths, administrative parties or systems; no doubt, analysis, questioning or conceding; can possibly exist.