BOW BEFORE YOUR GROUP HOST!!!

[laconicsax]

Muahahahahaha

[sharp_stick]

1. Ahhh the arrogance of power

it doesn't take long to crawl under the skin. LOL

[WillParkinson]

2. Do you prefer we bow...

Or kneel? Not sure which is your preference.

[ZombieHorde]

5. The rumor downtown is laconicsax prefers us to kneel,

right in front of him, very close...no even closer...

[laconicsax]

6. Don't make me ban you...or worse...

[lindysalsagal]

18. Now now- Don't tease me like that!

Just between you and me....what's exactly worse than banning??
Are costumes involved? Cameras?

[Renew Deal]

3. Congrats!

[Angry Dragon]

4. Is this the new r/t forum or group??

[dmallind]

7. kneel facing which way? Sorry - channeling my inner altar boy. nt

[laconicsax]

8. Here's a diagram

[dmallind]

12. What an unfortunate but revelatory design

You'd think wouldn't you that somebody....

...well this reminds me of a bar called the Madison Street pub in Seattle my wife and I went to this year. Fun place, nice folks. Clientele almost exclusively male, rainbow flags and all that.

The only food they offer is foot long hot dogs and (very good) warm spicy nuts.

As I said then: "They have to know. It's not that they can have missed this or got it by accident. Even if it started that way somebody surely pointed it out, within hours, many years ago. They just have it as some tongue in cheek witty self-referential humor."

This design strikes me the same way.

[rug]

9. Oh, brother.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. I think we need a change of title for the hosts of Religion and a few other groups

What with 'super powers', and an explanation of how jury members are chosen at not-quite-random:

After checking to see if a potential Juror is not excluded, the software then does a virtual "dice roll" against the member's chance of serving. Every member's chance of serving is represented as a percentage and is publicly displayed on their Profile page. A member's maximum possible chance of serving is 100%, and their lowest possible chance of serving is 1%.

Things that increase a member's chance of serving:

Increase 1 percentage point for each 100 posts (up to 20 percentage points max = 2,000 posts)
Increase 1 percentage point for each 10 days of membership (up to 20 percentage points max = 200 days)
Increase 1 percentage point for each post in the last 90 days (up to 20 percentage points max = 20 posts)
Increase 40 percentage points for Star Membership

Things that decrease a member's chance of serving:

Decrease 5 percentage points for each hidden post in last 90 days

http://www.democraticunderground.com/index.php?com=modsystem

that gives me a distinct D&D feel, I propose the Hosts of the more contentious Groups are titled:

Dungeon Masters.

[cleanhippie]

11. Nice!

[backscatter712]

13. Power corrupts, and absolute power is kind of neat! n/t

[westerebus]

14. This is going to get interesting...

So your hosty-ness is that a religious symbol or are you just presenting the icon of division to attest to your new power?

[Silent3]

15. I didn't think that these old posts...

...from playing around with DU3 in the preview phase would still be here when DU3 went live. Hmmm.

Mainly I'm commenting on this only because I wanted to make a first post on the new DU.

If only I could get my solar eclipse avatar back.

[deacon_sephiroth]

16. Will this be the end of our hero Deacon's shenanigans?

STAY TUNED!

[cbayer]

17. I guess the PTB decided that someone who chose a specific avatar to mock people of faith really

wasn't the best choice to host this group.

[laconicsax]

19. I was a temporary host for the latest DU3 preview.

The admins needed people to help test features, so I volunteered.

I'm not sure how my avatar mocks people of faith.

[darkstar3]

20. I'm not either, and that concerns me as far as the nominations go.

[cbayer]

21. You are, of course, aware that everyone can read posts in small groups,

including the one discussing your new avatar in the atheist/agnostic group.

I would respectfully suggest that you reconsider your choice of avatar, but that's completely up to you.

There is an opportunity here to make this group a much better place, and I am sincerely hopeful that you might be a part of that process.

[darkstar3]

22. If you want to make this group a better place, then I suggest you start

by lecturing the two biggest rabblerousers R/T ever saw. Laconic here isn't one of them, Just go look at the old forum (you know how to get there) and see who I mean.

[cbayer]

25. I don't intend to lecture anyone, only to provoke some discussion about how people behave in this

group and how we might improve the general level of discourse.

[darkstar3]

28. Then "provoke some discussion" on this topic from the provacateurs.

[cbayer]

29. Perhaps you and I can talk further at another time, as I sense that I am being baited here.

I remain hopeful that we (meaning all who frequent this group) can civilly discuss our different ways of seeing and experiencing things. My discussion in this sub-thread has been with you and I don't think you can define for me or anyone other than yourself who the "provocateurs" may be.

That being said, I can only interpret your response as a closing of this discussion between the two of us. And that's ok with me.

[laconicsax]

23. My old avatar mocked people, this one doesn't.

Are you so blinded by prejudice that you can't see a crucifix without thinking that someone's being mocked?

[cbayer]

24. I don't recall what you previous avatar was, so have no point of reference here.

However, if a pro-Palestinian member adopted the Star of David as their avatar, one might think this was meant as mocking. It just doesn't seem like a move likely to lead to a civil, thoughtful or insightful discussion.

When I see a crucifix, I think of Christianity. I am at a loss to see how that makes me blinded by prejudice.

[Humanist_Activist]

26. Actually its not even a crucifix, just a cross, a symbol that predates Christianity...

I also don't see the mocking, its just ironic.

[cbayer]

27. I suppose only the person sporting it can truly attest to what it is and what it means.

However, irony is often meant to mock and many people see a crucifix in that symbol. As a matter of fact, the member using it is the one who identified it as such in a reply to me.

[Humanist_Activist]

30. True, but I just see a cross...

Whether its mocking or not, I doubt it, unless he wants to become a poe, I don't see an issue.

[lindysalsagal]

31. So! How about those NY Giants!

This thread started out so much more fun that it's ending....

[laconicsax]

32. "When I see a crucifix, I think of Christianity. I am at a loss to see how that makes me blinded..."

Dissonance, much? You are so prejudiced that when you see a crucifix you think of only one thing and can't think of anything else!

Either way, I have a few points for you to mull over:

-Lurking in A/A for ammo against atheists smacks of stalking.
-Jesus wasn't the only person, let alone the only religious figure who was crucified.
-I love the irony of you bemoaning a lack of "civil, thoughtful or insightful discussion" in a subthread about how you went into the atheists forum to gather 'evidence' that my avatar subtly mocks Christians.