I tried to send a message and some how it just disappeared on me. That
will explain why I am repeating myself here just in case it does show
up. By the way, I would say that if you have had only two people push
their religion on you and they stopped when you told them to stop you
have been really lucky, but I think I may see why you got off so easy.
You have described to us some of your travels including your globe
trotting and that you spent some time in Michigan, but just how much
time have you spent south of the Mason Dixon line? And I don't think
Florida counts. Most people in Florida were not born in Florida, so it
has an entirely different flavor. The area is called the bible belt, but
it might be more accurate to call it the evangelical belt because these
sects are not satisfied with just being bible believers. They think they
have to evangelize everyone else into being bible believers. I think I
live in the northern fringes of the bible belt, so I may not be in the
worst of it, but I do seem to be in it anyway. I suspect that if you
lived around here you would not have had it so easy.
---
Voltaire
“ Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. ”
― Voltaire,
On 7/22/2019 5:16 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I didn't mean that you literally represent the American empire. What I meant
was that all of us on this list, represent the American empire to Mustafa.
We're all in America. He's writing to us about what our government does. Why do
you suppose that he does that?
I suppose that you're correct when you say that I'm making assumptions about
people's motivations. That's what most people do and I do that a lot because of
my professional training and because of my personal inclinations. And I don't
always accept the reasons that people give for their behavior as their true
motivations. I can see how that might make you angry.
As for proselytizing, there were two times in my life when someone tried to convince me
to believe in God. Each time, I responded that I had my own beliefs and value system,
that I respected their right to believe as they did, and I would appreciate it if they
would respect my right to do the same. It was friendly and there were no arguments. So I
suspect that when Mustafa began to write about religion, you could have chosen not to
answer those particular posts, just as I did, and there would have been no more
discussion. Or you might have written that you respected his right to his religious
beliefs, but you would appreciate it if he did not share them on this list. I don't know
what his response would have been to that. But you chose to debate him instead. You made
a decision that if anyone began attempting to convince you to believe as he or she did
about religion, it was your right and your duty to fight back. When Mustafa has written
about religion on other lists, other people have made similar choices. Given the results
of these discussions, I wonder why people keep having them. The only conclusion which I
can draw is that you derive some kind of emotional satisfaction from endless argument.
From your explanation to me, it sounds like what you're saying is that you are seeking
revenge because you say, " I don't know why you want to try to pretend to read minds
when I so clearly lay out to you why I am actually doing something. Mostafa is a bully
and a harasser and I am giving it right back to him."
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey (Redacted
sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2019 3:43 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: This sounds like Mostafa.
On two levels you seem to have never paid attention to anything I have ever
said. It is a real stretch to say that I represent U.S.
imperialism. I have denounced imperialism over and over. But on the second
level you are trying to read minds, both mine and Mostafa's. Does it not even
occur to you to accept stated motives rather than pretend to know what people
are thinking and base your guesses at motives on your assumed telepathy. Okay,
let me explain it again. While I may get some gratification out of winning a
contest of logic against Mostafa that is not why I do it. I also do not do it
to convince him of anything. I have said over and over that no matter how
religious a person might be, if they don't bother me about their religion I
don't bother them about their religion. But when it comes to those religious
harassers it is another matter. I am talking about the ones who follow you
around trying to beat you over the head with their religion. I am talking about
the ones will not leave you alone no matter how much you tell them that you are
not interested. I am talking about the kind of people who will follow a blind
man down the street screaming at him that god has struck him blind because he
turned his back on Jesus. I got fed up with those ass holes years ago, but no
matter how much I tell them that I am fed up with them insulting my
intelligence with their harassment they won't stop. So here we have a religious
harasser. He is the first Muslim harasser I have come across unless you count
the one who would not let me off his email list back before Mostafa came along,
but he is still a religious harasser. He first came to my attention when other
people started to complain about him on various email lists. He harvested email
addresses and bombarded people with his proselytizing and when they asked to be
removed he refused. When people blocked him he tried to get around the blocks.
This is outright harassment. It is bullying. So I fight back. I may not fight
back in the same way that others fight back, but I fight back. I engage him in
logical debate because he insults my intelligence and since this is an argument
that I always win I always manage to point up who the real idiot is. And don't
say that I win in my own mind. When I make a logical argument or point out a
logical fallacy in his arguments and he has no refutation, but only launches
into a tantrum of name calling, insults and threats, I win and my win is right
there for you and anyone who is reading the exchange to see. I take on the
challenge because if he wants to insult my intelligence it is like saying,
okay, let's see who the real fool is. Now, I have told you my motives again.
There is no reason for you to ignore what I have said that my motives for
taking on Mostafa are. I don't know why you want to try to pretend to read
minds when I so clearly lay out to you why I am actually doing something.
Mostafa is a bully and a harasser and I am giving it right back to him.
---
Voltaire
“ Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. ”
― Voltaire,
On 7/22/2019 9:27 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I forgot one more factor and that is a political one. In these debates, Roger
inadvertently represents the US, the super power of the world, the country that
overthrows democracies in favor of dictators who support it and then provides
military aid to the dictators. It has proclaimed, since W Bush's
administration, a Christian crusade, with many members of the military saying
this explicitly. Mustafa is a citizen of one of the multitude of countries that
the US dominates. When Mustafa proclaims his version of the truth on our list,
he is also proclaiming his rage at the US for how it behaves in the Middle
East. Roger's self satisfaction when he believes that he has won a logical
argument, doesn't undo any of what is really going on. Winning an argument with
logic doesn't obliterate religious belief or the anger of people in other
countries or Mustafa's need to assert himself. It's kind of like getting into a
fist fight in a bar. You win the fight and you feel good momentarily, but
nothing has changed.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Loran Bailey
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2019 9:54 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Miriam Vieni
<miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [blind-democracy] Re: This sounds like Mostafa.
Name calling and insult throwing is not an example of poor English skills. It
is just hostility and tantrum throwing. I bested Mostafa in a debate in logic.
He has been throwing a tantrum ever since.
---
Voltaire
“ Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. ”
― Voltaire,
On 7/21/2019 9:18 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
There may be several factors involved in the faulty communication between Roger
and Mustafa. One of them is Mustafa's limitations in expressing himself in
English. He may be sounding more emphatic than he means to because he doesn't
know the idioms and nuances of the English language. Roger may not always truly
comprehend what Mustafa is attempting to say. Another problem is that they come
from totally different cultural backgrounds. They don't start from the same
assumptions. That fact certainly impedes positive communication. A third factor
may be that each is emotionally invested in his point of view. When they become
involved in verbal confrontations, each feels that his manhood or his is
involved. And there's one more thing. Roger apparently believes that it is his
duty to educate everyone or, to put it another way, to convince everyone to
think as he does. Mustafa may have the same compulsion. I don't enjoy battles
so I don't read their email debates. I just delete them. I remember one night
when Joe and Frank were engaged in a terrible email fight. That was an awful
experience and it was the last time I ever read battling emails.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2019 8:41 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: This sounds like Mostafa.
By all means, any of us can have a gap in our education. That was a point I was
making in my other message about whether there is such a thing as a stupid
question. If it is an honest question asked in an attempt to learn it is not a
stupid question. Sometimes it can be a bit frustrating when you realize that in
order to answer it in a way that the questioner will understand you will have
to start educating that person from an elementary school level and I, for one,
cannot do that.
However, if it is an honest question asked with the intention of learning I can
try to do my best to answer. However, an honest attempt to learn is not what
Mostafa is doing with his ignorant questions and pronouncements. He proudly
shows his ignorance in order to discredit entire branches of science. He shows
his ignorance in order to discredit me. At least that is what he is trying to
do. But he manages to actually ask questions that have to be called stupid
questions. They are stupid because when he gets an answer he refuses to accept
it. He just keeps repeating the ignorance that he has been caught up in. That
is a refusal to learn. It is just a hostile act. And what he discredits more
than anything is himself.
---
Voltaire
??? Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
???
??? Voltaire,
On 7/21/2019 1:02 PM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
It's frustrating. But I would point out that any of us can have a
gap in our education, or a lack of ability to grasp information that
is well understood by other people.
The value of an opinion based list, such as this one should be, that
we can expose our lack of education and receive positive guidance
without feeling threatened or put down. But that calls for an open
mind on our part, and understanding people who give their
information and opinions in a helpful and caring manner.
Carl Jarvis...who has learned a great deal through interaction on this list.
On 7/20/19, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I just had to tell you guys about this. This sounds exactly like
something Mostafa would say. There is a Facebook discussion group
on the subject of science that I subscribe to. It is open to all,
but I would expect that people who would subscribe would have some
interest in science and so would have some kind of knowledge of
science even if only rudimentary. Apparently that is not the case.
Someone just showed up and said that we all know that combustion
requires the presence of oxygen, so is there oxygen in the sun to
make combustion take place there? Some others started to give
answers explaining that chemical combustion takes place in the
presence of oxygen, but that what is happening in the sun is
nuclear fusion. Personally, it seems to me that if a person could
seriously ask that question then it is unlikely that he would
understand such answers. I would not be surprised if he did not
even know what nuclear fusion is. I did not even bother to try to
answer him. With someone like that the only way to give a good
answer would be to go back to elementary science class and teach
him that and to continue to teach him until he finally reached a
point that he could understand. This is exactly how I feel when
Mostafa asks questions like, if we descended from monkeys then why are there
still monkeys?
How can you give a meaningful answer to someone that ignorant? It
is exasperating. It is also similar to another one I saw once. I
don't know if this was supposed to be a joke, but if it wasn't it
is about just as exasperating. Someone from Nigeria once asked, if the Earth
really rotates then why am I still in Nigeria?
--
---
Voltaire
??? Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit
atrocities. ???
??? Voltaire,
