In Reply to: Re: Announcement - Two possible new boards posted by Perry on August 09, 2004 at 19:53:35:
Some people have a very strong need to control what's going on in a given social environment, including what MIGHT be going on inside of another person's mind.
I had to chuckle at your point about "devlish doctrines," because my father--a true flag-waving, redneck good-old-boy if ever you were to meet one--always taught me that each and every citizen in a free society has the God-given right to go to hell believing whatever they want and that I should never use religion as an excuse to mess with another person's right to go to hell for what they believe.
We've been having a problem lately with people who want to provide their unsolicited services as the site's Brain Police. Individuals who work for the Brain Police almost always have a problem with the kind of thinking errors they are trying so desperately to control in the discourse and minds of other people. It's very hard to get the Brain Police to hear what you are saying and respect boundaries, because they are mostly listening to and talking with their own heads.
I'm willing to submit to a certain amount of interrogation by the Brain Police and let a level of intrusiveness by vigilantes from the Thought Gestapo go unremarked largely because I like to get a good feel for exactly who and what I'm dealing with. The amount of personal information an individual poster provides about him/herself is something that helps me figure out what course of action I should take or what to suggest as a coordinated response from the board administrators.
When I put out a post with a lot of self-disclosures, I'm usually trying to share what I believe is a more authentic human face. Sometimes I'm not very good at it because I get too much into my head and not enough into my heart and hands. But this is also who I really am--a very heady person. Something I learned really well from The Family was how to be a plastic poster who wears masks that cover up my true feelings and needs.
Admitting you are angry and would like to lash out is an authentic face of our shared humanity. I'm glad you decided to claim that sacred space for yourself on this website.