[oneofthefew]

Originally Posted by sgriobhadair

I see. In which case I'll be kicked off toot sweet. I like nothing better than a DISCUSSION about difficult issues, but discussions must be governed by the rules of rhetoric, otherwise only the noisiest and most bullying voices are heard.

That sounds about right! This is meant to be a discussion forum, but by copying and pasting one article and then the same person responding to that (repeatedly) by copying and pasting other articles does remove the discussion aspect! Then again, that does stop the person doing the copying and pasting from having to think for themself - and judging by their responses when picked up they are better sticking to the copy/paste route though their own weblog would be a better medium for that!

I look forward to getting kicked off. I shall make a point of never using bad language or scurrility, not 'baiting' anyone just for the heck of it and always address the issue at hand. I'll be proud to be kicked off because, in my polite and reasonable way, I make DV uncomfortable.

I think a lot of people make this particular person uncomfortable. Just reading through his weblog... oops, I mean the Religion and Philosophy section of the forum makes that clear!

One issue at hand, as I see it, is something to do with Catholicism and Tony Blair. If Tony Blair wants to become a Catholic, who objects, and why? Is it because he has blood on his hands?

I do believe this is supposed to be about Blair and his aspirations to convert. As for objections, those doing so appear to be doing so elsewhere - or maybe they have been put off commenting for the reasons stated above, i.e. the way a certain person uses this forum! As a result the discussion ceases to be about the actual issue, but then it would seem the person who started the topic didn't want a discussion anyway. Looking through similar topics he has started that would certainly appear to be the case - no matter how many people DON'T comment, he doesn't get the hint therefore he's happy to control the forum and run it his way!

The other issue is Digital Vampire's inability to further such a discussion without repelling smart, informed people with something to say.

I don't think there is a single discussion on this forum that DV has furthered in any way! He's incapable of having a reasoned discussion, therefore he avoids just that and resorts to his bullying tactics instead!

Now, back to Tony Blair, who really cares what he chooses to do? As for him becoming a Catholic, is there any reason he shouldn't? If there is then fair enough, but then all those who are already Catholics should then take a good look at themselves to see if they deserve to remain so!