A
Art Mann
Guest
Buried down in the Discretion thread started by Baz is a comment that merits genuine reflection:
I agree, ipsniffit.
I confess I am among those who have accused Baz in the past of being a troll. I also suspect if I were to go back and find that post (or posts) I would probably still stand by my comments.
But as ipsniffit notes, of late Baz has been rather mellow. In fact, he has been pretty damn polite in view of some of the nasty barbs thrown at him, or the abusive way his wife gets dragged into conversations, mocked, objectified and denigrated.
By the same token, Baz, you have presented a pretty easy target, big as the broadside of a barn door.
When you first arrived here you came on preachy, a religulous nut with a mission to rescue everybody. You exhibited a somewhat childlike naievity reminiscent of Voltaire's Candide discovering the reality of the world in sharp contrast to his previously sheltered life. In fact, for several months I even wondered if you were a fictitious character, perhaps the alter-ID of some other member just trolling the board with a straight face to see how we'd react.
But I long ago accepted you as a real person, Baz, and as valid a member as anyone else here. Admittedly, I still occasionally grin and shake my head at your apparent naievity and I sometimes still see you as Candide (albeit minus the social satire) because of the sheltered "wholesome" lifestyle you strive to maintain and promote.
You are perfectly entitled to that lifestyle, by the way, even though it strikes me at odds with the open, hedonistic, sexually liberated lifestyle celebrated here.
At times I have called you out as a hypocrite, most recently with the analogy of a vegan going to a steakhouse and not tasting any of that juicy BBQ fare. I suspect I will raise similar arguments again in counterpoint to your thesis of sacred monogamy. But I trust I will do so in civilized fashion. (I'm also pretty sure that, given the right opportunity, I won't be able to resist weaving a lurid tale like the one about Miss Anneliese and me having sex at the dinner table in front of you and Ida ... sorry, I did have fun with that one.)
Here's the thing about hypocrisy, folks. We can spot it so easily in others, but it's pretty damn hard to see in ourselves.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I view this board and other "erotic" forums as an environment for open-minded people. An environment where some men and women are a hell of a lot kinkier than me and have fetishes I might consider weird, but I accept that in the same way I expect my somewhat eccentric personality to be accepted by others.
So what bothers ipsniffit is what bothers me. I'm sure he and I are not alone in this. But I'll put it to the board in general.
As Baz wanders blithely through here, tossing out naieve questions that may seem a tad trolling, may seem like he's pushing our buttons . . . as Baz learns the facts of life as we see them, is he inadvertently discovering something else when we respond with knee-jerk reaction?
Are we inadvertently revealing ourselves as hypocrites?
I agree, ipsniffit.
I confess I am among those who have accused Baz in the past of being a troll. I also suspect if I were to go back and find that post (or posts) I would probably still stand by my comments.
But as ipsniffit notes, of late Baz has been rather mellow. In fact, he has been pretty damn polite in view of some of the nasty barbs thrown at him, or the abusive way his wife gets dragged into conversations, mocked, objectified and denigrated.
By the same token, Baz, you have presented a pretty easy target, big as the broadside of a barn door.
When you first arrived here you came on preachy, a religulous nut with a mission to rescue everybody. You exhibited a somewhat childlike naievity reminiscent of Voltaire's Candide discovering the reality of the world in sharp contrast to his previously sheltered life. In fact, for several months I even wondered if you were a fictitious character, perhaps the alter-ID of some other member just trolling the board with a straight face to see how we'd react.
But I long ago accepted you as a real person, Baz, and as valid a member as anyone else here. Admittedly, I still occasionally grin and shake my head at your apparent naievity and I sometimes still see you as Candide (albeit minus the social satire) because of the sheltered "wholesome" lifestyle you strive to maintain and promote.
You are perfectly entitled to that lifestyle, by the way, even though it strikes me at odds with the open, hedonistic, sexually liberated lifestyle celebrated here.
At times I have called you out as a hypocrite, most recently with the analogy of a vegan going to a steakhouse and not tasting any of that juicy BBQ fare. I suspect I will raise similar arguments again in counterpoint to your thesis of sacred monogamy. But I trust I will do so in civilized fashion. (I'm also pretty sure that, given the right opportunity, I won't be able to resist weaving a lurid tale like the one about Miss Anneliese and me having sex at the dinner table in front of you and Ida ... sorry, I did have fun with that one.)
Here's the thing about hypocrisy, folks. We can spot it so easily in others, but it's pretty damn hard to see in ourselves.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I view this board and other "erotic" forums as an environment for open-minded people. An environment where some men and women are a hell of a lot kinkier than me and have fetishes I might consider weird, but I accept that in the same way I expect my somewhat eccentric personality to be accepted by others.
So what bothers ipsniffit is what bothers me. I'm sure he and I are not alone in this. But I'll put it to the board in general.
As Baz wanders blithely through here, tossing out naieve questions that may seem a tad trolling, may seem like he's pushing our buttons . . . as Baz learns the facts of life as we see them, is he inadvertently discovering something else when we respond with knee-jerk reaction?
Are we inadvertently revealing ourselves as hypocrites?
EACE:
