What does this post have to do with "harassing forum members"?

Here’s the post that actually got me flagged with a red mark, because apparently I was "insulting" a fellow user:

Quote: Red Shrike said:So, if you aren't just messing around with one single constant or force, but instead tweak several of them simultaneously, you could theoretically assemble a set of physical laws that ALLOW complex structures—like stars, galaxies, and planets—to emerge, along with complex organic structures like life itself. You could even scrap a force here or add one there, giving you way more options to play with.

Look, if you start messing with every single constant instead of just one, it’s technically possible to end up with a two-headed donkey with a John Deere tiller shoved up its ass; nobody ever said that was impossible. Honestly, it’s pretty unlikely that the Almighty God would create such nonsense, but it is entirely possible that the Almighty God gives humans the capacity for abstract thought so we have the chance to imagine a two-headed donkey with a tiller up its butt, compare that to a regular farm donkey, and conclude that a normal donkey makes a hell of a lot more sense than some freakish two-headed beast with power equipment stuck in its rear—and that He, being the only one who can actually change the laws of nature, certainly isn't going to do it just to prove a point to someone as stubborn as a common donkey that it's possible to make a two-headed donkey with a tiller up its ass.

All you need to do is tinker with just one constant to realize why it has to be exactly what it is, but there’s a catch: you can't be as stubborn as a regular donkey, though you might be as stubborn as a two-headed donkey with a tiller up its ass, provided that one of those two heads manages to overpower the stubbornness of the other...

@ krena, you really think it's weird that a well-known atheist didn't know where the info came from? It doesn't surprise me at all that you think you know the answer to that question, even if you're totally wrong about it.

Where exactly am I insulting anyone in this post?

Stubborn as a mule...

It feels more like trolling than an actual insult, but honestly, since it’s such intense trolling, this card felt like the right call. If you really want one, you can grab a 45-point trolling card in exchange for...

Gregory Turner71 said:Stubborn as a damn mule...

It feels more like trolling than an actual insult, but since it’s such heavy-duty trolling, I figured this ban card was the right call. Though hey, if you really want, you can grab a "trolling permit" for 45 points instead...

Look, if you aren't calling it an insult, then you have to take the card back because you handed it out based on a totally flawed reasoning—which you just admitted yourself. In any courtroom in a civilized country, that’s called a procedural error, and all a judge can do is toss the verdict entirely. But I guess being a shady judge is fine with you, right? You think you have the right to harass people on a forum just so you can feel more comfortable. I could put it even more bluntly, but I better watch my step with your ego, so I’m using the ultimate euphemism here.

And while we're talking about how this might be "trolling" since it isn't an "insult":

The fact that I’ve used the phrase "two-headed donkey with a tiller up its ass" a few times is just a matter of style—maybe it technically breaks some rule about repetitive writing by overusing certain terms in one paragraph, but sometimes you lean into that technique on purpose to drive home the irony by exaggerating whatever you're making fun of.

There is absolutely no rule that lets you hand out a ban card just because someone is being ironic or mocking something. It’s just pure arrogance from people who decide to violently and completely baselessly label irony or mockery of their own side as "trolling," just so they can feel better about themselves when they lack the actual arguments to face off against the other side in a fair debate.

It's pathetic!

And honestly, it's pathetic how some people just refuse to grasp what the word "pathetic" actually means!

When you don't have a coherent response to something, there's always that magic word you try to use (in vain) to soothe your own frustrations: TROLLING!

"You're trolling!" Oh, please, why don't you be a real tough guy and give yourself a bunch of trolling cards after handing me this one that you had zero grounds for giving in the first place!

Is there anyone else on this forum brave enough to tell you exactly what you deserve to your face?

I know there isn't, so I'm just asking rhetorically, Almighty God, Gregory Turner71!

Directly above me you'll find the administrators—and just above them sits the site owner—and ultimately, everything falls under the jurisdiction of the US federal court system. If you aren't satisfied with my decision, I’d honestly suggest you take your grievances up with one of them.

Seriously, have you no shame? Just look at wanda1’s posts—look at the absolute mountain of insults he spews before you finally decide to hand him a red card. If I had been dropping slurs like that, I would’ve been hit with a suspension for religious intolerance ages ago—actually, scratch that, I’m such an optimist, I would’ve been permabanned for that level of toxicity. For just one single post of his that earned a red card, I’d definitely be looking at a five-hundred-point penalty. And you honestly think you’re being an objective moderator? 😂

If I actually believed this place was a serious community, I’d be filing complaints with every oversight board out there about your moderator tyranny, but let’s face it, this place is a joke, and the only reason why is because it gets moderated way too often in the incredibly biased style you just described. Look, you aren't the only one here playing favorites with the rules. Honestly, I’d love to know what the administrators even do on this forum. I mean, I know what they *do*, I'm just asking rhetorically...

Go ahead then, don't let anything stop you—keep handing me cards for nothing based on these totally warped excuses, while you wait until wanda1 dumps such a massive pile of insults on everyone who disagrees with him that it becomes unreadable even to you.

I am almost certain I got that red card FOR NOTHING because of this: one day you gave wanda1 a red card for something that should have cost him 500 points, and since you were late on it, now you feel you have to "balance the scales" by handing someone from the theistic side a card OUT OF THIN AIR.

That's just how it is, I guess; hey, it can't be easy for you either.

After touching base with the admins, we’ve decided to pull that red badge from your profile. Just consider this a friendly heads-up—try to dial back the intensity and steer clear of those personal jabs and insinuations going forward.

Gregory Turner71 said:After talking it over with the admins, we decided to strip that red flag from you. Just consider this a warning to tone it down and quit the ad hominem insinuations.

Thanks, honorable court!

Look, Gregory Turner71, if I tell someone that they can't achieve what they want if they're being as stubborn as a mule, that doesn't mean I'm personally attacking them, okay? I'm just saying that generally speaking, if some person XY wants to reach a certain goal, they need to ditch certain biases beforehand, because without letting go of those preconceived notions or that blind faith in something like multiverse theory and all that, you just can't resonate objectively by default.

There’s honestly zero point in censoring a post like that or starting a witch hunt, because the text you flagged is carefully framed as a general principle. It’s a totally legitimate way to express an idea, and if someone happens to see themselves in my words, that’s their own issue—and if they don't, even better—but it is absolutely not an ad hominem attack; it’s just defining the position of a hypothetical participant in this debate (the one where this whole mess "happened") or any similar discussion.

I wasn't insulting anyone, and I certainly wasn't insulting Red Shrike, even though my tone can be a bit snarky and biting sometimes (I'll admit that, but it's totally valid and NOT malicious!!!), which is why Red Shrike and a lot of his and your allies love to interpret it as an insult. But we know what actual insults look like, and that's what wand1 does constantly and refuses to stop doing. He's just that kind of user; he lives to insult people, whereas I DO NOT insult.

So, it was completely fine for you guys to take that card away from me.

Thanks!

P.S. Oh, yeah, I forgot this part: Do you actually think telling someone they're as stubborn as a mule counts as an insult? Like, "Watch out, you're being as stubborn as a mule"? That's one thing, but telling someone they're as stupid as a horse—now *that* is an insult, but being stubborn isn't something that gets you penalized on this forum, as far as I know.

Seriously, even if I called a fellow user as stubborn as a mule, in my book, that wouldn't fall under the category of insulting. I mean, if this forum started censoring people to the point where you get penalized for saying "you're as stubborn as a mule," wouldn't that basically turn our democratic discourse into total Talibanization?

driftingfalcon3 said:I haven't insulted anyone, especially not Red Sparrow, even if my tone can be a bit blunt or sarcastic sometimes (I’ll admit that, but it’s totally fair and definitely NOT malicious!!!). Red Sparrow and a bunch of his crowd love to take that as an insult. But we all know what actual insults look like, which is exactly what wand1 keeps doing. That’s just how he operates on this forum—he lives to offend. I don't play that game.

You might not be insulting people, but you're skating pretty close to trolling. The warning was pulled, so let's just call it even.

👋