Something I've noticed in many of the 'heart' threads:

[Oeditpus Rex]

People telling others they shouldn't be offended and to "get over it."



Strange thing is, it's often not the ones you might expect.



Just sayin'. Flame on.

[ZombieNixon]

1. Get over it.

:eyes: :P

Yeah, DU can turn anything into a flame war, but I've got a real heart (albeit a diagram, the REAL real hearts on Google images and Wiki were a bit gross :P) with me wherever I go. :P

[idgiehkt]

2. get over it if they did get one or if they didn't?

strange.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Mostly

if they object to the idea because they see it as a popularity contest or whatever.

[jonnyblitz]

3. you made me laugh, Eddie Puss Rex!

the bong hits help. :crazy: :smoke:

i probably should be offended. :P

[skygazer]

4. Guilty as charged

:blush:

But I can't help feeling it's a little silly to equate the DU heart drive to being left out in a 3rd grade classroom. I've never, ever felt even remotely like one of the "popular kids" here at DU but that's never bothered me. It's an Internet message board.

That said, I really am sorry if people DO feel left out or hurt either by the heart drive or by that statement and as a matter of fact, I've given all my hearts to people who didn't have any.

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. It does indeed seem silly to some

But it's not for us to judge how others feel.

Same as if they're offended by something. Or not.

[Midlodemocrat]

11. I know what you are referring to, and c'mon, dude, you know it

isn't the same thing. It's not like the hearts are going to trample people's rights.

And, I feel sorry for those that are offended, which is why I've been trying to give mine to people who state the same, but it really isn't the same thing.

First of all, it's a fundraiser. And, secondly even if someone didn't get ANY hearts, EVER, it won't change their lives IRL one whit.

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. How do you know?

There's no way one can say what will affect another, or to what degree. Some come home from war with no apparent psychological damage while others are hospitalized for PTSD.

I find the sentiments quite similar. No one has the right to tell anyone else how to feel — about anything.

[Midlodemocrat]

14. Well, of course you are correct, but there is no

institutional discrimination against those who are heart free the way there is institutional racism or homophobia.

It is after all, just an anonymous message board.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. In a way, there is

Granted, there's no organized "Beat up on the unpopular" movement, but it's pervasive in our society from the time we're very young.

But we're getting away from the point I've tried to make for a week, which is that the only acceptable intolerance is that of intolerance itself. And it extends to everyone, on all sides.

[Midlodemocrat]

17. I don't know about that.

acceptable intolerance?

I think there are a lot of things we, as progressives, don't tolerate. Racism, Poverty, War, to name a few.

Maybe I'm missing what you are saying?

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. Maybe I'm not saying it well

Okay — I'm talking about reactionary intolerance. Name-calling. Labeling. Assumptions.

And, to be perfectly clear, I do mean from all sides.



"I don't picket in the streets of Birmingham. I'm not mad at the people who do. Maybe they shouldn't be mad at the people who don't." —Willie Mays, 1965

[Midlodemocrat]

19. Do you really think that people are

upset enough over a website's fundraising tactics to carry it over into real life?

And, I certainly think that people who upset about it are entitled to their opinion. I have to say for me, if I didn't get any hearts, I wouldn't care. Lord knows I have enough threads that sink like a stone and enough posts that go unreplied to.

One poster this morning got a little heated about it, though. Maybe that is what you mean? :shrug:

[Oeditpus Rex]

20. I haven't seen anyone get 'heated'

I've seen plenty of the "popularity contest" comments. Hell, I made one of 'em. But that's about it.

I'm saying I don't know how people might react because we have a huge mix of personalities here. It's certainly conceivable that someone with a recent history of clinical depression could be pushed over the edge by something as seemingly silly as not getting a heart.

But that still isn't what I'm addressing, which is simply the "I don't like the hearts"/"Get over it" thing. I don't feel it's right to tell anybody to "get over" anything.

[Midlodemocrat]

21. I haven't seen it. I DID see an exchange that was unpleasant

and I have seen people post that they don't like it. I haven't seen anyone post to them to get over it.

I HAVE seen people post that they don't feel the same way, which isn't what you saying, I don't think?

[Oeditpus Rex]

22. I've seen 'Get over it,'

"It's stupid to feel that way," etc.

[Midlodemocrat]

23. I take it back. I have seen your second sentence.

And, you're right. People should be allowed to feel whatever they feel without being judged.

I hope I didn't do that.

[sniffa]

7. y'know, i reaLLy resent

being caLLed a homophobe, when aLL i reaLLy am is a phobe enabLer. x(

[Midlodemocrat]

8. Those damn hearts!

[Kat45]

9. I don't have any.

But I haven't been around much lately and I didn't even know about the hearts.

[enigmatic]

10. "Do as I say, not as I do" is never in short supply here

Or in the world, for that matter..

[Elidor]

13. There is no group anywhere more capable of being offended-

Indeed, more eager to be offended, than DUers. We are the bitchiest bunch of people I've ever encountered.

Unfortunately, some will be offended by my comments.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

16. apples and oranges.

[Moderator]

24. Locking