Posted by Lini on July 8, 2002, at 13:16:16
In reply to Re: proselytizing » Lini, posted by beardedlady on July 8, 2002, at 11:10:00
Actually, I wasn't talking at all about Lou's right to express his opinion or not, I was more talking about the fact that it is his *style* of expressing himself that seems to make things difficult for other people. The right to an opinion, and your expression of an opinion are two different things . . . given that Lou seems to have a particular style, it probably makes sense for those that don't enjoy it, to not converse with him. SD asked for a long-story-short and Lou basically said that in order to answer her question, he had to give a long story. That's his style when asked questions, I am not sure there is much we can do about that (as SD learned!).
If I asked you to answer a question for me about depression, but said, put your answer in haiku form, well . . . you could, or you could just answer the question to the best of your ability. Either way, I wouldn't think you were being unsupportive simply because you didn't write in the style that I asked for. I would probably just ignore all non-haiku responses! ;)
In the same vein, I wouldn't think it was unsupportive for me to ask for you to respond in haiku form, it's a request, not a mandate. (this is why I disagree with Dr. Bob's block of SD).
In regards to proselytizing, I don't think it is something that a person can do if they are the one that was asked the question. And, just because his posts are long, multifaceted, hard to follow, predictable or whatever, doesn't mean that he is proselytizing. (Though that is what proselytizing has always sounded like to me!)
If you ask a question, especially about something as sensitive as religion, well, you might not like the answer and I don't think that is anyone's fault. SD wanted to bow out after she learned about Lou's style. Then she wanted to try asking again. I don't see anything wrong with either of it.
That is basically why I don't like the faith board, I don't see it as a particulary "supportive" place. It's interesting, you can learn alot about religion, what people believe, etc. but I don't see how you get anything more supportive than a discussion on PSB, and if you wanted to learn about religion, I am not sure why you would come to a mental health online support group. But I digress . . .
Um, I think my point is that I don't think either parties were "unsupportive" necessarily, it was just a conversation between two people with different styles of conversing.
That's my take on it anyway. . . .
poster:Lini
thread:6087
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020627/msgs/6094.html