Posted by so on July 18, 2005, at 1:13:49
In reply to Re: My mind is my prisoner... » so, posted by gardenergirl on July 18, 2005, at 0:18:35
> > > But thanks for entitling your post, and I quote, "Free your mind," with what is grammatically known as a command.
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> > As is the phrase "Be well". I would have to do some research to suggest a proper gramatical classification for commands commonly offered as cordial support.
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> Well, only if you have the time. BTW, busted.
Who's busted? and for what? The phrase "free your mind" was in reply to the phrase "Free Katie". i suppose it can be as much a plea as a command. Like "go team go" ... "take care" ... "have a nice day" ... "Let it be"> > This citation is from the post I originally replied to in this thread. I specifically asked you what your last sentence, which is below, was about. This sentence was contained in the post I directly replied to. A bit later, crushedout pointed out you hadn't answered my question. My question had nothing to do with any post on 2000.
Well, that's not the way I read it. Reviewing it now, I can see you were asking about something I wrote, not about the post in 2000. Anyway, now I have explained it. I was referring to Scientologists' sustained struggle to enjoy their civil rights. The point is, they might seem weird, but courts have concluded they are not. If it was a fact that Scientology was weird or whatever else people call it, their libel actions would be dismissed because truth is almost always a defense against libel.>>>Um, if I wrote something, unless I forgot what I meant, I think I would be certain of what something I wrote refers to.
Chances are, my daily word production often outpaces that of the average person several fold, and sometimes I don't recognize my own writing until I see my name on it. My participation here is not among my most memorable writing.
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> > But for anyone not engaging in potentially libelous statements, it could not be interpreted as any sort of threat to them, right?
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> Interpretations can be made regardless of the categorical status of the interpreter.yes, and interpretations can be made regardless the accuracy of the interpretation. But even as you say you interpreted it, it could never be interpreted as a threat to someone who doesn't defame the faith of another. and it wasn't written as a threat, it was written as a reference to ... maybe even as a celebration of ... Scientologists accomplishments in defending their civil rights.
> > > But perhaps I am primed to interpret something you post in that way because of an earlier post you made ...
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> > Perhaps. Are there other reasons unrelated to me that you might be primed to interpret a post that way?
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> None that I've given any thought to. It was an association to your posts under an alter name.Having now an opportunity to think about it, are there reasons related to your personal history you might be primed to associate what you can see now with your recollection of what you think I wrote in the past?
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> > >I couldn't help but interpret that statement based on my gut reaction that it felt like a subtle threat. I recall my reply to that post was flippant.
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> > The way I handle feelings like that is to downplay the value of my feelings in favor of more extensive review of available facts. My guts have a tendency to react based on how well I feed them.
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> Feelings like what?gut reactions that something feels like a subtle threat
> Well thanks for not pulling a Dick Durbin here. As to your comparison, I have no need to comment.Who's Dick Durbin? Sen. Richard Durbin who spoke of US actions in Guantanamo Bay by saying one might think a description of the events was a description of Nazi methods if they didn't know it was a US investigative team making the description? If so, he is a duly elected US Senator, and to make public statements such as his are not something one "pulls" though mispresentations of his statements might be the subject of fair criticism.
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Anyway, whether or not you recognize the freedom to practice religion as a civil right comparable to the freedom to participate fully in society regardless one's ethnic origin, I appreciate that you wouldn't like feeling that someone is calling your religion creepy.
poster:so
thread:526844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20050716/msgs/529403.html