My father and I decided to celebrate a new holiday in place of Christmas called Rationalismas. We still exchange presents, but without any hypocrisy or talk of the baby Jesus. It’s also on the 31st, as a celebration of the conclusion of an old year and the hopeful beginnings of a new one. Very secular.
We even put all the presents under a red, white, and blue freedom tree.
To me the most plausible explanation of why anyone would write that comment is trolling. I can’t quite imagine someone writing it using the same words for different reasons.
As a comparison, here is a (fictional) comment I could even upvote if I saw it in a Group Rationality Diary:
My father and I decided to create a secular version of Christmas. We love to exchange gifts, but we are not religious, so we tried to remove as much of the religious context as possible. We even moved the date to Dec 31st, as a symbol of ending the old year and a hopeful beginning of a new one. We keep the tree, and we decorate it with red, white and blue ribbons, as a symbol of freedom.
It seems similar, and here are the removed parts:
Rationalismas; hypocrisy or talk of the baby Jesus; Very secular
Obviously, they are applause lights. Just not really appealing ones; and too concentrated. Either someone is really clueless, or more likely just mocking; both of these options deserve a downvote.
The American patriotism thing is not a problem per se; it is just another evidence for trolling. If it was the only suspicious thing in the comment, I would just skip it as a cultural difference.
The American patriotism thing is not a problem per se; it is just another evidence for trolling. If it was the only suspicious thing in the comment, I would just skip it as a cultural difference.
Also, there’s a possible reason to use those three colours to symbolise freedom that has little to do with American patriotism. (Not that it’s particularly better.)
My father and I decided to celebrate a new holiday in place of Christmas called Rationalismas. We still exchange presents, but without any hypocrisy or talk of the baby Jesus. It’s also on the 31st, as a celebration of the conclusion of an old year and the hopeful beginnings of a new one. Very secular.
We even put all the presents under a red, white, and blue freedom tree.
hmm, I’m going to try to calilbrate my view of the community here by guessing the reasons this is currently at −5 karma:
45% Misusing ‘rational’ for something that isn’t particularly about rationality
40% Overly american-centric linkage with patriotism, freedom, and rationality leading to percieved contradictions
10% Contrarian sticking up for Christians for the unsubstantianted hypocrisy charge
5% Past quarrels bleeding over
To me the most plausible explanation of why anyone would write that comment is trolling. I can’t quite imagine someone writing it using the same words for different reasons.
As a comparison, here is a (fictional) comment I could even upvote if I saw it in a Group Rationality Diary:
It seems similar, and here are the removed parts:
Obviously, they are applause lights. Just not really appealing ones; and too concentrated. Either someone is really clueless, or more likely just mocking; both of these options deserve a downvote.
The American patriotism thing is not a problem per se; it is just another evidence for trolling. If it was the only suspicious thing in the comment, I would just skip it as a cultural difference.
Also, there’s a possible reason to use those three colours to symbolise freedom that has little to do with American patriotism. (Not that it’s particularly better.)