Posted by Todd on June 15, 2000, at 20:18:34
In reply to DR Bob Please read » SLS, posted by Oddzilla on June 15, 2000, at 18:22:51
This boBB/BBob bashing is getting absolutely ridiculous. I have avoided posting to all previous threads regarding the tone and "civility" of boBB's posts because there was just way too much of a commotion being made. I would have just been adding more wood to an already blazing fire. Finally, just as the embers fade into ashes, and boBB starts to share again, another fire springs up. WHY DOESN'T ANYBODY GET BOBB?
I read quite a few of boBB's posts and find him to be quite articulate and intelligent. He has piqued my imagination on more than one occasion and can be counted on for original, free-thinking feedback. boBB's opinions are most definitely his own. For this alone, he should be respected. He doesn't buy into ANYONE'S prefabricated notions about reality. boBB has thrown out all of the crap and belief systems that he was made to swallow as a child and decided long ago to be HIMSELF no matter what anybody else thinks. His opinions are hard-won after years of self-reflection and hard questioning.
boBB is in the midst of his own process, just as we all are. boBB is HERE because he is refining his views of himself and reality JUST AS YOU ARE. boBB isn't out to offend anybody in the sense that he wants to hurt anyone's feelings. He wants to offend your sensibilites so that you question them and rethink them. I can't believe that so many of you are so put off by that and fail to see what boBB is all about. boBB deliberately plays the devils advocate to keep your minds from closing off. He wants to know how you come to your opinions and offers opposing viewpoints to either strengthen or demolish your own. You can't just believe what you're told to believe or what sounds good to believe. You have to develop your beliefs from personal experience and self-scrutiny, suffering through good times and bad. The minute your mind closes and stops questioning is the moment you begin to stagnate and fail to grow. boBB may be a little stubborn and may seem a bit jaded at times, but I sense in him a lively and caring soul who wants to break through the muck just like the rest of us. He is not going to be spoon-fed ANYONE's opinions without thoroughly challenging them first. That, my babble-landers, is the beauty of personal growth. Nobody can grow for you; you have to do the work yourself. boBB has done and continues to do his work, and as he posts here he helps us do our own.
I don't think this needs to be reiterated, but I am going to say it anyway - If you don't like boBB's style, DON'T READ HIS POSTS! Simple as that. If you do find yourself getting sucked into one of his responses and discover that you are getting angry, perhaps you should turn the finger you are pointing at boBB back at yourself. Anger is a defense mechanism. We only defend that which we feel needs to be protected. Just what is it within you that needs so much protection? If the "it" within you was truly strong, it would need no defense. As far as boBB's own anger is concerned, I would say that most of his initial posts are not malevolent at all. The ones that are are in response to deliberate attacks on his character. If I were that misunderstood by so many, I would be pretty pissed off too. I don't blame him a bit.
Please do not view me as speaking from a saltbox. I am writing this because I am tired of the venom that is getting spit on these pages. I am writing to you all as a fellow human being who feels deeply and in doing so finds that we are ALL the same deep down inside. Rather than point fingers at those who offend you, try to recognize a part of yourself in their words. You would be surprised how much you'll start to learn about yourself. I am constantly amazed as I continue to stumble down my own path.
Peace and Love,
Todd (not affiliated with boBB)
poster:Todd
thread:36179
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37450.html