A Gun in Their Sights : Dealing with the Angry Righteous Mob
Nov 06 '00
In the photo I have selected for my Personal Image, I can be seen in military battle dress holding an M-16 A2 rifle. As a result, I have been pelted, stoned, and near run out of town on a rail by the Righteous Mobsters of epinions.
Sigh*.
Angry Folks, peace! Just because I am all geared up does not mean that I am out to shoot your kids, bomb your federal buildings, or do any other crazy acts of violence that I have been accused of contemplated "along with other folks like [me]". Still, the hate mail ( isn't it ironic? ) keeps coming, and although I do happen to receive quite a few complimentary messages, the bulk of it seems to be flames.
"the world would be a much better place without guns, so keep your guns out of my hands!"
"how many of your cousins do you plan to marry?"
(huh?)
"violence-oriented people like you glamorize the image of violence without thought to the moral implications in our society"
First of all, I am an U.S. Army Reservist, a volunteer writing tutor, an English Major who works as a librarian, and I also happen to enjoy being a pretty good shot with a military rifle.
More importantly, however...
I believe that as an Epinions member, I am bound to keep a level head when writing, rating, or even reading articles. Even though I may find something which I seriously disagree with, I will try to view the article in a -holistic- fashion and try to at least temporarily disconnect myself from my ethnocentric views. I will try to decide whether or not the review actually has a -real- opinion (as opposed to spam-junk) -intended- to be helpful (regardless of whether or not my opinion coincides) to its readers that may be trying to make a decision based at least partly from the article in question.
For this reason, I will often rate articles that have opinions differring from mine Recommended or even Highly Recommended, because I believe that any article written by someone who has had real experience with the subject in question and honestly believes his/her own opinion is helpful to another person trying to make a decision about that subject.
If I were to consider buying a particular new monitor, for example, a Philips/Magnavox 107MB, I would certainly want to read -all- opinions about that model, both praising and decrying. As long as the writer believes in his opinion and has had real experience with a 107MB, I want to hear about it.
It goes to follow, then, that I would -Not- rate an article by even pettier points such as syntax, grammar, spelling, or *gasp* the author's personal photo/image. All that is part of his online personality, and it's part of his writing, and since honest writing demands respect, I will not attempt to denounce him in -any- way - via ratings, flame mail, comments, et cetera.
During my short time at epinions, I have had the opportunity to meet many new people, and to heard and be heard by even more. By far, most of these people have been very friendly, courteous, and encouraging. Some, however, simply need to learn to loosen their perspective. For those of you who will read this article and leave constructive criticism, I thank you. As for the fortunately few others ... well, all I can say is that this site is about Opinions, and mine are just as valid as yours.
Please send all flame mail to : mytoastybutt@yahoo.com
Best Regards
Kevin C.
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Epinions.com ID:
duenor
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Member: kevin c
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 3 members
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