In ancient Greek, it means "lightning"

Um… I think you missed what Bob was going for. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t Bible-thumping. I do, however, find it interesting that you equate using profanity to quoting from the Old Testament and from Billy Graham. You honestly can’t see a distinction there?

George Meyer said:
Bob, with all due respect, for those of us who have not accepted any traditional literary or quasi-historical figure as our personal savior, this comes across as a bit tacky. Save it for church. If I can’t say [edited] then you shouldn’t be able to quote Billy Graham.

Sorry I offended you George. The post was done with a sense of humor intended to be light-hearted. It had little or nothing to do with theology, much less anyone’s individual religious preferences. If anything, it was nothing more than a poke at myself, a slight tease to CB contributors and a way of sharing with CelticsBlog members that we have some nice things coming their way this week. I regret I was not able to convey that to you.

BTW, I can quote anyone I want to and will always do so with discretion and… no, you still can’t use vulgar language at CelticsBlog.

Point me to the part of the First Amendment that allows profanity on a private or semi-public forum. I’m a bit of a Constitutional scholar, so I’d be greatly interested in learning about something that both myself and several different Con Law professors have no knowledge of. :)

George Meyer said:
Yeah Roy, I do. It’s called “Freedom of Speech.”

Thanks George! You’ve provided me inspiration for a new frontpage article. Stay tuned, I’m sure you’ll love it.

Yaaaaawn. George, you are a brand-spanking new member around here and I would suggest that if you would like to continue that opportunity, you should consider that you are in a community that does not belong to you, is private but offered freely to the public and is intended to be “family-friendly.”

Nothing you’ve said or done here indicates to me that you are an aesthete (BTW, if you hope to become one someday, it might be good if you first learn how to spell it.). To the contrary, I think you just need to stop “cheeking” your medication and listen when the doctor is telling you how to properly behave in other people’s homes.

Otherwise, you are going be getting a quick lesson in First Amendment rights.

Not stirring anything up, but I don’t understand this article at all.

Bob was making an analogy, and he drew from a source that is familiar to a large number of people in Western culture. I thought it was interesting, but I guess if you don’t know anything about the reference Bob was making, it’s strange, and might go above somebody’s head. Still, is it really so different from Jeff’s post the other week quoting extensively from Shakespeare? Bob certainly wasn’t advocating Christianity, he was simply making a comparison.

A very brief translation: Bob has been very busy with the site in Jeff’s absence and he wishes he had more time to attend to everything on the site. However, after some initial trepidation, Bob is feeling much better about the state of the site, and thinks we’ll be okay in Jeff’s absence. He does, however, have some concerns for his immortal soul, after seeing how much he has in common with Satan. ;)

Amir and Bleedgreen, my apologies. I regret I failed to convey analogy to the two of you in a meaningful way. I’ve probably alienated some others as well. I, nor any of the other CelticsBlog staff have any religious agenda here. We simply try to provide a venue that is as broadly compatible with mankind as possible given the nature of the focus of the website.

First Amendment rights do come into play here. By that wisdom, requiring that site members abide by codes of conduct that are legal under all state and federal law does not make us stifler’s of freedom. Far from that, we embrace freedom and promote it here. Freedom of speech though is relative to many things. That seems to be the part that is often difficult for people to embrace.

It would seem that many people tend to think of freedom as a set of personal rights, but not necessarily that it is in the context of others having the same rights. None of us are islands. Our freedoms are relative to the freedoms of others. Perhaps the time has come for us to discuss these matters further on CelticsBlog.

Peace!

Frankie, all I can say is that you’re new to the blog, and you obviously don’t know Bob very well. Unfortunately, I get the distinct feeling that you won’t be around long enough to foster much of a relationship with him.

I don’t think anything was overly harsh, honestly. From personal experience with posters who like to push boundaries it seems like they don’t last long. He seems to have some issues with authority, and perhaps with Christians (and certainly with Bob, calling him a “religious paranoid”), which doesn’t bode well for his future on the blog. I certainly hope I’m wrong in terms of my first impression, but sadly, experience has proven otherwise time and time again.

I of course apologize if I offended Frankie, but castigating other posters and drawing conclusions because you disagree with what you perceive as their spirituality isn’t acceptable behavior in any context, and certainly not on this blog.

The same reasoning, of course, applies to my good friend George. Instead of thanking Bob for the hard work he’s done in Jeff’s absence, it is beyond me why certain posters feel the need to put false labels on people, and read into things that simply aren’t there. Personally, I find the occasional reference to the Old Testament (not necessarily Christian, by the way) and to ancient Greek to be interesting, and there was certainly nothing inappropriate about that blog post. I’m only left to question the anti-Judeo-Christian bigotry of certain outspoken members on this thread, if they take that much offense to a Biblical allusion.

Good post, NG. Really, excellent. All of the things that you posted are things that we’re striving for, and we appreciate the insight you offer. We try not to over-moderate the board (I’m sure some would disagree), so — as you acknowledge — it is ultimately on the posters to give as great an effort as possible to keep the blog a great place.

One thing I really commend Jeff for is that he has not created an elitist blog; posters of all viewpoints and backgrounds can post, so long as they obey a small number of rules. It’s a real benefit to have such an active community with so many voices represented, and it’s great to see the enthusiasm with which so many people post. I can tell you from my own experience that Jeff has never asked the moderators to express a certain viewpoint or to convey a certain message. Thats appreciated, and I think it’s why moderators react so strongly when misguided posters start whining about “free speech” and the like, simply because they can’t use the F-word.

I think at this point it would be appropriate for me to clarify something. Way back when I was still young and somewhat in the “larval” stage, I earned a degree in two big words…Theology and Philosophy. In the course of that pursuit I studied many ancient languages, some of which are now archaic. The thing about language study though is that there is no way to learn such things other than to study the context of history and its influences that are related to those tongues “snapshotted” in time as they are.

In the course of such endeavor one learns much about wisdom that has been manifested world-wide with our species over time. That is the thing about learning language, whether present or past…it cannot be separated from gaining understanding. Indeed a core purpose of language itself is to convey understanding and enlightenment. I am grateful for this portion of my background. I’m curious. Does anyone here think that a person that expresses gratitude must be alluding to deity or other higher power?

I would hate to shatter the hopes of anyone that perceives me as one sneaking around over here trying to plant the seeds of Christian evangelism. I would equally be dismayed that I let down anyone else that might be worried that I am some form of iconoclast that is cheapening any or all faiths by my remarks. However, what I am in fact is a composite of influences. I am no more Christian than I am Atheist, Agnostic or Otherwise. I have studied every major faith and non-faith in the world both extant and extinct and many of their subsets. If I am anything, the closest comparison might be that I could likened to a contemporary Taoist.

What I mean is that I have little interest in Numerology and the I Ching, but I do believe there is an extra-dimensional aspect of human existence, a very large stream, or flow to life and a need in this world for balance. For the purpose of my short article, I could have just as easily drawn a similar analogy from important works of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam or Existentialism.

I once wrote this…“Ah, to be like them and will something beyond my name. A candle consumed by the brilliance of my flame”. I was referring to Christ and Fredrich Neitze. It was a secular statement of recognition toward the contribution to mankind made by two who seem to many as polar opposites. I’ll leave you with this…åâ€"損害不做å‚Â"事。

I’m sorry, kagry, but when a poster calls another a “religious paranoid” with no basis for doing so, I’m not going to ignore the issue. Also, anybody who compares referring to the Bible as the equivalent of using the F-word deserves to be rebuked. Just because I’m a moderator doesn’t mean I should ignore blatant ignorance, and perhaps even bigotry.

I’ve spoken up regarding gender and racial bias on this site; I’m going to do the same thing when somebody makes borderline bigoted comments about “religious paranoids”. As for the use of profanity on this site, that’s been gone over time and time again, and I truly hope Bob does do a blog post on it. The posters on this board are here as licensees, at Jeff’s specific permission. To maintain that license, posters need to agree to, and abide my, a small number of rules. Jeff, as proprietor of this site, can revoke that license at any time.

Hell, the government of the United States, in its parents parentae role, can restrict the use of profanity over public air waves. Free speech is not implicated in such an instance, as the Supreme Court has recognized that Freedom of Speech is not an absolute. Importantly though, Celticsblog is not a government actor. As such, restrictions it can place on speech are much, much broader. Certainly, restriction of the use of the F-word is far from a violation of “free speech”.

Posters on this thread happened to hit on two of my pet peeves — whining about “free speech”, and the drawing of conclusions only from stereotypes / bias. I’d love to say I won’t behave similarly in the future if similar issues crop up, but that would be a lie.

I’m sorry, but to me, anti-Christian (or anti-Jewish, or anti-Muslim) bias is every bit as dangerous as racism or sexism. The “religious paranoid” comment, and the context it was said in, had a clear anti-Christian flavor to me. The funny thing is, it was completely out of place, as it was targeted at Bob for no reason other than him making an analogy to the Book of Job; people jumped to the conclusion that Bob was some sort of Christian zealot, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Anyway, no apologies from me. Stereotypical and possibly bigoted comments have no place here.