You may be an extremist if...

[Pangloss]

Can be anything you like!

 

Just be aware that what you list as extremism may say more about you than it does about the extremists you're trying to out!

 

---------

 

Here are a few to start us off:

 

You may be an extremist if...

- You think everything Bush does is wrong

- You think everything Bush does is right

- You think everything liberals do is wrong

- You think everything conservatives do is wrong

- You think Michael Moore accurately reports the truth

- You think Rush Limbaugh accurately reports the truth

- You think Cindy Sheehan's rants about America make a lot of sense

- You don't think Cindy Sheehan should be allowed to protest at all

- You think Terri Shiavo was conscious and aware of her surroundings when she was executed by the state

[timo]

- You assume non-US citizens know all those people mentioned.

[Pangloss]

Oh come on, don't be a jerk. If there's something you don't understand, you can simply ask. I think you'll find that there are many people here, myself included, who are willing to explain anything. How does phrasing something in familiar terms make one an extremist?

 

This is a US board (owned by a guy in Florida) which, yes, has many international visitors. But it's not like anybody but Blike OWNS this board -- you don't set the rules here, sir, and neither do I.

 

I don't understand why this keeps coming up. In the short time I've been here (18 months?) I've seen several instances where a European gets all pissy when some new thread isn't phrased from an international perspective, while the Americans and the Europeans who've been around a while tend to simply ASK if they don't understand something. I don't understand that. Is there some sort of forum in Europe where this board is advertised or represented differently from what I've perceived? Have I misunderstood something? Does Blike not live in Florida?

 

Yeesh.

[timo]

I didn´t write "you´re an extremist if you phrase something in familiar terms". Furthermore, I didn´t get pissy - you just don´t seem to have the same sense of humor as I do.

 

EDIT: But this was a good one:

Just be aware that what you list as extremism may say more about you than it does about the extremists you're trying to out!

probably applies to both of us a bit

[Pangloss]

Oh, you were trying to be funny. Well in that case, let me add one in a similar vein:

 

- You harp about Americans who assume that everyone outside of the US is fully versed in their local politics

 

[Phi for All]

- you reduce every argument down to someone criticizing you

- you assume that any criticism is an attack on your beliefs

- your response to an attack on your beliefs is to blow your attacker up

[the tree]

Extreemism is more about how beliefs are acted upon rather than the beliefs themselves.

 

For instance, nearly all Muslims belive that it is inadvisable to seperate the spiritual and other aspects of your life as religion concerns all of it. A minority of these see people who don't follow that as sinning and an even tinnier minority would resort to violence as a response to secularism.

[Pangloss]

- you reduce every argument down to someone criticizing you

- you assume that any criticism is an attack on your beliefs

- your response to an attack on your beliefs is to blow your attacker up

 

Excellent additions.

 

 

Extreemism is more about how beliefs are acted upon rather than the beliefs themselves.

 

An interesting point! Just to expand on it a bit' date=' I guess what you're saying is that it's only truly "extreme" if you're actually going to do something radical about your frustrations, like blow up a bus or something.

 

One advantage of this point of view is that it encompasses the idea that sometimes people say things in haste or anger that they don't really mean, and when they stop to think about it in a larger context, they realize their error. Such instances are hardly examples of extremism, but they may LOOK like extremism on (for example) a message board. This is something I firmly believe in, and why I [i']try[/i] not to flame people for airing their views (and respect mods/admins who try to balance and calm things down if they feel they're getting out of hand).

 

That problem is also sometimes aggravated by, for example, not having a mirror to bounce your ideas off of, or an objective voice to listen to on various subjects. If all you listen to are demogogues like Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken, they can exacerbate (sp?) opinion and turn it into something much worse.

 

 

The down side of that point of view (that the word "extremism" only applies to actions rather than words) is that it denies the ability to distinguish between critical and non-critical thinking. Obviously keeping an open mind about what someone is saying is important, but when you're not allowed or able to categorize speech and make judgements on it, then that affects your free ability to decide what it is that you are reading, and form an opinion of your own.

 

Obviously some kind of balance is called for.

[AzurePhoenix]

- You strictly adhere to the "no white after Labor Day" rule.

 

- You find yourself saying things like "You'll burn in Hell you pagan!"

 

- You think Country music is too "sexy" for children to listen to.

[john5746]

- You strictly adhere to the "no white after Labor Day[/i']" rule.

 

what is this rule?

[AzurePhoenix]

The "rule" is that you shouldn't wear white after Labor Day. It's some pointless unwritten rule of etiquette.

[Phi for All]

The "rule[/i']" is that you shouldn't wear white after Labor Day. It's some pointless unwritten rule of etiquette.

I think the rule is that you shouldn't wear all white after Labor Day. White pants/skirt and a white shirt/blouse are strictly for summer wear. I think it started because summer was when people would eat vanilla ice cream, and it didn't show on white when it dripped. Then someone invented chocolate ice cream and the whole rule became pointless.

 

Ahem...

 

You may be an extremist if your idea of "sports" has better than a 1 in 10 chance of ending in death.

[Tetrahedrite]

I'm an extremist, apparently......

[-Demosthenes-]

I though that you could only wear white in the summer because if you do in the winter you could get lost in the snow.

[Skye]

You

Can be anything you like

and somebody, somewhere, will think you're an extremist.

[CPL.Luke]

-you responded seriously to this thread

[Kyrisch]

-You scream at the T.V. while watching your favourite programs [we seriously need a guilty-face smilie ]

 

-You paint your face various colours for any sport-based purpose

 

-Instead of laughing you yell "LOL" and "ROFL" [Oh God, I HATE those people ]

[In My Memory]

- You think the ACLU is a terrorist organization

- You think Bill O'Reilly's views are too liberal

- You also believe the FoxNews slogans "fair and balanced" and "no spin zone"

- You think liberals are communists

- You think God shares your political opinions

- You believe there is no seperation of church and state

- You think poverty in third world nations is due to lazyness

- You wont let your kids read Harry Potter because you're afraid they might cast spells and begin worshipping Satan

- You use phrases like "declining moral standards" and "moral decay" in response shows like "Queer Eye" and "Will and Grace"

- You've got a bumper sticker that says "One Nation Under GOD" but think people with the stickers "Freedom and Justice for ALL" are traitors

- You are quick to call people on treason for opposing the PATRIOT act

- You kill and eat animals but call yourself "pro-life"

 

- You cant think of any liberal examples of extremism, so you write a bunch of silly things in the hope that no one will notice

- You used artificial catchphrases like "Seacrest OUT!" and "Thats hot"

- You would boycott a cable network for cancelling one of its reality shows

- You've met your celeb lookalike

- You take your username after the song you were listening to at the time of registration

- You thought you could make a jean skirt by cutting up an old pair of pants, but only succeeded in ruining a previously wearable pair of pants

- You describe yourself with one of the following adjectives: evil, hottie, punk, rocker, or "totally" appended before any conventional adjective

[ElijahJones]

Extremes happen on both fronts so I am going to use a ® and (l) system here for the right and left extremes.

 

® and (l) if you fixate on the conduct of others even though it has no real effect upon your life

 

(l) if you dress up as a condom for two consecutive Halloweens

 

® if you clutch your purse whenever a black man walks by

 

(l) if you insist that everyone's child should read the story "My Two Dads"

 

® if you think that only people in your denomination are going to heaven

 

(l) if you think that giving birth control to poor African women improves their standard of living

 

® if you think that by forcefully removing governments you are promoting democracy

 

® and (l) if you think that a giant corporation will simultaneously save and destroy the world

[Pangloss]

Some very funny stuff up there.

[Pangloss]

You guys are blowing me away here with the originality of some of these responses:

 

(l) if you think that giving birth control to poor African women improves their standard of living

® if you think that by forcefully removing governments you are promoting democracy

(l) if you dress up as a condom for two consecutive Halloweens

- You've got a bumper sticker that says "One Nation Under GOD" but think people with the stickers "Freedom and Justice for ALL" are traitors

- You kill and eat animals but call yourself "pro-life"

- You find yourself saying things like "You'll burn in Hell you pagan!"

 

Not that there's anything wrong with any of the other responses, some of which are really fascinating, but these in particular struck me as very original.

[Kyrisch]

-If you do anything at all that resembles hugging a tree

[the tree]

• You think that the existance of God can be scientifically, logically or otherwise proven or disproven.
  
• You think that the holy scriptures of any religion endorses terroism.
  
• You think that Ji'had means "holy war".
  
• You think that Jesus was a Christian.
  
• You don't know the difference between an economic migrant, an illiegal immagrant and an asylum seeker yet you complain about any of them.
  
• You are against the European consitution on the grounds of it reducing the UKs power and wont listen when people point out how much more power it presents to the UK.
  
• You think that St. George's day should be a national holiday.
  • You think that St. George was British

  [*]You have a national flag on your car when that nations football/cricket/rugby team is not even playing that week.

  [*]You use either the word "liberal" or "conservative" as an insult.

  [*]You think your better than other posters for having used the [ list] tags where they just used dashes.

  [*]You will talk to door-to-door evangalists because you view it as an opotunity to get your views across.

  [*]You've got a postcard stuck to your wall showing a street sign that says "Welcome to to United States, remember to think on the right", and you find it amusing.

[john5746]

I think this would be considered extremist.

 

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

[AL]

I think this would be considered extremist.

 

Love your enemies' date=' bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.[/quote']

It's hard to think of hardcore pacifists as extremists, but as another example, consider that Vietnamese Buddhist monk who set himself on fire to protest the Vietnam War. Now that's extreme pacifism.