Going back to the thread you guys were talking about earlier today for a moment:
The topic you guys are talking about is sort of par for the course for gaming side minority issues topics; it reads like an OT topic from at least five years ago.
I also don't agree that it's not worth talking about. Have you not seen polling on gay rights in recent years? People can and do change their minds about this issue, even on GAF - you'll notice it if you read older threads. I've occasionally been surprised when trying to find an old post, when I've stumbled across a disagreement I had with someone from years ago only to think, "Wait, that poster used to say dumb stuff like that?"
And I think it matters how you approach those topics - I think the belief that it's ultimately a fruitless endeavor is what leads people to approach those topics in a scorched earth manner, to respond to every mildly uninformed or offensive comment with some variant on the theme of, "Holy shit! I can't believe you said that!". You can have discussions with people who say stupid things where you get them to think about their positions and the assumptions they are making. It's not everyone, but it is worth trying - and the ones who aren't worth trying usually get themselves banned by tying themselves into rhetorical knots and slipping on their own shit. They don't usually get banned because someone was yelling at them a lot, or trying a collective dog-pile of outrage. And it's been my experience that when you respond to someone as if they are a reasonable person who is capable of thinking about their thinking and examining their own positions, they are more likely to actually do so. If you approach someone as if they are only good for tit-for-tat bickering, that's exactly the sort of conversation you'll end up having.
I'm not saying there's never a place for anger, or that nothing ever deserves mocking contempt; what I'm saying is that that doesn't need to be the default response and is ultimately self-defeating and exhausting. You can be challenging, you can be direct, you can "call people out" without immediately defaulting to the lazy incredulity that someone could be so dumb. I realize that not everyone can contribute in the same ways as everyone else - but that shouldn't be an excuse for laziness. You're all capable of better, even those of you who don't actually do it.
And I think it is important to remember that the person you are talking to is not the only person reading what you write. If someone on the sidelines is just wondering, "Why is this such a big deal?" out of a sense of inexperience or lack of perspective, you have every opportunity to address that person in the course of giving a substantive response to whoever is posting something ignorant.
Eh, there is a difference. I'm rather religious, and... Well, i'm here without any qualms in the slightest. But aye, good point. Religion is largely baseless, that much I am entirely aware of.
Well, I meant that it doesn't matter why someone says, "I disagree with homosexuality and same-sex relationships"; it will always be a baseless canard. It doesn't matter if it's based on straightforward antipathy, religious beliefs, or farcical visions of societal collapse (and I think it's usually a mix of the three!); there's no basis for it.