FlyingOrca's Journal: Fundamentalist Christian trolls

I've been wondering why fundamentalist Christian trolls seem to lurk around /. and similar sites, attacking science in general and evolution in particular. At first I thought they might be proselytizing, but a review of posting history suggests that - whatever else the goal - that's not what they're trying to do.

Are these posters young males going through some kind of rite of passage? Is it something they are told to do by a religious authority? Is it revenge for verbal knocking-about by pro-science/pro-evolution trolls elsewhere?

I'm really kind of curious about this. Anyone have any insights?

Antagonism

[Elwood P Dowd]

I'm convinced that some of them are trolling for the same reasons as every other kind of troll. They are simply antagonistic, and want to bother other people.

Keep in mind that we're dealing with a subset of Creationist jackasses when we discuss /. trolls: most Creationist jackasses feel that they're trying to help everyone better understand the world. Here on /., they're often just trying to bother people that they consider their enemies.

I always feel dirty after I wade into those comment threads. Why, oh why can't I walk away from a fight?

Why can't I walk away....

[FlyingOrca]

I know! I usually do walk away, but sometimes I get sucked in and then it drags on and on... Hmmm, does that make me as bad as them? It feels that way sometimes, but OTOH maybe it's inherently better to try to correct FUD than to spread it in the first place. Cheers!

Re:Why can't I walk away....

[Elwood P Dowd]

Also, from talking to the less antagonistic Creationist jackasses, I know that not all of them are totally dead set in their beliefs. I tell myself that while I may not be convincing the troll here in the forums, some less idiotic Creationist might be reading, and come about a better understanding of Christianity.

I think there's a whole lot of intelligent people from Kansas who just haven't ever heard Evolution explained accurately.

Amen to that!

[FlyingOrca]

And it's only going to get worse if it's not taught properly in schools. I really worry about where the USA is going. As a Canadian, it's only my problem insofar as everything south of the border affects us, but I'm American born and bred, and I hate to see what's happening there. Cheers!

Re:Antagonism

[shadowbearer]

Well put. I think you are right - especially when I compare the quality of Creationist posts here to the quality I see in more serious sites. There are a few intelligent, educated Creationists that post here - I've had arguments with a few of them, mostly about the K-T boundary; but they tend to get fact-slapped by the mods fairly quickly.

Likely it's the lowest common denominator of C.J.'s who post here because they can do so without getting anything worse than a moderation slap. In the other forums I m

Re:Antagonism

[FlyingOrca]

Glad you liked it. ;-)

I didn't learn much science in school, or not much that I didn't already know, anyway. I was raised in a series of research camps in the Arctic, so I grew up working in labs and got my education in the field from practicing scientists (including my parents). I suppose it's left me with some bias of my own... or maybe that's just the ?autism? speaking. Cheers!

Simple

[GreyWolf3000]

Because /. has just a bit of a leftist, anti-Religious slant, and knowing how passionately many people hate religion here, it's no surprise that a lot of trolls find religion most useful.

As someone who has serious problems with the theory of evolution at the moment, I save my gripes for people who care, and try to stay on topic.

Anti-religious slant

[FlyingOrca]

The ironic thing is that I have nothing against religion in general, and don't mind a good discussion on the subject if it's conducted with a decent amount of intellectual honesty. I probably need to work on my tolerance for (resistance to?) trolling efforts, though.

Cheers!