Well, apart from the false premise of this thread (skeptics are not playing nice with believers, apparently it's not the other way around)....
It is a "skeptics vs. believers showdown". We are not talking about "belief vs. belief" here. We are talking about a place where we can investigate paranormal claims. We examine the evidence. We find it sorely lacking.
And yes, dishonesty is revealed here. So are logical fallacies, flawed arguments, hypocrisy and whathaveyou. Because that is what we often find, when we scratch the surface.
Should we close our eyes to what we find? Be silent, in the name of civility? I don't know about the rest of you, but when I find a flawed argument, I point it out. If I find that people lie to me, I point it out. If I am promised evidence and cannot be allowed to see it, I point it out. If I am presented with a claim that has been refuted before, I point it out.
We have to face the fact: Dishonesty, lies and deceit is an integral part of some of the believers. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that each and every believer is a lying scumbag. Far from it: Most I find to be nice, honest people, who just happen to believe false things.
It is when we dig down - even a little - we often find cases of dishonesty.
And yeah, I get pissed about it, when this happens again and again from the same believers. Looking back, we see the same refuted claims pop up, again and again, and very often from the same believers.
Does anyone consider that "playing nice"?
Do we find harsh language on both sides? Sure. That cannot be avoided. We are people, not machines. That's why we have moderators and they do a fine job, too. That believers seem to be more thin-skinned than skeptics is, perhaps, not all that strange.
Let's focus on the evidence instead. I'm sorry, but this is not a board for discussion only. It is not a camp fire, where we exchange ghost stories. The primary function is to educate. We learn about skepticism here, we find out that orbs are dust particles, we discover that there is no contact between the dead and the living.
People come here with their stories, seeking explanations. Are they ridiculed? No. A good example is the poster, who came here yesterday with an account of a Near Death Experience. The first one to answer was a skeptic, giving a rational explanation. The second one to answer was a believer, calling the skeptic "stupid". And down it went.
Go figure.
We try to find natural explanations for paranormal claims. We are nice to believers - incredibly nice: We welcome them here, let them speak freely, they can argue their case, show their evidence. That is much more than I have ever seen any believer allow skeptics. But they also have to expect that their claims are investigated. They are on a skeptics' board, what do they expect?
I do not see believers generally met with ridicule from their first post. The ridicule comes after it is discovered that lies are made, the evading, the hypocrisy. When the references we show are ignored. When the evidence turns out not to exist, yet is claimed to exist anyway.
Let's not forget that. Let's also not forget that the stakes are high. Not only could our world-view be completely changed, should just one claim turn out to be true. But people are cheated out of their money, their grief prolonged, their health put at risk, some even die.
No, this is not a camp fire. A "showdown" means "a decisive confrontation or contest". That's what this is, guys.
