RateItAll: The Opinion Network

On some scary occasions I discover that I have very similar views to his, but I don't have the balls (since I'm a woman, I'm ball-less) to write some of the things he did. His username first angered me as my Canadian pride kicked in, but after 5 seconds of self-reflection I have to say he's hit home on that one too.

The picture is outside the pale. Remember AryanDan?

What's next? A KKK cross burning? Maybe some jolly pictures from a concentration camp? Maybe next we can have Simon Legree whipping Uncle Tom. I can think of lots of funny stuff to offend people. Maybe a Hasidic Rabbi carrying Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion would be in order. If that appeared on the site, how long would it last without a deluge of howls from those who think it offensive to the max?

Civilized people put a limit on their discourse; otherwise, we sink to savagery.

Canadasucks is one guy, that to me, is hard to rate. Is he colorful? Yes. Do I agree with ANYTHING he says? No. I don't believe in rating a "person", but I will rate his speech, reviews and tones. I have had one instance with Canadasucks, where he told me to go to college...a problem I have with him (as I have already done so). BUT, he does bring his sarcastic, dry sense of humor in ~ which I like...and, he also has the bal** to expand, if he presses the Funny button. He is a passionate guy....who is, unfortunately, passionate about nothing but discrediting others' beliefs. Why did I give him four stars then? Well, he will definitely make a person be accountable and keep them on their toes ~ THAT'S Flavor! (even though he isn't accountable for himself). Canadasucks is basically an anomaly!

Does Canada go over the line on occasion, probably. Does he need censored...no. Maybe though offensive to some people, we just need a good dose of Canadasucks from time to time. Personally, I find him funny and entertaining to read.

Very provoke-ative! Does he have flavor? Yes. Have I agreed with him on a few things? Yes. But......................

He knew there would be no counter to his picture because he does not believe in anything! A man without any hope; No Faith; Living for the moment; When it is over it is over, right Canada? Fights against something he does not believe exists! It is like a political moderate, does not stand for anything!

Do I want censorship on here, no matter what? No.

Definitely provocative, but not a flavor for my taste.

Provocative? For sure. Can I agree with him a lot? Nope. Is that ok with me? Yes. :)

I have laughed my ass off many times on account of a canadasucks review.

UPDATE: Now everyone, is he not provacative? I think he has proven this, be it in a somewhat unsavory manner. Now, many think I should be doing something about this. Why? Do I have more power than any of you? Despite the rumors, no. Perhaps I have a better position with him than others since I won't throw him under the bus, but I can hardly make him take it down and I won't ask him to. I think this whole thing has as much legs as we give it, so perhaps we need to evaluate our own approach as well...

UPDATE: If this can destroy RIA, perhaps it should. I want no part of a place that can't handle a picture, offensive though it may be. There are worse things afoot in the world.

UPDATE: Since everyone else likes making videos I thought I'd get in on the act. I'm not all code talented and all, so you gotta go to my page. It looks like ass but it speaks well, at least.

At the risk of stirring up yet again the pot of shite that is the avatar issue, I would like to comment on the point about free speech that has been raised here as a consequence, as I do think it's an important one, and shouldn't be passed over blithely. I think it's important to re-emphasize it. As I've understood it, it is, and always has been, an opinion website for all varieties of same. Hostility against Christianity is as valid as love for Christianity. I've gotten over the intense hostility I felt for it as a teen...I felt I had been brainwashed by it...but the negative attributes of it still outweigh any positive ones for me personally still. For those Christians who want to validate each other in their beliefs, perhaps they are on the wrong website. For those who wish to proselytize, they're definitely on the wrong website, as far as I'm concerned. I don't know CanadaSucks personally, obviously...I've enjoyed his posts and found them informative and entertaining...but this recent controversy reminds me of a late friend of mine who went to Catholic school as a kid and was intensely and vituperatively hostile against Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular as a result of whatever hardships he experienced. At parties, when drunk, he had a tendency to "imitate" Christianity's most revered scenarios in the most degrading fashion-- the Virgin Mary giving birth (with him sprawled on his back, bellowing in pain), Christ being nailed to the cross (my friend cursing out the imaginary Romans driving nails into his wrists), etc. Most people at the party were nominal Christians...99.9% of us had been raised as Christians, certainly...and most of them were certainly offended at the antics of my blaspemous friend, but they realized he was drunk, or they wrote him off as a jerk, and turned their attention to other matters. Generally speaking, I try not to p*ss on the things or beliefs that other people revere, even if privately I might vehemently disagree or even feel some degree of contempt for those things or beliefs. My grandmother's belief in Christianity got her through a wretched life, even if I might have thought her belief was a chimera that never really addressed the very real problems plaguing her. Still, if it comforted her, who was I to ridicule it? As I felt towards her, so I try to feel towards others (unless they're intolerant of me and attempt to crowd me with their "belief"). That's me. But if someone had been badly impacted by religious fanatacism or intolerance or hypocrisy, where else should they be able to express it if not a website specifically designed for the expression of opinions? FranksWildYears made a very salient point, I think, regarding this. If I was a homosexual, I'd be extremely offended by some of what Christians have said here over the years. As a person from a mixed Catholic/Protestant background, I've been extremely offended by some of what I've read here over the years regarding Catholics (I've always found Protestant antipathy towards Catholicism so ridiculous; after all, aren't they both basing their religion on the same book of what Bill Maher calls "Jewish fairytales"?). If I was a Muslim, I'd be extremely offended by some of what I've read here over the years. As an agnostic bordering on atheist, I find the constant expressions of Christian sentiment tiresome and excruciatingly dull, but they come from people expressing what they feel and think, and, again, that's what I think this website is supposed to be about. To those who believe in God so fervently and are so sure of his unlimited power and majesty, surely He's above whatever Canadasucks or my late drunken friend or anyone else might have to say negative about him, no? To put it in another context, I tend to think people who burn the American flag (and, no, I'm not putting CanadaSucks in this category at all, but I think it's another illustration of my point) are silly exhibitionists desperate for attention even if the attention is strenuously negative, but if the freedoms that flag ostensibly represents are strong and valid, why should their actions inflame and threaten so many people? Write them off as misguided fools, if you will, and move on to something that really does affect our lives. The reactions of some of the people here...many of whom I respect and like...to CanadaSucks' admittedly tasteless avatar DO put me in mind of the fanatical and disturbing reaction of zealots in Denmark to a cartoon. True, RIA's Christians haven't set anything on fire, and I'm sure they wouldn't even if they could, but the enduring intensity of their reaction does bring it to mind.

Though I agree his avatar is in the worst possible taste, isn't funny, and was posted for the sole purpose of getting the goats of Christians, I won't join the chorus demanding he be censored and/or censured for his misbehavior.

Here's an offensive cartoon that's much funnier than the obnoxious provocation posted by CanadaSucks, and much more to the point as well... http://www.ep.tc/realist/48/26.jpg

Funny, worth reading, and definitely provocative: I think if I go turn on TBN, I'll see John Hagee screaming about canadasucks and the forces of Sauron between bites of a frigging marshmallow and pigs' knuckles sandwich...

Provocative as hell, and often just as funny. More than willing to leave a trail of scorched earth behind him, and not afraid to tilt at any windmill in sight.

An absolute must read for me, especially when he targets something I like.

Very intelligent reviewer who often challenges my reviews. Although I would never tell him this, he keeps me on my toes.