[jspthrowaway2]

Yes. Tell Paul what's appropriate in his own, intensely personal, unabashedly honest message from the heart. I'm going through pain in my life and I'm glad he shared it. His honestly about religion was heartwarming, and I knew there'd be people in the Hacker News comments looking to argue about it straight away.

[tptacek]

Is he even talking about religion? I thought he was just trying to evoke the purposeful animating idea that people of religion think about when they think about God.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", asks the nerd. "No, for thou art not a day in a particular season and the comparison would make no sense. Also, stop using vi."

[jspthrowaway2]

I meant in the abstract, just as he did. I was characterizing the discussion, not necessarily his topic.

Sometimes I disagree with you, but man, Thomas, you are on point in this thread today. Thank you.

[3pt14159]

Hacker News is not about religion. It shouldn't be.

Sometimes the occasional jab at fundies is overlooked, sometimes the occasional mention of solace in a higher power is tolerated; but the nature of Paul's characterization was beyond the cultural norms of this board.

The strength and appropriateness of someone's statement in areas that are beyond his or her's direct involvement in a particular project or field should come directly from the innate strength of the arguments themselves and from the innate appropriateness of the arguments themselves.

Paul is a great man. He's directly impacted my everyday work flow and many of my ideas - but the closeness of this community is damaged by divisive and potentially offensive claims. If anything he should be setting the standard for what is expected here; and I say this with full knowledge of of how many of his potentially offensive arguments rang truth to my ears.

If someone is in pain and they wish to talk to someone close to them, even with potentially offensive ideas, that is one thing. Writing something on the internet and submitting it to an online forum, however, is an implicit acceptance of the review of others at that board.

I truly believe he is well meaning, civil, caring, etc. But this place will devolve quickly when the subject matter becomes highly subjective and divisive.