Originally Posted by Brian Sorrell
They're probably not out to insult or hurt you so much as defend themselves against the threat that your lifestyle / behavior poses to their perceptions of how things should be.
Probably true with a sizeable percentage, but who knows? I do think there are also most certainly people who have some sort of built-in conflict addiction (or even manufactured through incessant watching of
point-counterpoint style media politicos).
It seems to be a common trait, though.
When I was vegetarian, I would constantly have people starting up with me over it, even if I had said absolutely nothing other than that I simply
was a vegetarian when it came up here or there - whether at a party that had food or if we were ordering pizza together. I never once told anyone
why I was a vegetarian or that they should be too, never preached it, and it was incredible to see just how many people wanted to get right into an argument based on this simple statement that I was one.
I often get this perception about people who come into this forum for no other reason than to pick fights or behave in a very frowardly manner. I can't imagine going into a Christianity forum (or a church!), for example, and blasting people there about how self-righteous they are being - even if they are - and then cloak my obstinacy in the basic supposition that the forum was "public" and so I had a right to spew there. Oh well. Whatever.