Yes, we do all make mistakes, but all mistakes are not equal, as you might yourself admit.
It is hard to hold forgiveness for the person who makes a mistake that seems to 99% of the population to be impossible to make (or continue making in some cases), and we either choose to forgive and forget and move on or we don't.
There are mitigating circumstances in many cases, such as youth or inexperience, illness and infirmity, and much of that is not presented here or in any situation, even in person.
I present myself as much like I am in real life, though I will admit I do not present 100% of myself on an internet board where people don't really need or want to know every single detail about me, and it's irrelevant anyway.
That said, I try to take people at a basic, generic level unless I know something about them in person or otherwise that makes me either feel differently about them (bad or good). Such as I know several people on this forum in real life. Some of them I met here, others I met aside from here. Most of those I consider good friends, a few are like family to me. There are a select few that I don't agree with a lot of what they do, don't like the way they might treat their horses, yet I still pretty much maintain a civil "face" here as it's not the place to air my dirty laundry/opinions. I would guess there are people who feel the same about me, and I'm fine with that.
I do try to give the benefit of the doubt to people and not "attack" or "flame" people for things I don't understand, but I also feel I have a lot of compassion for the animals and I try to temper that with understanding of the people who try their best to care for them.
Anyway, for an example of all mistakes not being created equal: how about the father that forgets he left his child in the car instead of dropping him off at daycare, and a tiny little four month old infant dies of heat stroke in the car while he is in his air conditioned office? It's so hard to understand what was behind that mistake, and I know a lot of people would attack him for his negligence. Was it enough to say that his mind was on his work, his day at work, his other obligations, and so he forgot his child was still in the car, yet he had time to stop by and get himself a coffee before work? (this is a true story from a few years ago's news that just "got to me" because my son was the same age at the time, my heart broke for that baby and his family).
Guess my point is that on this board, we've seen the truly tragic and the genuinely absurdly misreported tragedies that just wear our patience thin, and when all the facts don't add up, we get "prickly" with each other. I hope that guests to the Forum would understand there is a great deal of compassion towards those without a voice such as animals and small children (it is that way in real life, for the most part, too). If we seem harsh it is because we are distressed and probably don't understand the reasons behind the "mistakes".
Anyone who feels there is no heart here is simply not reading the words as they were intended. Anger is passion, and if someone's angry at you, chances are they don't "not care about you."
We all have other aspects of our lives that we may or may not agree with (just start a topic on politics or religion and you'll see some of where those lines are drawn). Does it matter to me that there are those on here that are almost cripplingly religious (just my opinion)? Not really. I happen not to believe in god or organized religion. If some choose to discount my experience and observations with miniature horses and ignore my posts, fine. If they don't want to "be my friend" then fine, too. I have many friends that I get alone with just great, and I don't even mind that they go to church, but they know better than to try and get me to "see religion" or talk religion with me other than to be objective.
Ok, I've really gone on, but this struck a bit of a chord with me.
This board was created originally for the enjoyment of discussing Miniature Horses and for helpful observations and experiences from other people who raise and train Miniature Horses and just enjoy them. That fact is really all that matters to me about 99% of the people here. If we get along in other respects, that is just icing on the cake.
Liz M.
