Kady,
As to use of the N word. Kids in Pompano have a sort of a neighborhood cheer. Well, they hae a few. But here's one I know. "Grab yo money, grab yo ho, cause nigga, you in Pompano!" White kids say it, so do blacks. No on get's their nose out of joint about it but the schoolpeople.
But there's a little more context here. I don't know which threads you read over there on the Elan forum. But Nazi really does post some offensive material. It's not just casual use of the n word. Sure, I bet he would get his butt kicked in some neighborhoods. Mine included.
My point about the religious discussion... well, I suppose the anon folk who are complaining here would have to actually go and read some of that back and forth to know what I'm talking about. Art might be particularly interested in the ideas posited by at least one of our Conservative Christian posters who seems to sincerely believe that it's all the Jews' fault. But I doubt he'd have as much compassion for the Christians, who take the brunt of the angry atheists spite. Check out Powerful Attitude and all the harsh reaction to his angry vitriole.
And should I ban all posts in support of the various programs? You think
those are not intimidating, disturbing and traumatic to program vets? I've had a lot of people thank me for letting those stand and, instead, letting their authors get a piece of our minds in response.
This is far from the first time this issue has come up over the years. When Marti first came along, back when the forum was hosted on coolboards or ezboards or something, Marti didn't like something Thea had said about our buddy Wes. She went balistic, insisting that I ban Thea. More recently, Marti and a few of her friends decided that Carey Bock was causing disruption by her comments. I didn't ban her either.
Three times now I've gotten letters of demand insisting that I make people stop saying mean things about various program and drug war organizations and personalities. And I've had plenty of people take issue with me over comparing the drug war to the holocaust!
My point is that I'm not here to tell adults what to say or how to say it. I claim and excercise my right to ignore or to challenge ideas that I find offensive or erroneous. THAT is what this forum is all about. No one, and I mean no one, has to worry that they won't get a chance here to put forth their point of view on anything, no matter how badly it might offend some. No one can expect to get a special advantage by currying favor with me.
Now, as I write this, if you look over to the Elan forum, you'll find a lot of threads that don't make a lot of sense. Matt moderates that forum. True to form, I've given him my opinion about this, he aparently disagrees and has been deleting some posts, but not others. The overall effect is to create the illusion that Nazi is not the kind of person to say such outrageous things and that the people who have taken exception to his offensive ideas now look like lunatics, as they're arguing against posts that appear to have never been made.
It's my opinion, prior to seeing this to its conclusion, that this strategy is not going to work out too well. Here's how it worked out in the AARC forum:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... m=4&Sort=D But I set up that forum for Matt at his request and he can run it however he wants to.
There's a broad perception in this country these days that what we call 'hate speech' is illegal. It's not. The KKK holds rallies every so often, so does Louis Farrakhan. They publish newsletters and ads they produce or go attend a rally and listen to their leaders speak. Then look around and see how much sway they really garner and what quality of people fall for it.
There's a broad perception that it's an us or them battle; that the only proper response to 'hate speech' is to stiffle it, shut it down, silence it. I don't think that has ever worked out in all of human history.
One strategy has worked well down through time whenever it's been tried. So that's the one I use here. Rather than try and prevent people from voicing opinions that you don't like, go ahead and let them ramble on and see if they can defend them intellectually.
Oh, one more reason why it's a bad idea for our neo-stazi to insist on deleting all this offensive material. They claim that it's more than offensive, it's threatening and intimidating. If that's the case, then you'd want to preserve the evidence. If I delete the evidence then you go crying to the authorities to protect you from this person who you perceive as a real threat, you'll be shit out of luck.
"It is error alone that needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself." -- T.J.
The government is much more interested in preserving the purity of its ideology than it is in allowing patients to get effective medicine.
-- Ethan B. Russo, neurologist at Western Montana Clinic
_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
American drug war P.O.W.
10/80 - 10/82
Straight South (Sarasota, FL)
Anonymity Anonymous