* good-dog_at_northshore.net <good-dog_at_northshore.net> [10 Feb 2002 08:10]:
>
> Many people who have different views than yourself are just as
> intelligent as you is and just as nimble with their little fingers. A
Sorry, but the reason Templar ended up in my killfile has nothing to do
with his point of view and everything to do with how he chose to espouse
it. I decided to killfile him as soon as I read this line:
<< You frogs are all the same. All talk no action! >>
(from this message, if you're interested:
http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/newtontalk.2002-02/0958.html)
This isn't discussion, it's abuse, and not what we're here for.
> What is most amusing about people who want to ban bigots or who can't
> stand bigots, is that they are being just as bigoted toward the alleged
> bigot as they perceive the bigot is towards (fill in the blank).
>
> Mr. Templar apologized. I would think in your enlightened state of
> not being a bigot, you would have the flexibility to appreciate that. We
> all make some really huge, stupid mistakes in our lives. I've made
> plenty.
Reminds me of a quote:
"There are people on this planet that don't love their fellow man, and I
*hate* people like that" - Tom Lehrer (paraphrased)
This is why I killfiled Templar rather than asking him to be banned
completely. He may learn civility. However, his behavior (note: *NOT*
his ideology) has cause him to lose a lot of respect in my eyes.
> Personally, I think you may want to review whether you truly believe in
> freedom or not. If you do, fine. If you don't, fine, too. Each to their
> own. Just realize that if you try to take others freedom away from them
> or compromise it in some way, you'll likely get creamed. Be careful.
How are we impinging on his freedom? He's still free to say whatever he
wants. We're not throwing him in a dungeon. At worst all we're asking is
that he dosen't say anything here, or, more moderately, that he keeps his
flamethrower stowed and his posts civil. If he wants heated political
discussion there are plenty of other venues he can participate in.
> When you talk about 'trolls' you might as well be saying 'chink',
You're missing the crucial difference between the two epithets; the
former *chooses* his behavior, the latter is born chinese.
> On the flip side, The Trolls may see you as a dictatorial, freedom-hater
> in the guise of a new-age, whiney, goody-two shoes, who wants a 'free',
> 'modern', and 'wonderful' world of only the same people. Mr. Hilter(his
> running mate was a Mr. Hilmer, was it not? Correct me if need be), who
> ran for an office in England after WWII, had similar views about a
> wonderful world, all neat and orderly, populated by only Good Germans
> who all looked and thought alike. The text of the 1984 Apple tv
> commercial is appropriate here.
Is this a really circuitous way of calling us list Nazis? If you get the
jist of my post you'll see that it has nothing to do with what kinds of
people we want on this list, and everything to do with keeping civility.
> Compromising freedom for convenience is another topic you may want to
> examine. Consider this thought from Benjamin Franklin:
>
> They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
> deserve neither liberty or security.
1. We're not compromising freedom
2. Certain societal rules must be followed for the greater good of that
society.
Mr. Franklin definitely understood the latter, otherwise why would he
have signed the US Constitution? The creation of a governing body
implicitly defines some rules on how the people under that body can
behave.
I don't care what Templar says, only that he keeps his posts out
of the realm of verbal abuse. A discussion based community such as this
list has a right to require a certain standard of it's postings. In some
people's opinion (including mine) Templar's posts descended well below
the standards of this list.
Mike
--
Michael Bain | One day I want to look through three hundred
mike_at_macboy.homeip.net | thousand kilometres of space and say:
| "My isn't there a beautiful Earth out tonight!"
--
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