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Rules Update Clarification

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  • Rules Update Clarification

    Hello everyone, once in a while we have to make a public "declaratory ruling" as it were on our rules. The rules here are very broadly and liberally construed in favour of free speech, and in particular, speech that the general culture may not like. Since homosexuality and gender issues have come to the forefront of discussion, we have had to revisit some of our rules on allowable language in this discussion and try to make sense out of some of the difficulties and vagaries of people in trying to determine a fair way to go about this keeping in mind our commitment to allowing expression of unpopular ideas (it doesn't matter who they are unpopular to, the staff, society, the minority of members, the majority of members, etc.).

    I am going to use words in this thread that will not be generally allowed elsewhere.

    If used as a slur (and generally if you are opposing the idea that such behaviour or people should be accepted as normative, non-sinful, whatever words your philosophy uses, it is a slur), words like "fag," "faggot," "homos," "queer," and "tranny," will be moderated. I am sure there are words I missed. You get the idea. In 99% percent of the cases, using these words will get moderated. NOTE: the "ideas" are not being moderated, use your brain and find other words. We are strict with these words because they actually derail too much the actual conversations we want to happen and are too inflammatory in such volatile discussions.

    Notice, I left open the door that perhaps they wouldn't be moderated. When would that happen? Well, as human beings are wont to do, some people have taken words historically meant to be slurs and applied them to themselves. Some may think that is illogical etc, but that is not the role of our rules to decide. It is a common human behaviour of empowerment. So….. on the chance, that someone wishes to self-identify as one of those terms, and doesn't use it to disrupt conversation, just as a means of claiming for themselves something positive out of something usually meant to insult, we are not going to moderate that.

    If you have a question, PM me.

    Another clarification, discussion has degenerated on the Net. There are a lot of good ideas that are in articles that unfortunately contain a lot of gratuitous vulgarity. We used to always always disallow such links. We don't automatically disallow them anymore. You can't help what people say in comments…. that isn't our concern. If the main piece is just throwing around slurs for the sake of slurs and it is not really part of the piece then find another article. Otherwise please give a language warning before your link.

    Please don't disrupt this thread into talking about other rules. If you have a question on them, PM a moderator.

    PS: Some link examples. If one is discussion feminism or the men's rights movement, the articles may contain words that some consider slurs or misogynistic etc. Those links will not be moderated. The very heart of a lot of discussions is precisely what is misogyny, misandry etc. It isn't gratuitous to the overall discussion no matter how offensive.

    However, there was a Cracked Magazine article recently on mental health. It was a very good article. Yet the author decided he was going to be edgy and cool by throwing the F-bomb around like it was war. That link was disallowed. It was completely irrelevant and unnecessary to the issues discussed as it wasn't about Tourette's.

    Unpopular ideas are not going to be censored. We need to just keep things to a dull roar while protecting freedom of speech.
    Last edited by Darth Xena; 03-01-2014, 10:17 AM.
    The State. Ideas so good they have to be mandatory.

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