Point one. From the Open Letter to the Secular Community, April 2:
Our Approach
Here are some things that we plan to do to make our online secular community a place where we can exchange ideas and views instead of insults. We hope that others may also find this approach useful.
- Moderate blogs and forums. Any organization or individual engaged in blogging or administering a forum has an obligation to moderate comments. Slurs, threats, and so forth beget more of the same. Keeping our online spaces free of these elements creates a civil climate that makes it much easier for people to engage issues productively.
Point two. From comment # 214, by one “MosesZD”, on Ron Lindsay’s “Rebecca Watson can be compared to North Korea” post, May 18:
Mr. Lindsay,
Do yourself a favor and read Paul’s (PZ Myers) blog and how he’s trashing Vacula who is at your conference. Vacula is one of many people that he’s spent quite some effort and time demonizing and flaming over the years. Doing his absolute best to destroy Vacula over something
See how he describes Vacula and his inability to get interviews for Brave Heart Radio.
Why is this? Because PZ Myers, Watson, Benson, et. al., have spent close to two years lying about him and demonizing him because he doesn’t lockstep to their non-skeptical, non-atheist belief systems.
I don’t choose that comment because it’s the worst in terms of slurs and threats but because it makes a specific false accusation against me. I haven’t lied about Vacula. I have documented his harassment of me.
Oh, but that doesn’t have any threats or slurs. Just lies and distortions. Transparent ones, but ones that Ron Lindsay apparently believes. And lying and distorting are not explicitly identified in the
policyapproach*, so it totes doesn’t apply to this situation.*approach is so much weaker than policy, isn’t it? So any violations aren’t a violation of policy. And how could you violate an approach, anyway?
Oh, I may have accidentally done some irony or sarcasm on the internet up there. I’m sorry, Elisabeth Cornwell, I should’ve realized it totally doesn’t work before I posted that. Also, I just realized I can’t refer to you as a “friend”, Ophelia, since we met on the internet. (Over 10 years ago!) Guess I’ll have to fall back on Awesome Person I Admire and Who Knows Who I Am.
About the CFI trolls’ post:
[Vacula] doesn’t lockstep to their non-skeptical, non-atheist belief systems.
Is this a new addition to their slandering repertoire? I can guess that “non-skeptical” is supposed to mean “insufficiently skeptical of feminism”…but where did the “non-atheist” part come from?
I think blog moderation is very helpful, even necessary. I even liked what Greta did once where she specified a very narrow focus for comments. Maybe that isn’t always appropriate but it made a comment thread worth reading. I’m curious about the cost (emotional or in terms of time) to bloggers of moderating every comment, and any helpful measures of workarounds people have come up with. I can imagine the drain could be considerable especially for those who have many readers.
Chaos-engineer@3
Because “FEMINAZISM IS A RELIGION”, doncha know? #BRAVEHEROSTANDINGUPFORMENSRIGHTSAGAINSTTHEOPPRESIONISTFEMALEGYNOCRACY and all that. /snark
Generally, it really seems more “I want to run this movement and impose my views on other because they’re wrong and I’m right.” So much privilege and priors that the entire concept of empathy is lost on them.
Is comparing Rebecca’s article to something coming from North Korea an example of, “(exchanging) ideas and views instead of insults”?
And now guess where the Lindsay posts are being promoted?
http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/5/20/three-posts-on-cfi-about-the-women-in-secularism-conference-may-17-19
Disappointing? Yes. Surprising? No.
I don’t even want to read the comments.
Oh good god.
HAHAHAHAH… oh, fuck everything.