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No one has ever been accused of racism or anti-semitism on Barbelith unless they have posted something which has been understood as being racist or anti-semitic by another poster or other posters. Also, in this current spate of discussions, no one has (as far as I can see) been accused of being irredeemably racist or anti-semitic. It has been, quite rightly, pointed out that some posters have said things that could be (and clearly have been) understood to be racist or anti-semitic, and why this is not a good thing, and why such issues should be addressed, and why bigotry is not something that many people on Barbelith are prepared to tolerate. I don't think anyone wanted to hound raelianautopsy or anyone (except the Fetch, who was banned for unapologetically propounding anti-semitic views) off the board. But if people wish to talk about controversial topics which might include discussions of anti-semitism, racism, etc. they should be prepared to think very carefully about what they say and how they say it, and that goes for everyone.
As I said before, people who aren't prepared to examine their views and statements in the light of criticism from others may find that there is relatively little tolerance for their 'controversial' opinions.
Making an analogy between this and paedophile-bashing is not helpful. I am sorry that you had such a distressing experience, and given that you have realised that your choice of words was misguided, it seems unfair of your acquaintances to ostracise you (and perhaps we have been guilty of similar behaviour with regard to raelianautopsy, though s/he has been very defensive about the statements with which people have been unhappy, which hasn't helped...)
I don't mean to sound as if I think I am the greatest, most morally incorruptible, most liberal and right-thinking person on the planet (though I probably do sound a bit like that, I know) - I just think that issues which are aas sensitive as this, and which have such potential for offending people (who are, lest we forget, real people, not just fictionsuits) should be handled with extreme care by all participants, and that everyone involved should do a lot of hard thinking and self-examination before they post.
I think that it is perhaps possible that we have been too quick to smack other posters down for their posts (which they clearly do not *believe* to be anti-semitic, either in intent or content, though other people are I think justified in taking the content to be, at the very least, unexamined). But given the extremely sensitive nature of such discussions and the deplorable recent instance of a poster actually promoting anti-semitism, I don't think we're unjustified in taking a critical stance towards such threads. And I think people are justified in being extremely angry about such threads, and expressing that anger is not, IMO, abusive... |
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