blogs_blog_406

Somebody give this guy an award.

 

You took the words out of my mouth.

Follow Deevee's rules.

 

Problem solved.

Somebody give this guy an award.

 

You took the words out of my mouth.

I second this.

I agree with fishers64. Give this guy an award. You literally explained everything I once tried to and I failed to do. You really grasp what I wish every member on this site should.

 

-Rez

I'm all about not fighting (indeed, it's one of my most deeply-held principles), but I do want to take the time to note that there's a difference between belief/worldview and self/identity.

 

For instance, a belief that degrades and dehumanizes people and contributes to their systematic oppression is an actively harmful thing - to everybody! To suggest that something that actively harms people deserves respect is awful, and to suggest that it deserves equal credence contributes to its harmful dissemination. To suggest that it is equal to a personal identity is a false equivalence.

 

In the case here, people who deny others' identities, purposely misgender them, threaten them, try to portray their identities as a "choice" (and a "wrong" one at that), or try to present themselves as the arbiter of what someone else is - that's wrong. That's harmful. That's bullying.

 

I don't think that deserves "respect."

 

Make sense? No ill-will intended; just trying to explain!

I miss the days when I could truly say that about our community. I miss the days when, instead of yelling at each other and taking sides and names, we could just talk about our shared interest.

The issues were always present; they and people's voices on them were just repressed out of fear and sometimes even by site policies. The feeling of community was almost surreal and illusory, looking back. It's truly a good thing that people are finding the courage to announce, defend, and live their identities on BZPower, and for that I don't want to go back to the old days. We just need to make sure that it is safe for everyone, and then perhaps we can go forward instead of longing for other days.

 

I'm all about not fighting (indeed, it's one of my most deeply-held principles), but I do want to take the time to note that there's a difference between belief/worldview and self/identity.

 

For instance, a belief that degrades and dehumanizes people and contributes to their systematic oppression is an actively harmful thing - to everybody! To suggest that something that actively harms people deserves respect is awful, and to suggest that it deserves equal credence contributes to its harmful dissemination. To suggest that it is equal to a personal identity is a false equivalence.

In the case here, people who deny others' identities, purposely misgender them, threaten them, try to portray their identities as a "choice" (and a "wrong" one at that), or try to present themselves as the arbiter of what someone else is - that's wrong. That's harmful. That's bullying.

 

I don't think that deserves "respect."

 

 

I don't disagree with you that some ideas (ie. Nazism, racism, sexism, bigotry, etc.) are bad, and those bad ideas need to be discredited and rejected. I just don't think all people who believe those bad ideas need to discredited and rejected. That's what I'm trying to get at.

 

Make sense? No ill-will intended; just trying to explain!

 

 

 

I very much appreciate your respectful comment.

I don't disagree with you that some ideas (ie. Nazism, racism, sexism, bigotry, etc.) are bad, and those bad ideas need to be discredited and rejected. I just don't think all people who believe those bad ideas need to discredited and rejected. That's what I'm trying to get at.

Right, all people are equal and should be treated as such. At the same time, all people are responsible and should be held accountable for their words and actions, and if those words and actions are harmful, then that person should be called out and held accountable. Not as a personal attack but as a rebuking and refuting of their harmful words/actions. And I think it's important of us, as a community to understand what sorts of things are harmful.

 

I just want to be clear about this because you seem to be conflating a person's beliefs, actions, and self in some places here! Again, no ill-will intended.

The community is split in half. One half has one view, one half the other. Most people are respectful, but a few on both sides can't stand everyone on the other. That is a major problem. A split of opinion is not a bad things - much good has come from people who have different views, but respect each other and try and get around those differences.

A community split on opinions is fine. If half the people here thought the original Toa Nuva were the best and the other half liked the Phantoka and Mistika better, those are two perfectly valid opinions that two groups can have.

 

That's not what we have here. There are people who currently are not treated equally and want the same rights, respect, consideration, etc, as everyone else. There are others who think they should not have those rights or that "disagree" with who they are. That latter group is NOT welcome to express those views on BZPower and will be punished if they do so.

 

Until people realize they cannot disrespect others and be hurtful or even hateful, we are still going to have a problem. I think many of us are doing the best we can to try to help things along, but it's certainly not going to happen overnight.

 

And with that said, I think there's no need for further discussion as I already see things are getting a little heated.

 

EDIT: As an aside, I did not delete any comments in this entry as nothing was breaking the rules.