Here's an example of twisted censorship.

[Virge]

First... Let me make it clear I'm not mad about this. Believe me on that.

I was banned from a forum that I'm more active in than GS... There are gays there and 90% of the other people supported gay marriage. A pretty liberal site... dealing mostly with religion, and social issues, ethics and philosophy.

Here's the slightly redacted message I finally got TODAY after contacting them to find out why I was unable to comment or start threads....

[COLOR="Blue"]7:36 AM (1 hour ago)
to me
XXXXXX sent you a new message:
Subject: You have been demoted
"You have been demoted for your childish and rude behavior specially in post http://XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
You will be restored on July 19. I shall have to do so manually. Remind me if i forget."[/COLOR]

Now... here's some background on the OP. He says he's a straight father of *three gay sons*..... and he says that a lot.... like in every OP and comment. Here's the entire OP....

[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Blue"]Hi, all. I’m a poly-atheist who has a Christian buddy. By (just about ALL OTHER) accounts, he’s a normal, decent, funny, talented guy. But then, when discussing religion, he changes. I’m certain others know what I mean.

In our case, we have intense but respectful arguments (some public, e.g., on FBook, others not) regarding how I regard his delusional beliefs in mysticism and the fantasy-based foundational underpinnings of his Christianity. He’s a vigilant and very argumentative, robust debate partner, but he posted something on his FB page after the SCOTUS gay marriage ruling that threw me in despair. He posted: “I love pizza. We’re getting married!”

I publicly lambasted him for his callousness and degrading comment, reminding him that three of my sons are gay and to please explain to them and me “how your ‘love of pizza’ is like their ‘love for another’?” What a douchebag thing to say, even for him. He wrote that he was just trying to be funny & whimsical, and to lighten up.

I responded, “I wonder what you would have written when inter-racial marriages were given constitutional protection. ‘I love a goat! We’re goatting married!”?

Anyway, I’m having an awful time overlooking his religious bigotry…so much so that he makes my skin crawl. I’m not taking the (easy) “I’M SO OFFENDED BY YOUR COMMENT!!” tack, as this is stupid. I just feel ever so heartbroken that his mind is so utterly lost in that smarmy dogma he can’t possibly see his bigotry and prejudice.

Honestly, it makes my skin crawl. It’s a filthy peek into his mind that makes me viscerally ill.

Any advice on how to handle this?[/COLOR][/SIZE]

And here's this guy's response to a comment... so you get a better idea of what he's like....

[COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="2"]See, I’m ok going head-to-head with a fuck-face Super. I have no qualms or hesitation throwing down with them. I’m (usually, like 99%) quite polite, but I don’t pull punches. I lambasted a FB fuck-face (and still do) over this very issue (he unfriended me, but his mom & sister didn’t, so I hope they’re relaying to him every time I mention his porkface dull-witted “one-man/one-woman” horseshit.)

And, honestly, I’m not at all shy commenting on my buddy’s posts, questioning his beliefs and how they align with reality. He engages me likewise. It just floored me that he JUST CAN’T SEE how bigoted he is… while maintaining he isn’t – that he “love’s everyone with Christ’s love” and he doesn’t judge (“that’s up to god”) and all the accompanying mind-numbing Christian brainwashed bullshit. It’s as if I see this depravity that has a very personal effect on me (given my gay sons) and I think… “whoa! dude. I want you nowhere NEAR my kids if you think their love for their partner is like your love for a FUCKING PIZZA! For FUCK’S SAKE!”

I dunno. I’m sure I encounter people of this bend all the time… but to witness it ‘in person’ (so to speak) — from a buddy who is, like, in virtually every other respect, a decent guy — just wiped me out.

Am I just too fucking judgmental? Am I just behaving like a babybitch and being overly-sensitive to this? Are (some of) my beliefs equally repulsive to him? Fuck all if I know. I just know that … it’s like, he fucking BELIEVES that LGBTs aren’t equal to his Christian heterocracy. Any union other than man/woman is BY GOD “less than” .. Un fucking believable.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Now here's my entire reply.... full of childish and rude behavior.....

[COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="2"]As a guy marrying his guy tomorrow afternoon I think I ought to speak out on this.

You really got pissed about a stupid comment about Pizza and marriage? Really?

The OP’s numero uno mistake is having a facebook account and expecting crap like that not to happen.
Facebook = infectious drama. You’ve contaminated a forum with it.

His 2nd mistake was responding to a stupid comment with anger.

His 3rd was bringing facebook drama into a forum expecting people to rally around his behavior.

Great Job. Let’s evaluate your accomplishments.
You publicly lambasted a guy for his callousness and degrading comment….
You redundantly expressed your indignation…
You called a few people “fuck faces”…

It sounds to me that you could be a gold medalist in the next US Olympic Internet Drama Team… Oh wait.. That doesn’t exist… In fact no one gets a trophy for drama, do they? There’s probably a good reason for that if you think about it.

Sorry for the sarcasm if it offends you. Now on to the other side of this.

You accomplished nothing with your actions and words. All you did was alienate a guy who you say is sometimes unreasonable by acting unreasonable yourself. In fact what you did and said was counterproductive in the long run.

Same sex marriage became legal across the US June 26th 2015. Do you know what’s really important about that date to me an my guy? The debate is over. There’s no reason to do anything to keep hostilities going. Nothing gained by rubbing our victory in the faces of the adversaries. Let the healing begin… In fact do everything we can to promote the healing.

There’s nothing you or I or anyone can do to change how >>> a rapidly dwindling minority <<< use their religion to whitewash their ignorance and hate towards a nameless face group called “gays”…. But I can and do make it hard as hell for them to be able to hate me on a personal level. Before you know it they start quietly and slowly re-evaluating things and changing their own minds. I know it works because I’ve been doing it over 4 years now in a rural town of 1500 (472 registered voters. The rest are mostly kids) When I moved here and bought a house they tried to scare me into leaving… Now they won’t let me or my guy leave.

I bet you made a long lasting impression of the “fuck face” you publically lambasted. He probably had some choice things to say about your behavior… You can’t plead “doing right” because you weren’t… You let your ego have the wheel to set off to “be right.”… Try to find anyone anywhere who’s ever won a trophy for that in an argument or misunderstanding.

I’m done.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Rude? I don't think so. I was offended by his egotistical need to brag twice about lambasting people people who disagree with him.... and him reducing people to fuckfaces and who don't give his ego a handjob and not express any ideas that conflict with his....

But here's the deeper issue and the reason I'm posting this here. A while back [MENTION=18508]East[/MENTION] did a thread about how liberals do have a widespread incapacity to react to Islam with realistic acceptance of the facts about it - while - at the same time lambasting christianity just the way this jerk did. That subject is dealt with in liberal Kirsten Power's book The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech which I've read.

The book deals with the evidence that US liberals in the 21st century are doing more to suppress free speech than any political group in American history. This guy's reaction to my comment is just one more example of it. He didn't like what I said so he pushed the report button and labeled me childish and rude.... simply for expressing an opinion that conflicted with his... and dishing out a dose of sarcasm to show how ridiculous his OP was.

I'm done.

Thanks for reading.

V

[MikeW]

LOL... drama on one forum spreads to yet another!!! Good going guy!!!!! But (as worse than a bleeding heart liberal, more like a psychedelic radical) I get your point and, although I don't totally agree, I don't totally disagree either. Great! hahaha

It's just so funny how this stuff works. Most forums are privately operated and moderated by volunteers (if moderated at all). The rules are often unfairly applied... but WTF is one to do? Yeah, I get it, this guy over reacted to the first guy and then again to you... he's got a bug up his ass... and little if any sense of humor about it. His "demoting" you is more a statement about him than you. BUT... otoh, it is either his forum or his privilege as a mod/admin to do what he did. I've been banned from forums. I've also been a mod/admin and banned others... so I know how it works. It sucks... but the way I see it, a forum belongs to someone else and if I'm perceived to insult the owner (like if I were in your home and you felt insulted by something I said), you have every right to show me the door. Is that "censorship"?? Personally, I don't think so. This could get into a debate about what "censorship" means. The way I've replied to people who accused me of "censoring" them on a forum is to point out, they are free to think and say whatever the hell they want; I'm free to do whatever I want in response to it *in this forum context*. If they don't like it, tuff tits. I'm not saying that is a very "enlightened" perspective but I think I'm fairly tolerant... there are just some things that can go too far sometimes and in a given context, if I have that permission (a setting in the forum software), then it is up to me to exercise it however subjectively I do.

LOL.... one of the forums I moderated at one point (this was some years ago) was a VERY contentious political forum in which one totally insane person (who I'd actually met in person and she was totally fucking nuts) suggested that it was UNFAIR for *some* people to have mod/banning privileges and not EVERYONE! Talk about radical insanity, she suggested that everyone be given the privilege to ban everyone else -- and she was totally serious. Hahahahahah.

Actually, I think it is a GREAT idea hahahahahaha! (Sort of along the lines that we should ALL be packing concealed weapons.... would make civilization FAR more civil!)

[Virge]

Like I said... I am not mad about it because it's so damned stupid when taken in its full context. I can go in and view the thread and it's hilarious... The name of it ought to be changed to "Here's a list of all the people I have lambasted for not agreeing with me."....... He's giving a litany of people who've pissed him off and how he lambasted them......... excuse me... but that's like something I read in a book on anthropology about how in primitive cultures they sit around and brag about vanquishing enemies and killing wild pigs wit their hands.

But the story gets better... I have gotten a second email from the moderator who informed me I was demoted.... Please read it carefully .....

You must created a new account on new site. Username and passwords that are you using on old site will no work on new site.

I'm thinking they're farming out the job of moderating to unemployed phone customer service workers in Bangladesh.

[Darius]

Could we meet the 3 gay sons, please?

[Virge]

Could we meet the 3 gay sons, please?

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.......... I bet you have a better chance of meeting the seven dwarves....

Come on.. think about it... three gay sons is a bit "Disneyfied" don't you think?

[Darius]

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.......... I bet you have a better chance of meeting the seven dwarves....

Come on.. think about it... three gay sons is a bit "Disneyfied" don't you think?

Are the dwarves gay, too? Are they hot?

[Virge]

They're always hot for some strange fairy tail...



so grab your glitter and carry your tail out in the woods on a dwarf hunt.

[MikeW]

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.......... I bet you have a better chance of meeting the seven dwarves....

Come on.. think about it... three gay sons is a bit "Disneyfied" don't you think?

I don't know. My last partner was from a family of four boys; three of whom were gay... so it happens. (And, tragically, all three of them died of HIV related issues.)

[Virge]

I don't know. My last partner was from a family of four boys; three of whom were gay... so it happens. (And, tragically, all three of them died of HIV related issues.)

Yeah... statistical anomalies. Like that guy in the news a couple of weeks ago who'd be struck by lightning twice and survived...

But back to what you're saying... For years Ray told about "The Browns" from where he grew up in Alabama. Back in the 1970s there was one generation of brothers, sisters and cousins amounting to 17 and 15 of them came out as gay. I always thought he was lying or exaggerating until Memorial Day in Pensacola and met a few of The Browns.

And back to the topic... The guy in the OP who says he has three gay sons makes such an issue of it it's hard not to think he protests too much... He has to mention it in 50% of the comments and threads he does. I think it's all butt wind.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

This is a case of Drama.

Which is one reason why I have grown cold with this and many other sites.

We have trolls and crap just saying crap to annoy, then we have people like you who keep feeding the trolls.

Stop feeding the trolls and they will go away.

Frankly, if I ran this or any other site I would be banning people left and right and making clear rules as to what is and is not tolerated and stick to those rules as though they are commandments from God.

This wishy-washy playing favorites shit has got to stop, all it does is lead to more hurt feelings, people picking sides and no clear, concise rules of engagement.