that's quite easy. People are free to do whatever they want as long as they don't infringe other people's rights to the same thing - my freedom to swing my fist stops where your face begins.
Where words are concerned, people have the right to say any damn thing they want provided other people are not forced to listen to them, and have the right to reply. If they say something actionable, of course, they can expect to find themselves in court - one should not have to tolerate lies - but simply insulting someone as an expression of opinion is something we should all tolerate. Without wishing to dwell on specifics, if B calls G an F all this tells us is that B is in fact an A. Bob > > How far should tolerance of intolerance extend? > > From: Steven Desjardins > > I'm never happy to see anyone just go away. Tolerance extends in many > > directions. We're never stronger for losing someone, even if that > > strength is the result of patience on our part. Maybe I'm sensitive to > > this because I can have quite a bad temper and have said things on > > occasion that I deeply regret later. On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:12 PM, > > paul stenquist <[email protected]> wrote: > >>> > >>> On Oct 23, 2010, at 7:35 PM, Steven Desjardins wrote: > >>> > >>>>> I certainly don't want to see Bill go away. ?I can deal just fine > >>>>> with his directness/bluntness, etc., and many times it adds to a > >>>>> discussion. > >>> > >>> I don't want to see him go away either. But his language isn't just > >>> direct, it's frequently abusive. There's no excusing his attack on > >>> Godfrey. Godfrey and I have gone toe-to-toe on more than one > >>> occasion, but we managed to do it without being disgusting and > >>> personally abusive. > >>> > >>> Bill has responded to me in an ugly fashion on more than one > >>> occasion when I disagreed with him , and I've called him out on it > >>> every time.In response, he grows even more vile. Yes, I can be > >>> aggressive, but I don't resort to personal attacks. To do so is > >>> childish and totally unacceptable. > >>> > >>> ?There are those that Bill never abuses, even when they disagree > >>> with him, apparently they have gained his favor. That's fine. But > >>> I'm not going to tolerate his nastiness, and I don't think anyone > >>> else should have to either. If he wants to behave like an adult, he > >>> should come back. Otherwise, he should disappear. Paul > >>> > >>> > >>>>> ?As I said, the only problem here was the use of the word > >>>>> "faggot". ? It was an inappropriate choice of word and Paul's > >>>>> comparison to the use of "nigger: was accurate. ?If someone > >>>>> referred to a person of color as a "nigger" in the heat of an > >>>>> argument then people would be appalled and the orginal argument > >>>>> would become moot. This has nothing to do with strong opinions or > >>>>> heated responses. ?It about the use of a word that has moved > >>>>> beyond its casual use and has become a vile pejorative in the eyes > >>>>> of many. ?Words change their connotations and sometimes > >>>>> misunderstandings occur during the transition period. > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> "> Come on Bill - that would mean I will overtake you in longevity > >>>>> here - > >>>>>>> now that's really gotta hurt ?;-) > >>>>>>> > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
