Is it not somewhat ironic that decrying "censorship" centers on saying
that those who are offended would be better off keeping their thoughts to themselves?
"I don't like what you say, so I do not want to hear from you."
I do not support censorship, government or private; but to those who make inflammatory, dehumanizing statements I would appeal to higher aspirations. We are, no matter how disagreeable, all human beings. This shtick some writers employ may be fun for some to read but at the end of the day they work against their own cause -- assuming their cause is to make the world a better place where the common value of all people is held as one of our highest virtues.
However, if the cause is to sow discord, animosity and division then they seem to right on target. If this is the case perhaps they do not go far enough. It would seem they are playing coy with being merely offensive when they should simply give a full-throated call for outright conflict. That is, after all, the inevitable result of those who dehumanize other people.
A person cannot honestly claim that The Other is a vile, immoral sub-human existential threat only to be referred to in the most degrading terms possible and in the next breath claim, "but I'm totally OK with living peaceably beside him as my neighbor in a civil society." If a person rejects peace let them say so outright. Let the contest begin and let's be done with it.
To those who rely on degrading others I am not here to scold or demand silence. I am asking, "Let's make a better world."
= new reply since forum marked as read
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]
It was a little elf sitting on the President's shoulder singing "I don't wanna be all by myself" only the ear hears it as "I don't want to be Obama's elf."
For the life of me I cannot imagine where the controversy was to be found. It was cute and humorous and could not reasonably be interpreted as a slight against the President (I dunno, maybe elves have a history of RW activism 
).
So, I understand your point about alerts being abused.
But before there is even an alert there is a desire on the part of some writers to make inflammatory remarks. For those that want to resort to dehumanizing language I ask, "Why?"
