[Benn Roe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comedian

Silencing one side only makes it stronger.

In what way? I'll concede that it contributes to a sense of martyrdom on the part of those silenced, but I don't see any evidence that it makes anyone stronger. As a counterpoint, the rise in hate crimes and boldness of the overtly racist elements in American society in recent years directly correlates to the rise in means of relatively anonymous communication, and then spikes even further with the election of a man who was (at best) cavalierly willing to entertain hateful positions. That's not a coincidence. In any event, nobody's talking about silencing anyone. They're talking about using social pressure to demonstrably denounce bigotry. People can spew all the hate they want, but giving them a platform to do so is reckless, and makes us all complicit. Facebook and Twitter even seem to be finally coming to terms with this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comedian

And yes, I believe The Jedi were the good guys. But we both have our opinions, neither one is correct.

All the Jedi know is that their guts say 'maybe'.

Seriously, I know they're awful movies, but go back and watch the prequels. They're all about how the Jedi were so committed to the preservation of order that they couldn't detect a great evil operating right under their noses. The Sith are pretty unapologetic about using the "dark side" and doing evil, but the Jedi just want to bring "balance" to the force, not use the "light side" to do good. This is, incidentally, why Luke failed as a Jedi. He didn't want to bring balance to the force. He wanted to defeat evil.

Hell, even going back to Yoda's assertion that only Sith deal in absolutes. Is that not an absolute? Is it not an absolute to claim that no speech is completely indefensible? I assert that some speech is absolutely wrong, and you assert that there's absolutely no circumstance under which speech should be silenced. Where's our force lightning?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comedian

I enjoyed your responses and well though speech very much. And you gave me a few things to think on, so thank you. Things I couldn’t think on if we stopped speaking.

Likewise, man, I don't disagree that people should listen to each other more often. I just disagree with your interpretation of what that implies. It seems like you think firing Carano for using her platform to spew ignorance equates to not listening, but the opposite is true. She is espousing beliefs that show she's not willing to consider others' viewpoints. Those are the seeds of all bigotry. I'm not saying all bigots are too far gone to be educated, but I am saying that people who can't start from a position of "bigotry is a poison" are. Listening to them isn't productive, because there's no premise on which to build common ground. Tolerating their rhetoric in the name of 'listening' tells others there might be validity to their viewpoint, and there isn't.

To be clear, I don't think Carano would disagree that bigotry is a poisn, but she has been seduced by the dark side, and letting her spread that poison is irresponsible.