Erik wrote: >Would you care to explain EXACTLY why you, or anyone else except >parents, have the right to be the judge of what others may read? What >makes you so much wiser or holier than others, that you can decide what >is okay for everyone to read or write?
[snip] >Language is language. Vulgar is in the eye of the beholder. If you >don't like it, don't read it. If parents don't like it, they can do >their best to prevent their children from reading it. It seems futile, >though. Almost all of the kids in the neighborhood I grew up in had easy >access to sexual pictures, movies, and writing. I imagine the same holds >for most kids today, especially with the information explosion of the >last decade. [snip] >Talk about strawmen! I exclude no one, even you who I am finding more >and more offensive. YOU are the self-appointed morality cop proposing >exclusion. Point the finger at me all you want, but you'd do better to >look in a mirror. Erik, I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one as I did back on April 29 when I wrote: <begin long quote> Erik, you seem to want to allow cussing on-list because you want all viewpoints to be allowed. Cussing isn't necessary to achieve that, and allowing cussing actually *reduces* the number of viewpoints available to list members. If a 13-year-old's dad monitors his/her internet usage and tells him/her s/he can't stay on the list because of the cussing, that removes that opinion (or potential opinion if a lurker) from our list. If a brilliant 73-year-old gentleman like my father who has a lot to contribute to this list but who finds cussing offensive sees cussing on this list, he will leave the list and remove his opinion and experience from our discussion (now that my dad finally has a computer with an internet connection, I *am* going to try to get him on this list). The same holds true of any person of any age who finds cussing offensive. They and their ideas are going to find the nearest exit. As I said earlier, restricting cussing does not restrict free speech. It does not exclude viewpoints, it merely encourages that those viewpoints be made in a polite manner. *Allowing* cussing *does* exclude veiwpoints from anyone who finds cussing offensive and leaves the list because of it, and allowing cussing *does* exclude those who only have internet access (or have their primary internet access) from work. In other words, to be *more* inclusive, we should restrict (continue to restrict?) use of profanity on this list. <end long quote> Reggie Bautista _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
