--- In [email protected], new.morning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > [This is not specifically addressing Bronte, but several posts along > these lines.] > > People appear to be asking, "How close over the edge can I go before > I really get busted?" Or that appears to be the premise behind their > points. > > Its like calling up the Highway Patrol and asking "I know the speed > limit is 65, and I know most people don't get a ticket at 70, but how > fast can I really drive before I get a ticket? 74? 76? 80? And will > you state that in writing? " The Highway patrol isn't going to answer > that sort of question. > > A parallel applies here. Don't be rude, don't be nasty, don't be > dismissive, don't try to diminish someone. If you refrain from these > things you will never get busted. In the same way that if you don't > drive over 65 you will never be busted. > > If you do go over the line, you might be busted. The more blatant you > are, the higher there probability. > > There is no virtue in personal attacks. Don't even go near the line. > > There is no ambiguity between blatant rude, name calling personal > attacks and the absence of such. > > There is also almost no ambiguity subtle rude, name calling subtle > personal attacks and the absence of such. > > You can be busted for either. Not much error involved in either call. > > If there is error, I suggest Rick err on the aggressive side. Its only > a week suspension. You won't die from that. And you were busted for > breaking the guidelines. How far over you went is immaterial. > > If one simply does not make personal attacks, they will have no > problem. No ambiguity.
I think this is an incredibly naive idea that doesn't take the real world, let alone FFL, into account. It's a superficial, cartoonish, shallow view of human interaction that makes nonexistent black/white distinctions. It's also an idea that smacks of fascism, in that it approves of rules so vague that they can be twisted to apply--or not apply--to anything, depending on the whim of the administrator, who obviously likes some people here more than others (he wouldn't be human if he didn't). In my view, it's a very foolish idea that has the potential to destroy this group.
