@Slanted, who are the bigots and bullies? Let's call them out.
Within this thread, I have already criticized bigoted views and pushed back against bullies. That should be clear enough.
Making a list of bigots would brand people in a rather permanent and absolute way. People who are left off the list aren't necessarily innocent. And people who are on some "Bigot List" aren't all equally abhorrent. Iโm sure my deceased grandparents held some old-fashioned views that might be judged harshly today. Most people hold a variety of opinions, some of which may be intolerant, dogmatic, or employ negative stereotypes. But it's a matter of degree.
I think what you're trying to do is get me to add the name "Rob Monster" to such a "Bigot List". But I'm not going to do that. I prefer to criticize people's statements and actions in a more nuanced way, and not to damn anybody irrevocably.
Thereโs nothing half-hearted about my choice here. Gab is full of bigotry, and I have always condemned that. Likewise Fox News or Alex Jones. From my perspective, Trump is a bigot; and all of his supporters are complicit to some degree. But you wanted me NOT to be polarizing, right? Yet you want me to name and shame bigots?
Internally at Epik, Rob and I had strong disagreements about Epik becoming entangled with far-right views. When Rob circulated a video of the New Zealand massacre, I criticized that privately and publicly immediately. Likewise, without hesitation, I criticized anti-muslim and anti-semitic messages by Gab members, which Rob did not repudiate at the time, when I was shown them. Right away, I asked Rob to repudiate them; and he did. When I resigned from Epik, my public explanation referred to some of this. You already know that.
Does this mean Rob is a bigot? No. I have always found Rob to be tolerant and welcoming of others, including muslims, jews, and atheists. Certainly I would criticize many of Robโs views. But Iโm not ethically obligated to comment on all of my ex-bossโs private opinions, am I? We are rehashing material from 2 months ago at this point. Do you really think thatโs productive?
Letโs be honest. When you ask me to name the bigots, you ARE trying to get me to issue a Yes / No judgment on Rob Monster, correct? That is the gist of your question. And I assume that you DO regard Rob as a bigot. Perhaps not. I will let you clarify.
I understand that you are looking for that ammunition from me. But how does that square with what you said earlier:
You can help bigots and bullies if you try. I believe no one is beyond help.
I prefer to criticize ideas and not to label people. Even with
@whenpillarsfall, whose intolerant dogmatic view that Religion = Poison / Mental Illness / Plague strikes me as bigoted, my wish is not to permanently label him as a โbigotโ. Instead, as you can see, I have been refuting his ideas โ ideally so that he will moderate those ideas and behave in a less bigoted way. And I have invited him to present a case for his ideas that will result in a debate about ideas and not brand anybody one way or the other.
We don't need a "Bigots List". And we don't need censorship. We need free discussion. And we need rational debate about ideas โ leaving aside the identity or supposed motives of the people involved โ so that we can focus on what's right and true.
