Elevatorgate is still haunting the atheist blogosphere, and
this post at The Atheist Experience brought a new perspective to the issues. What fans of Elevator guy and trolls everywhere have in common is that everyone has a freedom of association right.
For those too lazy to read, the AE poster draws an analogy between Elevator Guy, whose social skills are somewhat lacking, and a guy who doesn't know better than to make armpit fart noises constantly. Armpit farts have their place, but everyone gets tired of it, and Armpit Fart guy won't get invited places. It's a matter of being socially acceptable in the context of normal associations. If people don't want to hear your armpit farts they don't have to.
That's freedom of association.
The analogy for Elevatorgate is that a woman doesn't have to hang out with someone she doesn't like. But I think it extends to a wider community too. The blogosphere is a kind of community with neighborhoods and homes. This blog is my blogosphere home. Just because I have the drapes open on the picture window doesn't mean everyone who passes by is welcome to come into the living room and piss on my furniture.... or make armpit farts.
So I have the right to stand at my door and say "yes, you may come in" to the people who behave in socially unacceptable ways, and "no" to those who don't. And I have the right to decide what is socially acceptable in my internet "house."
5 comments:
Absolutely right. It's your house, and you don't have to leave the door open to any self-important semi-literate moron who gets his jollies abusing people who don't support his flavor of god. (You know, just as an example...)
Sadly, you'll need to keep the gates up afterwards, though. Through personal experience, I can tell you that they often try to sneak back in when they think you aren't looking.
But this isn't a public place. If you get tired of dealing with some moron, don't let him through the door.
(That probably includes me. I'm told that I can be... well, kind of an ass...)
A few armpit farts in the right context won't outweigh all your better qualities :-D
That's because you haven't heard my Ode to Joy.
It's part of a musical trilogy I'm working on in D minor which is the saddest of all keys. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why.
Having worked professionally in Human Services, some of these commenters would be referred for Psych Evaluations were they cross my desk. I'm retired now so [delete] has proven to be the most effective treatment.
[Spam]disappears them like they never even happened! :-D
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