Subject:
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Shutting things down--(was-Re: Is the Palestinian Cause Dead? The Latest Terror Attacks)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 8 Aug 2002 13:40:53 GMT
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Viewed:
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568 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz writes:
> Frank
> (Who is about to consider asking .debate to be removed again, it's just
> a bunch of people talking past each other...)
There was a scene from 'Sports Night'...
A group of religious zealots called in a bomb threat to the local radio
station because they didn't like the morning show DJ doing an imitation of
Jesus. The reason they didn't like the imitation? The DJ did it with a lisp.
Dan said, 'I don't like that morning show DJ, either--you know what I do? I
just change the station...'
When I first came to LUGNET (many many moons ago...), it took me a *long*
time to realize that when I looked at the general news, that certain
newsgroups were automatically filtered--this one for instance.
Would my life be better if I hadn't realized that o-t.d was a 'filtered'
substance? Would I be happier never having read any of these posts?
What does it matter how *I* feel about it? It's a newsgroup--if people want
to 'debate' and if that form of debate comes in the guise of 'talking past
one another' then so be it--let the people talk past one another. It comes
with the freedom, the rights of the individual to talk as loudly as they
want about something that you may find abhorrent (I just watched 'American
President' again this weekend--boy can that Aaron Sorkin guy write well...).
Guess what? We also have the rights and freedoms to talk about something as
loudly as we like as well. If I'm going on about *my* slant on my Christian
beliefs--I'm allowed. If Larry, Scott, Richard and Chris 'shout me down'
and we end up talking past one another, it's all part of the process. I
have actually learned quite a bit thru some of the discussions here--it's a
'refiner's fire', where the extraneous is burnt off so that only the 'pure'
stuff remains--the truth of the matter (at least, that's the ideal scenario).
And if we never get to the crux, the truth, the 'bottom of the page', so
what? O-t.d is *not* here to solve the worlds problems (I wish it could,
though :) )--let the debate ensue!
If there comes a time when the management doesn't want o-t.d on their site,
that's their decision and their decision alone.
For myself, I think of o-t.d much akin to a company that has a crochety old
person somewhere in the company.
A new hiree, after a few weeks on the job, mentiones to his supervisor--'I
love working here but that guy over there--he's mean and nasty--why is he
still here?' to which his supervisor responds, 'he's here to fulfil one main
task--everyone else can gripe about him, and then they can work together and
go about their business, focusing any negativity on that one guy, instead of
griping about each other and not being able to work together...'
Or o-t.d is like a 'padded room' that few people go in to to vent, spout,
and gripe (or as we like to say, 'Debate') thus releasing any pent up issues
so that these issues don't show up in the 'mainstream LUGNET groups.
So, for me, I'd rather not have o-t.d go anywhere--if folks want to talk
past one another, let them--it is, after all, the nature of debate sometimes
that people do, indeed, talk past one another.
And if someone doesn't like it, there are a bunch of other newsgroups here
in LUGNET that they can tune in to--just don't threaten to 'blow up the
radio station'.
Dave K
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