Debate : 27186


Off-Topic / Debate / 27186	27185 \| 27187

Subject:	Re: Life size guns and assault rifles on Brickshellf-- opinions?
Newsgroups:	lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date:	Mon, 22 Aug 2005 18:23:50 GMT
Viewed:	1321 times

Lenny,

You’re quite right, of course. Add that to the list of problems with both satire and original: they’re hopelessly overwrought. One thread of vociferous objection to a controversial MOC does not make a regime of censorship, nor does one gallery of life-size LEGO weaponry make a wave of 12-year-olds unintentionally committing suicide by cop. And just like mentioning Goebbels, bringing up the fake Auschwitz set not only name-drops Nazism, it’s a false analogy between the debatable and the reprehensible.

Seriously, though, I read the entire Hakenkreuz thread as it happened but didn’t say a word simply because Richie posted it here and apparently wanted the attention. Unless I’m mistaken, however, this is different: since Ondrew didn’t quote a LUGNET post, I’m assuming he had to seek out the example he used on Brickshelf. If that’s the case, what Ondrew did is like linking somebody’s wedding album on Yahoo to illustrate a rant about rampant obesity.

Ondrew makes two main points in his post: that life-size LEGO guns in the hands of kids are a threat to them, and that to him guns represent “hate, destruction and death.” The first point is impossible to completely refute, but Occam’s Razor and a Googling of toy gun fatalities suggest that kids are much more likely to get shot carrying an airsoft BB gun than they are carrying a thousand-piece replica of an M-16 copied part for part from a photo on Brickshelf.

As for the second, I’m sure we have people on this site who’d contend that to them guns represent truth, justice and the American Way(TM). I’m actually not one of them, but I think it’s safe to say the range of general opinion about guns is much broader than it is about Nazism. Given that, it seems ludicrous to maintain that anybody who puts up something on Brickshelf, whether or not it’s announced here, should exercise the level of restraint Ondrew is apparently calling for. TLG certainly isn’t.

Chris

Message has 1 Reply:

		Re: Life size guns and assault rifles on Brickshellf-- opinions?
(...) I didn't catch the satire until I read your reply to Allister. I see it now, very subtle. There's just so many people I've seen who'd write exactly what you wrote and mean every word of it. (...) Oh, didn't you read the description? Thats an (...) (19 years ago, 22-Aug-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:

		Re: Life size guns and assault rifles on Brickshellf-- opinions?
(...) I don't follow what you are talking about. First off, are you saying I am a censor? Who else is in this group of censors? How did you determine who's a censor and who isn't? Keep in mind that I have never argued that Richie shouldnt have the (...) (19 years ago, 22-Aug-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

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