...so we could watch our classmates engage in an endless flame war. If you haven't already, please read the post Chris made last night.
It is fine to be against gay marriage, but endorsing the destruction of a school organization or imposing your views on someone else just isn't cool. The same goes for the other side. Gay marriage proponents and opponents can disagree, but there is no reason to hate each other for your views. Agree to disagree, but don't be disagreeable to each other (if that makes sense). We all have the right to free speech, but let's not abuse that right by devolving into feces-throwing.
Chris and I are trying to put out the fire, and certain people are pouring vodka into it. I just talked with Glen, and he has hidden two threads that are part of this fire. He was planning to comment further on the topic in a formal post, but I convinced him that doing so would not improve the situation. He has agreed to avoid posting about the subject for a little while.
I don't like telling people to shut up, or shutting people up, but that's what I've just done to Glen. Again, we all have the right to free speech, but this debate is getting out of hand. We're a news site, not a battle ground. If I see one more post of an attacking nature, be it from either side of the debate, I will disable comments indefinitely.
I'd like to end this post by repeating what I said in a comment on Chris's post...
As the administrator of the Wakefield Étudiant, I should have discouraged the fire-spitting. Instead, I encouraged it, shamelessly happy at the record numbers this political debate has brought to the site. I would like to apologize to anyone offended by any statements that were made, and to discourage further "feces-throwing", as Chris calls it.
If we are not being given the right to voice our opinions on the posts, then they should not be allowed to stay up on the site. Glen created this war, and if anyone is going to be censored it should be him.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that any posts should have disabled comments. As heated as many people may get over this issue there are still a handful that truly wish to discuss it openly. Hi, everyone in Wakefield knows I'm a big 'mo and I'm NOT ANGRY because of these posts. I understand there are two sides, but on October 20 there was a post made saying that homosexuality was removed from the DMS and psychiatrists and physicians have been prevented from diagnosing it as a mental disorder for more than three decades.
ReplyDeleteMy response to this was a genuinely curious and even-tempered "Well, have you considered that there might be a reason for which it was removed from the DMS as a mental disorder?" And yet, I was unable to voice this opinion because comments were disabled. (Or I just couldn't find them. haha) Either way, nothing the public has to say on these issues should be censored unless it's threatening or offensive. Just keep in mind that many of us find what is being posted here as offensive as well, and we don't have the power to censor you.