Self-censorship--yes or no

[cosmik debris]

There is a currently active thread in which a member offers a religious greeting. Several in that thread suggested that atheists should self-censor and not comment on the religious greeting. While many atheists take that advice, some don't.

Anytime an atheists post a comment about Dawkins or Harris, the theists jump in with both feet. Should the theists self-censor and refrain from commenting on atheist threads?

So tell me, How do you decide whether or not to self-censor?

And please don't waste time with the free speech argument. We all have the right to post, the question is: should we?

[crikkett]

1. I think about whether I'm proving a point or just being a jerk

and then I decide whether I care enough about being polite.

Usually I'm polite, which you could say is a type of censorship.

[Dune]

2. censorship

Censorship, self or otherwise obfusticates and = Kosmik debris. Tell it as you see it.

[cosmik debris]

3. Are you accusing me of censorship?

Have you ever heard the old saying "You don't have to tell everything you know"?

Do you never find an example when politely refraining is the better choice?

[Dune]

4. Yes

If ya can't say something helpful on the road to enlightenment... be quiet.

[cosmik debris]

6. Mixed messages

Are you accusing me of censorship?

Your second post is not consistent with your first. Would you care to clarify?

You are not limited to one-liners you know.

[Dune]

8. Yes again

Perhaps I'm stuck in a zen Koan? I believe that if you are being helpful to the community at large... keep it real and speak the truth. If all you are doing is trying to get under somebody's skin... keep quiet and let it go. Really I do self censor so I guess... there it is.

[Buzz Clik]

10. I'd call it judicious restraint, not self censorship.

[cassiepriam]

5. I always welcome any thoughtful and or meaningful opinion

even if it differs from my own.

What I don't like is mean spirited attempts to cause trouble.
Or a refusal to respect other views.

And if I can't follow my own rules then I self censor.
Or at least I should.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. The matter here is politeness

I think I read the first post about Dawkins and/or Harris because I didn't know who they were and what their point was. Might have even commented on it, can't remember. Know now that when I see their names on a R/T thread I don't bother.

I've been thinking about what we DUers can do in general to keep down the flames on R/T and have decided that self-censorship is the way to go. To my mind, this consists of:

1. Not replying to threads that are of interest to a specific group (ie atheists) if I know what I would say would only make the other people mad or upset.

2. Telling a person who has made a reply I feel is rude that they are being rude and then not replying to anything else they say. I've noticed that there are some who don't realize that what they have said is considered rude by others;for example, telling an atheist they believe in anything is offensive to many of them--unless an atheist had told me he considered using the word "believe" offensive, I would not have realized it. That's why I think it is important to politely tell a poster when you find what he has written to be rude.

3. Deleting/or moving a thread I have started that I feel has been hijacked by atheists (and I would hope that atheists would do the same thing if they felt that their posts were hijacked by believers). I would move the thread to one of the yahoo groups where I felt it would fit.

[Buzz Clik]

9. The point of those comments was horribly misinterpreted.

The first comment about the reactions to that thread was why it was so necessary for the non-religious to react negatively to a benign but religious greeting on a religious holiday. Censorship -- voluntary or otherwise -- was not mentioned. My suggestion was that it would be so much easier on the angry atheists if they simply passed by those kinds of thread without jumping in and taking a big shit right in the middle of it.

If you call that censorship, that's pretty hypersensitive. Those of us who don't find an Easter greeting offensive can't help but wonder why it is so impossible to just let it go.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Buzz Clik]

12. Oh. I'm sorry. I thought this was an open thread.

Clearly, not everyone passed by the thread in question.

I guess I should have read your mind to realize that you weren't interested in any input but comments aimed directly to you. It won't happen again.

[cosmik debris]

13. OK, then don't take the chip off of your shoulder

Your absence in this thread will not be nearly the tragedy you might assume.

[Evoman]

14. I didn't post in that thread either.

I didn't see the point. Not only that, but knowing Papau, it was more than likely bait anyways, lol. But does it really matter if I did or not? I know that no matter what I do, I will be told that I was "rude" for posting their and that it was unneccesary for me to do so. I will have to take the blame for something another atheist does.

But fuck it. Life is too fucking short to care about shit like this.

[cosmik debris]

16. Well, I have to admit to an ulterior motive

I really wanted to point out that when the theist want to have a thread without atheist interference they should not do it in GD or R/T. And if they insist on immunity in R/T they should give the same respect to atheists for their Dawkins threads. Of course they won't pay attention, but that's OK. The point has been made. Sometimes the best way to embarrass people is to hold up a mirror.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. I guess for me the way to make that decision is whether I

thought I had something to say to further the conversation. At least here, I try not to just say something to say it. (Not saying I'm always successful, mind you).

I don't think I'm really qualified, for instance, to comment on some of the more intricate conversations between atheists about how they see their differing perspectives. So I don't jump in with negative comments about atheism and a push to think about religion. (In fact, I don't think I EVER do that. I hope not).

I'm less a fan of the confrontational conversations than the investigational ones, so I try not to be confrontational myself.