Politics, Controversy, and Free Speech on the Internet

[The King Of The Moon 5117]

Just now, punished_calabreeni said:

YOUR INSTRUCTIONS:

by The Church of the Sacred Space Puppet

 

Resist all Conspiracy/Normal programming!!! Be different from them!!! Ignore or distort all fashion!!! Kill Them in the streets!!! Hunt Them down, smash all governments, and exterminate all leaders!!! Resist all conformity!!! Speak out for complete mutant freedom!!! Laugh at them before you kill!!! Whisper rumors in the dead of night!!! Build fallout shelters and arm them!!! Buy comic books and read them as religious tracts -- they are!!! Prepare for the End!!! Mutter while walking along the streets!!! Eat junk!!! Run wild!!! Don't question authority, destroy it in public!!! Quote bizarre sources!!! Don't follow any trend!!! Lie!!! Make bombs and guns validate all emotions and secret feelings!!! Disrupt the orderly flow of life!!! Speak up!!! Declare your difference!!! Scream aloud the Truth in public!!! Make Them hear you!!! Store food!!! Hoard things!!! Carry weapons!!! Die!!! Cause the dead to walk!!! Play with toys!!! Spend all your money!!! Buy!!!! "Live it up!" Behave poorly!!! Fire shots into the night!!! Argue with Them!!! Practice death and fertility rituals!!! Design your own church!!! Pray!!! Invoke the Forgotten Ones!!! Search for the Elder Gods!!! Steal and rob!!! Make burnt offerings and sacrifices to childhood gods!!! Believe in devils!!! Watch the skys for UFOs/Jesus!!! Break out!!! Mutate all over the place!!! Strike fear into the hearts of Normals!!! Alienate all "humans"!!! Vandalize!!! Don't play it safe!!! See what you can get away with!!! Get drunk!!! Watch TV all day long!!! Indulge yourself!!! Stop caring!!! Never give up!!! Declare your freedom!!! Quit your job and slack off!!! Make the weird signs!!! Consort with strange characters!!! Con your family and friends!!! Listen!!! Look for art and beauty in the gutter!!! Make tapes of winos!!! Go to bed!!! Cure Yourself!!! Invent things!!! Snarl at people!!! Be free!!! Harangue!!! Marry People!!! Levitate!!! Baptize!!! Cast out the False Prophets!!!!!!!! Burn!!! Smite the Arch-Demons!!! Contact alien space gods/monsters!!! Use black magic to probe the secrets of the universe!!! Come out on top!!! Make up theories to explain everything!!! Goof off!!! Tell stories!!! Don't give in!!! Do things your own way!!! Don't listen to bullshit!!! Understand the Powers That Exist!!! Make public your superiority!!! Laugh!!! Damn!!! Curse!!! Get revenge!!! Play mean jokes!!! Stay up all night!!! Go on a binge!!! Explode in a rage!!! Take out your frustrations!!! Rationalize!!! Let it all seem unreal!!! Fall in love!!! Punch out the Boss!!! Control the world!!! Create life in your basement!!! Itch, scratch at it!!! Become the mad scientist of your dreams!!! Conjure monsters!!! Shout it out!!! Speak in tongues!!! Talk to God(s)!!! Give up on idiots!!! Never pay for it!!! Get out of having to do things!!! Put it all off!!! Don't bother with it!!! Screw it!!! Collect things!!! Dream your life away!!! Study what is banned!!! Bone up on the Forbiden Sciences!!! Believe in the occult!!! Have guts!!! Prove you're weirder than They are!!! Scare the **** out of Them!!! Be sick!!! Do whatever you want!!! Justify your guilt!!! Never play into Their hands!!! Be evil!!! Be good!!! Be neither!!! Size up the situation!!! Open your eyes!!! Don't do what They say!!! Trick Them!!! Walk on your hands!!! Make your house into a castle!!! Defend yourself!!! Write letters!!! Expose Them at every turn!!! Hide out!!! Go underground and stay there!!! Break promises!!! Cast off all responsibility!!! Don't accept anything!!! There are no laws!!! Everything is permitted!!! Get angry!!! Act ape-like!!! Become an Overman!!! Band together with other true mutants!!! Research it!!! Discover your history!!! Learn your past lives!!! Travel in time!!! Strike back!!!!!! Plot to take over!!! Be unreasonable in everything!!! Dare!!! Battle with the arcane forces of space/time!!! Know thyself!!! Program the computer god!!! Confront the demons of your own soul!!! Arise!!! Stare into the void!!! Dance at the edge of the abyss!!! Use ESP!!! Travel to the stars on the solar winds!!! Jump in the leaves!!! Abandon the darkness!!! Embrace it all!!! Sell your soul to the Old Ones!!! Spy on Them!!! Penetrate Their lies!!! Make yourself be heard!!! Go crazy!!! Take a stand for mutant freedom!!! Start organizations!!! Protest it all!!! Don't try to be "cool"!!! Don't be a hip wimp!!! Get tough!!! Wake up!!! Discover forgotten things!!! Fool Them!!! Attack Their beliefs!!! Get rich!!! Warp out on music!!! Destroy all Their foundations!!! Unmask Them!!! Or KILL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

[frill 2276]

throw rocks at cars for hong kong punch cops for hong kong 

buy these bracelets 1 bracelet 1 freedom

Edited November 21, 2019 by frill

[VIROS 2709]

This is a well written post, but I don’t think all forums need to be a platform for discussing all issues. We should restrict LotC’s scope to LotC and related topics.

 

Besides, political discussion can take many forms, including advocating certain things the majority of people find distasteful (violent revolutions, genocide, eliminating age of consent laws, executing heretics, etc.). If we allow political debate, we get into the dangerous territory of forum moderators deciding the Overton Window for legitimate discussion. Either that, or we allow members to openly advocate those things on the forum, which would reflect poorly on us for new members.

 

I sincerely doubt anyone is anyone is going to change their strongly held beliefs based on a forum post on a fantasy Minecraft roleplaying server. It would just be an avenue for more toxicity. 

 

In summary, I’ve been in communities with rules against political discussion that function perfectly well. This should be one of them.

[Hanrahan 2884]

 

 

OF THE PEOPLE

BY THE PEOPLE

FOR THE PEOPLE

 

SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH

[Ankan 2712]

I’m honestly so confused to what purpose this discussion is supposed to have. LotC mediums aren’t used for political discussion, for mature themes (it is 13+) or the like, but REGARDLESS, I don’t see why there is a fight to be taken here. All integrated players of LotC are active in their own, national, charter, friend or guild discords. I haven’t ever seen a debate political of nature on the forums, on the discord nor in game. Just join a national discord and go at it. This post is so clearly just a way for people to farm forum rep and rebel against evil Chairman Telanir. Calling for the “liberation” of Hong Kong on a Mineman Roleplay Forum won’t get you anywhere. We don’t need it here. Here, go to https://www.reddit.com/

[Hanrahan 2884]

2 minutes ago, Ankan said:

I’m honestly so confused to what purpose this discussion is supposed to have. LotC mediums aren’t used for political discussion, for mature themes (it is 13+) or the like, but REGARDLESS, I don’t see why there is a fight to be taken here. All integrated players of LotC are active in their own, national, charter, friend or guild discords. I haven’t ever seen a debate political of nature on the forums, on the discord nor in game. Just join a national discord and go at it. This post is so clearly just a way for people to farm forum rep and rebel against evil Chairman Telanir. Calling for the “liberation” of Hong Kong on a Mineman Roleplay Forum won’t get you anywhere. We don’t need it here. Here, go at: https://www.reddit.com/

 

Simply because it isn’t the main purpose of it does not mean it should be banned with threat of removal of those who engage in it.

[frill 2276]

guys we did it... telanir just sent me a draft of his thread... he’s freeing hong kong!!!

[Ankan 2712]

Just now, Hanrahan said:

 

Simply because it isn’t the main purpose of it does not mean it should be banned with threat of removal of those who engage in it.

 

Is this the hill you want to die on? You never used it for politics before this. To me this just smells like forum reputation harvest season, using a Chinese national tragedy.

[Ixli 1471]

1 minute ago, Ankan said:

 

Is this the hill you want to die on? You never used it for politics before this. To me this just smells like forum reputation harvest season, using a Chinese national tragedy.

bardism never gets anyone anywhere

[EmbryoGod 816]

To make the argument that certain fundamental rights of all humans regardless of ethnicity, locale, religion, or gender do not apply because the specific medium by which you exercise those rights is not intended for said expression of rights is simply defeatism. No one here argues for a lack of rule or common order, merely that decisions are made without the thoughts of the community in mind, by individuals who have separated themselves from the community and have historically seen themselves as above any form of criticism or punishment from the community. My great grandfather didn’t land on Okinawa and take artillery fire from the Japanese just for people to try and justify the swift and immediate removal of people in an effort to censor and block them from speaking their mind. Obviously people do not stand for it. The community is tired. People are tired. Nothing has been done. All reactionary, nothing preventative, and the response overreaches and silences otherwise good people for doing absolutely nothing wrong. Interpretation doesn’t work. Removal of individuals and then demanding they apologize and appeal for a ban that never should have occurred isn’t right. Dictatorial tendencies aren’t right.

[Hanrahan 2884]

1 minute ago, Ankan said:

 

Is this the hill you want to die on? You never used it for politics before this. To me this just smells like forum reputation harvest season, using a Chinese national tragedy.

 

It’s more the matter of the principle of speech and engagement. I should be able to discuss, if I want, with other people who are willing, contemporary problems of the day. Although this is primarily a role-play community, it is also a community just as that, and in community, people meet others with differing opinions, hold discussions, arguements, and debates.

 

Not only was this NOT a problem before Telanir stirred the hornets nest here, it’s a sneaky response to get rid of those whom make the occasional glibe comment. It’s a way to get another rule to ban people that the staff doesn’t like.

[Ankan 2712]

2 minutes ago, Hanrahan said:

 

It’s more the matter of the principle of speech and engagement. I should be able to discuss, if I want, with other people who are willing, contemporary problems of the day. Although this is primarily a role-play community, it is also a community just as that, and in community, people meet others with differing opinions, hold discussions, arguements, and debates.

  

Not only was this NOT a problem before Telanir stirred the hornets nest here, it’s a sneaky response to get rid of those whom make the occasional glibe comment. It’s a way to get another rule to ban people that the staff doesn’t like.

 

Yes, but those discussions, arguments and debates aren’t being hosted on LotC mediums. You are welcome to come to the Haelunorian Discord and we can debate politics all you want (in the designated politics channel). 

[UnBaed 8910]

2 minutes ago, Hanrahan said:

 

It’s more the matter of the principle of speech and engagement. I should be able to discuss, if I want, with other people who are willing, contemporary problems of the day. Although this is primarily a role-play community, it is also a community just as that, and in community, people meet others with differing opinions, hold discussions, arguements, and debates.

 

Not only was this NOT a problem before Telanir stirred the hornets nest here, it’s a sneaky response to get rid of those whom make the occasional glibe comment. It’s a way to get another rule to ban people that the staff doesn’t like.

this

[bumblefina 2244]

5 minutes ago, VIROS said:

Besides, political discussion can take many forms, including advocating certain things the majority of people find distasteful (violent revolutions, genocide, eliminating age of consent laws, executing heretics, etc.). If we allow political debate, we get into the dangerous territory of forum moderators deciding the Overton Window for legitimate discussion.

 “(violent revolutions, genocide, eliminating age of consent laws, executing heretics, etc.)” literally all things that have/do happen in character on the server. Why do we have to ignore these sorts of things and avoid the discussion on them in regards to the REAL world, but allow them to occur in game? I’d say that these all easily fall under mature themes as well. 

“If we allow political debate, we get into the dangerous territory of forum moderators deciding the Overton Window for legitimate discussion.” The server has been up since 2011. In all that time, this sort of political debate has been allowed. It didn’t manage to rip itself apart or burn down in all that time. Why should we ban it now?

 

7 minutes ago, Ankan said:

I’m honestly so confused to what purpose this discussion is supposed to have.

The purpose of the thread is to highlight the lack of planning and forethought that Telanir’s new policy has. The points I make in my post are clearly my personal opinion on the matter, but I wanted to draw to light the ramifications a vaguely worded policy like that can have. 

 

10 minutes ago, Ankan said:

Calling for the “liberation” of Hong Kong on a Mineman Roleplay Forum won’t get you anywhere.

I’m very aware that using #FreeHongKong doesn’t actually DO anything. It’s a form of protest against this policy, one that I disagree with to my very core. Trust me when I say that I feel completely helpless when it comes to Hong Kong, as well as many other issues around the world. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t voice my opinion and spread awareness of the situation. 

[NotEvilAtAll 9926]

#ENSLAVEHONGKONG