PSA: Hate Speech

[robvalue]

The thing is, they can’t just admit that this rule is solely aimed at one particular word which I’m not allowed to say. That in itself would be racist, because it’s providing "protection" to one group of people and not others. It’s also the soft bigotry of low expectations, that black people cannot handle hearing a certain word.

Even if it’s not implemented solely as an N-shield, it’s still going to heavily lean towards that. You’ll have your balls ripped off before you can say "muh free speech" if you say that word. (I have no intention of saying the word, in all likelihood, but it’s the principle that’s important.) But if you slur some other race, there will have to be a very subjective debate about how offensive that slur is.

That’s one of the other big problems with this rule, in that it’s highly subjective. Unless a definitive list of naughty words is produced (please produce that list, it will be hilarious), this is going to be a feeling-based judgement. If it’s people's feelings that are what is important to protect, why not just say personal attacks are not allowed anymore? I’d be right behind that, since this is a discussion forum. There seems to be an attempt to have the cake and eat it too here. The message is both "deal with it, it’s the internet" and "we must protect people from getting too offended". I’ve found my ability to debate (not just on this forum but others) seriously hampered by the amount of gate-keeping scorn and abuse that litters the thread, deterring others from joining in. That’s a shame, as I feel I have a lot to say, but I don’t have the thick skin or the patience to wallow through all that bullshit.

And what exactly makes racial "slurs" any more offensive than any other kind of slur or general insult? Offense is extremely subjective as I have said. How can you seriously tell people how offensive they intend to be based on a word they have used, regardless of context, and then tell the person reading it how offended they have to be, or are likely to be? This is some kind of thought policing. Stop saying "history" over and over again. History is not an argument.

Yes, yes. The staff and the owners can do whatever they want here. I’m well aware of that. It’s like telling me god can do whatever he wants. But until such time as god seals my mouth shut, I will continue to speak out against mistakes he makes, in my opinion. Why will I do that? Because I’m better than everyone, including god, and the sooner people realise this, the better. If the rules change so that I’m not allowed to give my opinion on the rules (in order to mimic the direction society is headed), then I will be quiet. Since I’ve left the forum and I’m not posting anyway, it doesn’t matter either way. You can continue to tell me to fuck off now.

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To be fair, a lot of what I’m doing here is calling out society for having it wrong, and the forum is just copying society. The fact that this rule can't be logically defended in the way others can and relies on emotional edicts shows that.