Posted by Minnie-Haha on May 23, 2005, at 11:34:21
In reply to Re: Dr Bob: question about being blocked or PBC'd? » Minnie-Haha, posted by alexandra_k on May 22, 2005, at 21:01:57
First, I’d like to apologize to those who are upset by this topic or who are just plain tired of it. Some of you have been here many years and have seen this issue rise and fall over and over. I guess that’s a downside of being an old-timer here, but I do appreciate your feedback. Minnie
;-)
~> > Regardless of whether or not we as a group agree on if the behavior is uncivil, I am so glad some agree that it's not uncivil to bring it up. If it's not uncivil to ask if what others post is uncivil, I don't see how it's uncivil to ask if questioning the civility of what others post is uncivil. That's all. (Boy if someone came into the middle of this with no background on the debate, I think that sentence might make their head explode!)
>
> Actually, that is a very good sentence :-)
> (Have you ever thought of doing philosophy???)Thank you, but no. But I do TRY to be careful about what I write... especially if I know it's a touchy subject.
> You were blocked by saying that the behaviour was due either to
> A the poster not caring that people were upset.
> B the poster not knowing that people were upset (and thereby not stopping the behaviour).
>
> Those are claims about the *person* not the behaviour - and I thought that was why you were blocked.An assumption is made here that I was talking about a particular poster. The paragraph that I got blocked on has 10 sentences. If one focuses on the third and fourth paragraphs (both start with “If”), they might conclude I was talking about a particular poster. However, if you look at the whole paragraph, and consider everything I’d written (or not written) in that thread, I think it’s clear that I am not talking about a particular person, but about two (not all) “intentions” that might be behind the behavior we were discussing. We were in a behavior vs. intention loop, so I was trying to approach the issue from a different angle. It would have been better if I’d written “a poster” (indefinite article) in the 3rd and 4th sentences, but I’m a sucker for continuity and I stuck with “the,” a definite article that can also be used generally.
As I said before, I started the second thread with a disclaimer, I never mentioned anyone in particular, and I never responded to a post where anyone was. I kept my remarks hypothetical, even if others got personal. That’s why I was surprised and hurt for being blocked after being so careful (my intentions were good). Some assumed that I was still making a personal attack, as in my emotional first thread. But if others can be forgiven and move on with discussing a topic, I don't see why I have to keep getting punished for a crime that I served my time for.
FWIW: If I could have been rightly (IMO) blocked anywhere in my second thread, it would have been for what I wrote in the third “option” at the end of the post I got blocked on. I used the words “a certain individual’s behavior.” Although I did not identify anyone, it was a slip-up on my part. I was tired of what felt like jousting windmills and didn’t properly edit my post before I posted it.
> I was just trying to help you understand why you were blocked.
> For the sole purpose of your hopefully not being blocked again in the future.
> Thats all.
> Didn't want to lose you again :-)I appreciate that. But the arguments given for why I was blocked don't fit. If others' intentions are considered when deciding whether or not to block, then my intentions ought to be considered too. To put it another way, if I’m being uncivil by bringing up this subject, and being blocked for it, even though my intentions are good, then it seems like I’m being punished for the very kind of behavior I’m talking about. And if that’s true, should the rule be applied only to me, or others like me, who bring up this topic as civilly as they can? Is this subject off limits? Can we discuss religion, politics, abortion, etc. (carefully), but not discuss this topic without being punished?
poster:Minnie-Haha
thread:500533
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20050517/msgs/501688.html