Posted by gardenergirl on June 22, 2006, at 0:56:18
In reply to Re: Please be civil » TexasChic, posted by Jakeman on June 21, 2006, at 23:22:02
> We all gotta be nice here. Don't truly express yourself but be nice.
Unless what we truly want to express is a put-down, we certainly can truly express ourselves. We have every freedom to do that up to and until it puts down someone else or in some other way is not sensitive to others' beliefs, values, and/or feelings.
I have to admit, I just don't understand what's so confusing or objectionable about that. I've thought about it, and about all I can come up with is that maybe at times what someone really and truly desires to express, and they cannot in some way inhibit this desire, is to be insensitive, judgmental, cruel, superior, or in some other way uncivil. Maybe at times that is the real content/meaning of the message--the need to be negative. It's perfectly normal to have those thoughts, urges, and feelings. But to participate at Babble, we must inhibit them. Those are the operating conditions here. If the message I need to express does not fall within those operating conditions, it's likely best to convey that message elsewhere.
I don't get it. Should this really be a place where one can "truly express" whatever they wish?
Yes, our rights are limited here. That's established from the beginning. And yet we choose to register and to participate given these limitations.
It's truly a mystery to me why that beomes objectionable after a time. But then, I've been called an idealist and naive on more than one occasion and in more than one context, so maybe that's what's getting in my way. H*ll, I don't know.
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:659828
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20060525/msgs/660045.html