Ferret said:
It's nice to see that the "Should we ban HOUTS" argument finally went public. I'm not afraid to state that I have (and forever shall be) against banning him. He can be a bit agressive in his posts and sometimes inflamatory. So what? Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Dr. Laura, Dr. Phil, The Dixie Chicks, Al Franken, and countless others say stuff that people don't like to hear. You know how I deal with people like that? I listen first (usually followed by a little bit of rage as I find myself disagreeing with them) and then I make a decision to argue against them (on forums such as these), or just ignore them.
However, if those people were all banned/censored we would never be given the chance to think over what they say and formulate their own opinions. We need people to anger us (even if it is with blatantly inflamatory drivel) to challenge us to think for ourselves. We can't just all sit here saying "Yeah, you're right!" to each other all the time. It would get dull. real dull.
Ferret: Like I've said in the past, this argument is not about banning or censoring people with dissenting opinions. It's about maintaining a level of decorum in a public forum. God knows I don't agree with everything everyone here has to say, but I wouldn't ban anyone as long as they were being reasonable and respectful. For example, in this discussion alone, there are a lot of strong, opposing opinions from a lot of people. But no one's calling anyone names over it or suggesting that others are ignorant because of it. It's a fair and open discussion. When a poster starts insulting others, making extremely tasteless comments and insulting the site that is hosting his opinions, he doesn't just warrant a banning - he is literally asking for it. This should apply to everyone, not just the alleged "house troll." I would hope that if I start throwing around personal attacks, the moderators would not hesitate to sanction me in order to maintain a welcome forum.
As far as your opinion on the views of various talk show hosts, the situation is too different. All those people have their own shows. If you don't like what they have to say, you simply don't watch. This is a Magic-related message board. People come to discuss Magic and games and have some off-topic discussions and don't expect to get attacked for having different opinions. And that's exactly what's going on. Message board trolls basically do to other posters what the moderators should be doing to them - they discourage others from visiting and posting. Except instead of banning/suspending people, they insult them and make them feel unwelcome or stupid. By not acting upon these sorts of attacks, moderators send a message that they would rather have trolls around than decent posters. They say that the trolls are really in charge, not them.
Also, I think it's kind of funny the examples that you chose. Personally, I don't listen to (nor do I want to) Rush or Al Franken, but I've seen O'Reilly's show on numerous occasions and he acts in just the manner that you discourage. He frequently tells his guests (many of which are experts on the subject) to shut up and will cut off their mikes if he doesn't agree with their opinion. I also used to listen to Dr. Laura (for entertainment only, not advice) and she did the same thing, cutting people off if they didn't agree with her.
Finally, I'd like to point out your quote of, "We need people to anger us (even if it is with blatantly inflamatory drivel) to challenge us to think for ourselves." I sort of agree and sort of disagree with this statement. I don't think we need people to anger us, but I do think we need people to challenge us. But in my experience, people have a lot more trouble thinking and reasoning when they're angry. There is a way to challenge people with different ideas without spewing out blatantly inflamatory drivel. A while ago, I tried to argue with the house troll because I thought having a discussion with him would help me form better arguments or see a different side of things. Before long, I realized that he wasn't saying anything new or adding any value to the discussion. He just kept calling me ignorant over and over and over again. Then I realized he hadn't actually made any valid point in a really long time - he was
just spewing blatantly inflammatory drivel with absolutely no underlying point or meaning. At that point, I decided not to respond to or mention anything he had to say again. I still read his posts, hoping for some sliver of intelligence that used to show up when he wrote, but until I see it, I won't respond to anything he says. At this point, he's just a drunk heckler in the crowd, hoping for any kind of attention he can get by using the most childish methods he can think of. Spammers should be treated with more respect.
At this point, I'd just like to see this whole conversation die. Since I know the poster isn't going to change, I think the only way to shut him up is to put the trash in the dumpster where it belongs.