As many of you know, occasionally I have bounced someone from this list, or barred them from a particular thread – in which case they usually take their duckies and go home. Is this controlling on my part?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nYes and no. I see these discussions as a kind of wide ranging seminar,
\nand I have taught face to face seminars for years. What this means is
\nthat when someone makes an extensive comment they should address the
\ntopic of the blog, or use it to branch off in a logical way. If
\nsomeone wants to bring in a topic that I have not addressed, or that
\ncannot reasonably be extrapolated from an existing discussion, I offer
\nOpen Threads.<\/p>\n
When someone participates in an ongoing discussion, I treat them as a
\nparticipant in a seminar – address the conversation. If you have a
\nposition that has been criticized, address the criticisms. Simply
\nrestating your position is sort of irrelevant, and restating your
\nposition while ignoring other expressed view is insulting to those who
\nhave taken the time to make their case. It is also an opportunity for
\nme to ask you to respond to previous criticisms, or drop out of that
\ndiscussion.<\/p>\n
There is a growing feeling in this country, more on the “right” than
\nthe ‘left,’ but present everywhere, that intensity and sincerity count
\nas reasons. On this blog they do not. I can be as intense as anyone,
\nand hopefully am always sincere, but in the past I have been wrong on
\nimportant issues, intensely and sincerely so. So can anyone else. I
\nthink Fundamentalist Christianity helps strengthen this attitude culturally, but
\nit is destructive to civilized life, and I will ultimately squelch
\nanyone who believes the strength of his or her convictions counts as
\narguments against someone else’s attempt at a rational criticism. I
\npromise.<\/p>\n
Everyone gets several “strikes” on these points, and warnings, but it is possible to strike out. I
\nbelieve I can say honestly I have never bounced anyone simply because I
\nthink they are wrong, for that would be an abuse of my position, and
\ndeeply disrespectful of all my readers.<\/p>\n
But I have bounced two people and bounced at least two from threads that in my opinion they were abusing. And please note the blessed rarity of trolls!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As many of you know, occasionally I have bounced someone from this list, or barred them from a particular thread – in which case they usually take their duckies and go home. Is this controlling on my part?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n