wellyrn

[ledhed]

Don't get rid of him. He may be a misguided fool, but he's funny.

 

[Duke]

We'll take that under advisement. I'm all for free speech, but he's been abusing his privelege for quite some time. He's also incredibly hypocritical - to the point of laughable transparency. I do want to be perfectly clear on this: he was not banned for his political views, just for the offensive nature of his way of presenting those views, and his behaviour towards any who disagree with him.

 

[Jordan]

No, misguided fools aren't welcome here.

 

[Famine]

In that case...

*packs own bags*



I'm quite fond of people who have opposing viewpoints to mine - even if they're rabidly fanatical in preaching them. Hell, sometimes I'll even argue a viewpoint I don't necessarily agree with. But you can't treat people like (excrement) and pretend everyone else but you is stupid because they don't agree with you. wellryn repeatedly crossed that line IMO, and it was only a matter of time.

 

[DQuaN]

Out of curiostiy I had a look at the threads in question. Why exactly do you think he is funny? I think the banning was justified and another great move by the mods of GTP 👍 I really can't belive you enjoyed reading his posts. They infuriated me.

 

[Tacet_Blue]

I found him funny, in a laughing at the ignorant fool kind of way, but his attacks on US citizens were quite spiteful. Maybe because I am not from the US I didn't feel as offended as some, but I have to agree that most of his comments were filled with poison.

I do want to be perfectly clear on this: he was not banned for his political views, just for the offensive nature of his way of presenting those views, and his behaviour towards any who disagree with him.

You have made it clear the ban was not for political views, and to reinforce your fairness in this respect you have actually left his posts unedited, so well done

But would anyone have really minded if you had banned him for his narrow minded xenophobic conspiracy laden political view of the world...

 

[Famine]

But would anyone have really minded if you had banned him for his narrow minded xenophobic conspiracy BIN laden political view of the world...

A-ha! I'm onto you!

 

[Tacet_Blue]

A-ha! I'm onto you!

I'll have to make my subliminal posts more subtle next time

 

[High-Test]

...and if wellyrn had jordan's power, all of us would be gone.

I'm quite fond of people who have opposing viewpoints to mine - even if they're rabidly fanatical in preaching them. Hell, sometimes I'll even argue a viewpoint I don't necessarily agree with. But you can't treat people like (excrement) and pretend everyone else but you is stupid because they don't agree with you. wellryn repeatedly crossed that line IMO, and it was only a matter of time.

which is why I have respect for other certain members on the board, because they can argue maturely, not like a 2 year old.

Bye, wellyrn, lemme get the door for you.

 

[ledhed]

Everyone may be correct but his views do represent a portion of the community ( even if in my opinion they are the funny farm community). He is /was rabidly anti American , just like some people who live in America. He has a right to express his views although saying he hates 98% of the united States citezens for their opinions may be a bit extreme, extreme ..but... his opinion on his own feelings. he wasn't calling on a mass excecution only for the so called "sinners " to repent and become tree huggers or some such liberal/ radical non- sense. his sense of disbelief that others could not "see" what he did was comical.
He reminds me of an old hippy who just came out of a coma after a sixtys acid binge.
free expresion is not free, the cost is putting up with the expressions that you may find repulsive. If you want to know what is on the minds of people you must allow them to express themselves . At least this way you know what your up against 👍 Put another way.. at the very least its always good to know what the opposition is thinking.
I had to edit this because I realise that this is a private forum and that true standards of free speech do not apply. I am thinking only in terms of discussion in a forum called opinions, when subjects such as abortion, God, and politics are on the table things tend to get a bit dicey , when it comes to opinions.

 

[NoQuarter]

I've dealt with quite a few people like wellyrn at several other forums. It's not his "message" that is disruptive, it's his manner of "arguing' his point of view. He draws folks in with a controversial topic (not a bad thing, in itself), but then engages the "flame thrower" at anyone who offers a rational arguement opposing his viewpoint.

There's another name for that methodology...Trolling.

Good move, n_d 👍

 

[Duke]

free expresion is not free, the cost is putting up with the expressions that you may find repulsive. If you want to know what is on the minds of people you must allow them to express themselves . At least this way you know what your up against 👍 Put another way.. at the very least its always good to know what the opposition is thinking.

I had to edit this because I realise that this is a private forum and that true standards of free speech do not apply. I am thinking only in terms of discussion in a forum called opinions, when subjects such as abortion, God, and politics are on the table things tend to get a bit dicey , when it comes to opinions.

ledhed, you are perfectly correct. "I detest what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!" However, two mitigating circumstances apply here:

• This is a public forum but it is private property, which you've acknowledged. Free speech is not free if you are commandeering someone else's medium to get your message across. Had I encountered wellyrn in a public park handing out flyers, I would have taken one, read it, and recycled it. I may have gone back to talk with him for a few minutes but I never would have run him off.
  
• In this community it's a different story - our job is to keep the peace. If that means a few instigators get their "rights" trampled, electronically speaking, so be it. Every attempt is made to accomodate a wide variety of viewpoints, but some people have no interest in being accomodated. This leads to the third point:
  
• Like the "common sense" rules say, "to express your thoughts, you must first have thoughts to express." wellyrn never seemed to have any actual thoughts besides blind hatred for American policy and most Americans, by his own admission. This is why he was unable to engage in a meaningful point/counterpoint debate: he was merely regurgitating whatever pacifist, anti-American conspiracy theory happened to catch his attention at the moment. I may well be misjudging him - but his consistent pattern of hypocrisy makes that unlikely.

I am always glad to hear and participate in good debate. That's why bannings related to the Opinions board are so rare. Even in heated discussions most people manage to keep the tone civil at least, and to make reasonable replies to the opposing thoughts. That just never happened in wellyrn's case.

 

[Tacet_Blue]

Its an amazing Forum that allows a public discussion of a banning.
You Mods have no need to justify yourselves over this. You reserve the right to refuse admission, without giving any reason (as is standard policy), but you still choose to clarify your actions.

I'm impressed

 

[High-Test]

I think my IQ is starting to go up a point everytime I read one of neon_duke's posts.

....which is exactly why the protesters were arrested at the RNC. they have the right to protest, but the way they did was very disrupting and potentially dangerous.