Anti-sematism on ATS should not be tolerated.

For some reason some people are thinking it's okay to hate the Jews and I think this kind of talk shouldn't be tolerated. Yes, there may be a conspiracy of bankers, and they may supposedly be Jewish themselves, but that isn't representative of ALL Jews, and, there may be people who deny the holocaust, but YES, 6 million people did die, and they are Hitler sympathizers, we know Hitler was bad. This act of denial shouldn't be allowed on the internet. We know that these certain events happened and just because they seem outside of the imagination of many doesn't mean that they didn't happen. I think that there needs to be a rule against anti-Semiticism or anti-any religion posts here on ATS to prevent flamewars against people from various religious sects who would get offended by such talks. Most notably are the people who deny the holocaust to be cool... they try to claim their free speech is violated when they argue against the holocaust... they try to support Hitler... but when they know what really happened. There needs to be a rule against this. I'm getting sick of these denial threads.

reply to post by Frankidealist35

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Wrong.

Censoring any point of veiw is reprehensible.

Every religion is at once suspect and sancrosect. We do not owe the Jews special protection because of the Holocaust; corruption runs through every faith and there is no reason to prevent people from discussing it when they think they see it.

There is much hate in the world.
Fear and insecurity are as prevalent on ATS as they in life.
Ignorance should not be silenced, it should be allowed a voice.
An ever present reminder to all of us, of how far we have still to travel.

We can enforce the terms and conditions, which does cover personal attacks. However, we can not silence the opinions of members that we may find offensive. If someone has an issue with the post of any member, submit a complaint to the staff to have it reviewed.

I too once had a moment where I felt that ATS should be censoring certain topics. (That was before I was a member of the staff) It was something I felt strongly about at the time, however after discussing it and hearing what members had to say, I understood why it was allowed.

Arabs are Semitic too. Why do you only mention Jews? A lot of Arabs have issues with the Zionism, but that does not make them antisemitic in any way.



[edit on 4-10-2008 by Sonya610]

reply to post by chissler

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I see. I agree. I guess these people shouldn't be silenced, but, I do think that they shouldn't go out and promote these ideas just because they're on the internet, outside of law enforcement and a public place, just to offend people. People can question what really happened during WWII but they can't deny the fact that there is proof that 6 million people died. I know that there are some things in the government which are questionable but I would like to think that anti-religious comments on here should be either moderated or looked at with some scrutiny.

When you silence the voice of one, you take away from us all.

Even the ignorant have the right to voice their opinion.

Up to a point.

When Storm Front or what ever the hell their name was came on ATS and really started bashing on the board, they were met head on and the fight was pretty intense. They went away.

As a former mod I can assure you this board is not only protective of the rights of free speech, but extremely confrontational in the face of ignorance.

What you call for is a moot point, this board has already faced it, taken it on head to head and still watches out for its ugly rebirth.

Prejudice, against anyone, has never gone unchallenged here.

At least not in the many years that I have been a member.

Love and light,

You took the words right out of my mouth. The term Semitic can be applied to Palestinians, Iranians, Lebanese, and most anyone from the fertile crescent. Just because a person is a Zionist does not make him a sephardim jew.

I agree with the wise S'Dog. Hatred should be allowed enough metaphorical rope to hang itself. I don't believe in any group, religion, culture, ethnicity being singled out for attack.

We are all human, therefore we err, therefore we screw up, therefore we attack those we fear, therefore we rally 'round the hero of the day who pontificates the messages and issue that are [currently] important to us.

I give you an example, just a gimme. I personally belive that the President of Iran has an agenda that is hopeful of exterminating Israel, and then all "Western" cultures -- an expansionist agenda. I do NOT believe that the people of Iran support this idea. I DO believe they are strongly encouraged to publicly support this agenda.

Should I think ill of the country of Iran? Should I think ill of the United States, which I hold so dear to my heart, the country I have risked all for?

The people do not want war and oppression. I find this to be evident in nearly every country I've had the pleasure to visit. The governments wage wars and we all pick up the pieces.

Antisemitism, antipersianism,
antihumanism, antiterranism.

I wish these crazy bastards who want to end the world would come sit down at my table. We would break bread, we would eat fish, drink homemade wine and talk about the world. If they would not embrace the peaceful co-existance of all Earth cultures, I would, with regret, and more than a twinge of guilt and self-loathing, end their lives, irrespective of where they hailed from.

That is my wish.

It would be a slippery slope if we were to take such action.

Would we next explore politics and potentially silence anti-democratic statements? Then venture into our sexual orientations and silence any discussion that opposes either?

...slippery slope.

reply to post by Sonya610

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I think that any kind of anti-religious comment on ATS should be looked at under scrutiny. If someone wants to make a thoughtful comment on religion here with actual proof of their claims they should go ahead, but, if they intend to just flame religious people I give them a of disapproval.

reply to post by chissler

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Not necessarily... I just think that if people are going to say bad things about religion... they should intend to CRITICIZE religion... they shouldn't make their posts solely to piss people off and annoy people.

I don't think it would be undemocratic. I just think it would make people who don't normally respect people who are religious respect them more by forcing them to think of the people who actually follow these religions when they make anti-religious topics.

reply to post by chissler

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Slippery slope indeed.

And an impossible line to draw.

Some creationists think atheists are an affront to god.
Many Pro-Life members feel the same way about Pro-Choice advocates.

Mods handle trolls.

Members handle ignorance.

I think that any kind of anti-government comment on ATS should be looked at under scrutiny. If someone wants to make a thoughtful comment on the government here with actual proof of their claims they should go ahead, but, if they intend to just flame government employees I give them a of disapproval.



.....see how that works?

We can not force members to be open-minded or to respect an idealogy. However, as mrwupy has stated, our members are quick to combat ignorance with the above average intelligence that we typically see from our members.

Combat ignorance with intelligence and open-mindedness.

I remain invisible. Perhaps my words cut too deep. Selah.

As a political anarch myself (like you I believe) I with that comment above. Down with government!

I'm not an anarchist and I was merely making a point about the anti-government thing - an illustration of the slippery slope the OP is proposing, if you will.

Frankly, if I don't like the subject matter or the tone of the conversation

I don't get involved.

At the end of the day, there are many other subjects more worthy of my time, and my ire, which are debated in a more sensible fashion.

I may not like some threads, but I don't want them stopped just because I find them distastefull - but some of the best answers to racism can be found on those threads.

Much the same as any thread - someone usually has a pearl of logic or a nice turn of phrase that completely negates the parts that upset me.

It's ATS and that's why I love it here

If this board silences "one" of us, that puts precedence in place for the silencing of many more.

Racisim, bigotry, or hatred in any area is uncalled for, but everyone has an opinion. ATS gives a place for the voices of many that don't have an outlet almost anywhere else.

The motto of this site is "Deny Ignorance". But, in my mind, it isn't the site's responsibility to do that. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us here, who partake of this site daily, who spend time here to do that.

It is up to us to deny ignorance. We shouldn't push that responsibility off to the staff of this board. It is our board; it is member driven. And, since that is the case, it is up to us, the members (not the site staff as a whole, because individually, they are members, too) to drive the point home, in an intellectual and common sense way, that rude and untrue BS won't be tolerated.

Deny ignorance and let the trolls or the bigots or the racists or the haters go to other pastures.

JMO....

[edit on 10/4/2008 by skeptic1]