Xref: utzoo soc.culture.jewish:8533 news.sysadmin:1774
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!ulysses!gatech!linus!news
From: news@linus.UUCP (USENET NEWS)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: Anti-Semitism (Jew-hatred) on the network. What should be done?
Message-ID: <42360@linus.UUCP>
Date: 1 Dec 88 14:54:09 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corp., Bedford, MA
Lines: 75

References <1748YZKCU@CUNYVM> <3616@phri.UUCP> <1752YZKCU@CUNYVM> <812@mailrus.cc.umich.edu>:
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Reply-To: rzahavi@gateway.mitre.org (Ron Zahavi)
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From: rzahavi@gateway.mitre.org (Ron Zahavi)
Path: gateway.mitre.org!rzahavi


In article <1748YZKCU@CUNYVM> <3616@phri.UUCP> <1752YZKCU@CUNYVM>
           <812@mailrus.cc.umich.edu> (Shane Looker) writes:
.
.
.

> If the person involved had been Scottish, would the phrase "Fuck Off you
> Scottish Bitch", have been as offensive?  I think not.  Yet the content is
> the same.
.
.
.

> I am tired of having to mollycoddle minorities!  I want to be able to treat
> people as people and humans.  Not as a member of some group!


I hope that there are others out there that see the sad state of affairs here.
What has happened to us (as a human race)?  Have we come to the point
that the above statement really would be offensive only to some groups and
not others?  
 
To me, the above statement should be offensive no matter at whom its directed.
Such language should not be acceptable anywhere, and especially on the net.
If you really want to treat all people as human beings you should start by
treating them the same, your comments above are contradictory.  Also, while
I agree that reverse discrimination is bad, you (and I mean anyone out there)
should be careful.  When you start complaining about why some groups may
get special treatment you tread closely to the reason those special
treatments were placed there in the first place - discrimination. I truly
wish they didn't have to be there, however, due to the world we live in
they are there for a reason.
 
Finally, I would like to elaborate on my statement above about the reason
certain rules should be followed on the net.  While I don't particularly
favor censorship, I do favor stopping those who abuse their privileges.
 
Most of us have access to the net because of a government agency, institution,
university, etc.  Most people are not directly paying for their privileges.
Thus, even though you can place disclaimers in your messages you may still
be affecting the reputation of the institution.  Furthermore, I was once
involved with a case at the University of Maryland and the state of Maryland
concerning hate material.  The case involved a campus organization which used
student association and state money to sponsor an organization which spoke
on the destruction of the American Government, armed forces and democracy,
WHICH HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH THAT ALLOWS IT TO SPEAK.  The simple point
which was made is this:  while you have the right to speak freely, do it
with your own money!  The state should not fund directly, or indirectly
those who wish to destroy it, it's absurd.  Indeed, the group spoke on campus,
but it had to pay for the room, posters, etc.
 
The fact that there is freedom of speech should not allow people to abuse
privileges given to them and spread hate and bigotry on the net.  We can
start by having the respective organizations revoke the privileges of those
who misuse them.
 
 -- Ron --

Disclaimer: The above are my own views, etc.
==============================================================================
      Ron Zahavi  (703) 883-5637                 Mitre Corporation
      rzahavi@gateway.mitre.org                  7525 Colshire Drive
                                                 McLean, VA  22102
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