Reply #75: I share that view

[jpgray]

I don't share the view that all distressing material or language should be censored, because there has to be a point where you draw the line. The reason DUers don't run around calling all the women here 'bitches' and all the African-Americans 'niggers' isn't due to fear of the rules or PC-ness, it's due to the fact that DU as a community is against sexism and racism and would refuse to tolerate such a person in the forum. No rules are needed for the specific words a racist or sexist poster uses--such a person should be ostracized without much moderator interference, barring other breaches of the rules.

Skinner and co. have provided 'ignore' and 'hide' options to protect the sensibilities AND the speech of DUers. When something offends you, you can speak out against it, hide the thread, or ignore the poster. None of these infringe on the offending party's ability to speak how he/she likes. All of these seem better options to me than outlawing words that offend us.