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in reply to Re: where to edit man pages for perl?
in thread where to edit man pages for perl?

Your Mother, it seems like you judged my opinion without first knowing what it was.

Why is there an exception for Holocaust jokes?

This statement of yours in particular:

It’s not potentially stupid or potentially the fault of the offended in this and many other cases.
seems particularly unjust. Just sub in some bigotry or racial name-calling or depictions you disapprove of (e.g. by American whites against African-Americans) and ask if it's the fault of the offended.

  • Comment on Re^2: where to edit man pages for perl?

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Re^3: where to edit man pages for perl?
by Your Mother (Archbishop) on Jul 30, 2012 at 21:12 UTC

    There is never an exception for Holocaust jokes, was the point. It's one of the only places I'd say the line is indisputable. Which leads me to say the line is usually disputable. Which leads me to say that it's important to err on the side of expression, not on the side of repression.

    You previously stated that you wouldn't reveal your issue because "Such discussions never go well (on PerlMonks)." This leads to one of the following, 1) you think most of us are irrational, 2) you know your point to be weak and open to critique.

    I doubt you think your point is weak so you see how I could now potentially take offense. You've implied I'm irrational and maybe even a racist since I'd personally probably veto any self-censoring editorial.

    Of course without citation this is all very academic and silly, just like taking offense for things that simply aren't true and certainly weren't intended.

    Update: I just saw the s/Ahmed/Zed/ from a bit earlier. I wouldn't have kvetched about that though I do think it's silly. Secrecy is no one's friend. As it is impossible to legislate and regulate thoughts, so is it ridiculous and counter-productive to legislate and regulate their expression in words. You can't make people cease to be racist but you can make them resentful and secretive about it.

      Closer to 1, but s/most/some/. I believe (nay, have observed) that ∃ a quorum of anti-PC police within programmer circles. reddit's SRS was created for this reason.

      Some initial comments (yours included) seemed to be challenging me on the "potential to offend" language before knowing the specifics. I took that as a preview of the response I could expect if I went into detail.

      Anyway ... I doubt this back-and-forth is of interest to any perl programmers.

        If you assumed you'd get responses questioning the potential to offend of said text yourself, you do not really believe it's truly offending. Seems to me you found something that could, by a properly schooled censor, be seen as potentially offending to the thinnest skinned individuals of a specific minority and as such should be reworded to a silly sounding, next to incomprehensible newspeak.

        Jenda
        Enoch was right!
        Enjoy the last years of Rome.