O.K. guys, this has gone way overboard now.......
JLA -- you are coming perilously close to being the very thing you condemn, a stalker jumping on every post that CH makes, and hurling threats at him..
CH -- you need to agree that you were to too quick to jump on Poet's posts in the past with personal references that went beyond the issues she might have been raising.
You both to need to take a deep breath, agree that you will each try to be more restrained in the future, and see if you can't put all the past charges and counter-charges to rest, and get a fresh start.
Forget the "contracts" that attempt to specify in detail what can be said and what can't be said. These threads are discourses among highly-opinionated people who are frequently going to irritate and anger one another, and there is no practical or workable way to regulate by contract what one person says to another.
Agree with one another that you will both abide by the court of public opinion, and that if a lot of people come down on you for a particular tack that you are taking, you will not insist on your "legal rights" and persevere in it, but rather that you will desist "without prejudice" in the interest of keeping the peace and respecting the feelings of others.
Admit that the both of you have gone too far in this. Join with each other in asking Lazarus to lift his pre-bans (includuing BIA) on his new thread which has rapidly become a lively and popular forum for debate. Pledge that while you preserve your rights to free speech, you will be conscious of the need to back-off if there is a significant feedback from the thread that either of you have pushed an issue too far or crossed a line of bad behavior. Pledge that you will try to be respectful of other's feelings and sensitivities even as you advocate your thoughts and ideas.
Threads are best when they tolerate all points of view. Threads are best when they are self-disciplined and policed by the reactions of other posters, and not by bans or contracts.
You both have a long history on SI of providing scintillating commentary, vigorous advocacy, and fresh ideas that enrich the threads you post on ... don't let this all be lost while you wrestle in a mud-pit.
How about it, guys? How about a real effort at a new start here?
JC |
