Graystone, you make some very interesting points. I should like to try to address them, if I may.
You are quite right that there is potentially a very slippery slope here: first you ban Emile, and then you have to ban Jane, and then Dwight, and then Chris, and then Tom, Dick, and Harry, and anyone else who may have let slip a crack at one time or another about some group or other, and finally someone who may just have used the word "niggardly", and so on, down and down and further down the slippery slope...
But let us go into the individual cases you cite.
"Jane hates Satanists." Okay -- but where are the Satanists? You of course remember the thread -- "Calling All S.I. Satanists" -- which sought to locate the people that Jane hates. The effort, you will also recall, was a failure. There were no Satanists, so there was no one to take offense....
"Dwight hates homosexuals." If true, this is a much more serious matter than hating non-existent Satanists. If SI members resemble the rest of the population, there must be quite a few homosexuals among them. Have they read Dwight's anti-homosexual posts? Has he taken his homophobic message to other threads, besides "Ask God"? Has he acted as a propagandist for the homophobes? Does he preach to all and sundry, whether they want to be preached to or not? If so, then perhaps he merits at least a reprimand!! (The same goes for James and his allegedly anti-black message.)
"Chris hates those who don't believe him." Well, that is not so unusual on SI. <gg> In itself, not sufficient reason for banning...
Banning, of course, is an extreme measure. I see no reason, however, why SI should not issue "warnings" when someone repeatedly posts hate messages, or suspend him/her for a day or two...Or if you think the community should handle it, we probably need a mechanism to do that. Any volunteers?
BTW, what was the title of the Emile thread? You've sparked my curiosity! Perhaps it's time to revive it.
Also: I read somewhere that Emile worked vigorously to get someone else banned. I don't know whether it is true; but if it is, then turnabout fair play, eh? (Although I have also read that Emile has already had one turn. In which case, one good turn may deserve another.)
jbe
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