You may have noticed that the blogroll on the right side of the screen has changed recently. I've been meaning to update it for a while, and I still have a little cleaning to go. I added a few blogs I've been meaning to, and I updated a few sites that have moved domains. However, I also removed a blog that I felt strayed too far from writing and into activism.
Activism is fine, but I put this blog up to discuss writing, not to make a social statement. Even then, I don't just get rid of a blog that happens to talk about the state of the world. We all have our beliefs over the way we'd like the world to work, and it kills us sometimes when others don't share those views. So I get the inclination to want to speak out. Where I draw the line is when it becomes petty.
If you disagree with someone, that's fine. If someone doesn't like you, that should be fine too. Unfortunately, we can't always handle those that shun us, so we seek revenge. The blog I got rid of had a spat with another blogger and encouraged its readers to strike back at the offender. This blog even went so far as to call the other blogger a villain, denouncing the offender in such terms that you'd think Hitler himself had been reincarnated.
The offender didn't defile children or burn down a center for the disabled - the person held a different view from the instigator. For that, the blog that I removed called upon supporters to deluge the other person and, in essence, sought out that person's personal destruction.
Our current political climate is anything but civilized. The wrong phrase or word can cost you friends and even your job, and we don't help things by participating in such nastiness. I was in shock that the blog I removed showed such a spiteful nature. It wasn't even over public posts, but rather over a private disagreement as to guest posting. Call me crazy, but if it's my blog, then I get to decide the rules on who posts and why. To cry about not being allowed to play in someone else's yard is what a four year old does, not a grownup looking to be a professional.
Again, I don't care what your views are on the various issues. I don't even care if you express a view I find abhorrent. What I care about is when you get small and seek out revenge because someone was, in your view, mean. We should all be more mature than that.
Activism is fine, but I put this blog up to discuss writing, not to make a social statement. Even then, I don't just get rid of a blog that happens to talk about the state of the world. We all have our beliefs over the way we'd like the world to work, and it kills us sometimes when others don't share those views. So I get the inclination to want to speak out. Where I draw the line is when it becomes petty.
If you disagree with someone, that's fine. If someone doesn't like you, that should be fine too. Unfortunately, we can't always handle those that shun us, so we seek revenge. The blog I got rid of had a spat with another blogger and encouraged its readers to strike back at the offender. This blog even went so far as to call the other blogger a villain, denouncing the offender in such terms that you'd think Hitler himself had been reincarnated.
The offender didn't defile children or burn down a center for the disabled - the person held a different view from the instigator. For that, the blog that I removed called upon supporters to deluge the other person and, in essence, sought out that person's personal destruction.
Our current political climate is anything but civilized. The wrong phrase or word can cost you friends and even your job, and we don't help things by participating in such nastiness. I was in shock that the blog I removed showed such a spiteful nature. It wasn't even over public posts, but rather over a private disagreement as to guest posting. Call me crazy, but if it's my blog, then I get to decide the rules on who posts and why. To cry about not being allowed to play in someone else's yard is what a four year old does, not a grownup looking to be a professional.
Again, I don't care what your views are on the various issues. I don't even care if you express a view I find abhorrent. What I care about is when you get small and seek out revenge because someone was, in your view, mean. We should all be more mature than that.
No comments:
Post a Comment