The GSA Debacle:
This week Archaea deleted his first thread. The thread started off with the contents of a small card published by the ACLU for the benefit of members of GSA clubs in public high schools (Gay Straight Alliance).
Archaea then went on to pull a giant Mel Gibson in a series of rants that:
1. Nearly doubled the total number of obscenities ever posted on CG.
2. Suggested that most gay students in HS were wimps who should not be coddled in their insecurities, but should instead fight mano-a-mano, resorting to violence if necessary, to defend themselves from the bigotry of other students and teachers.
3. Argued that the views expressed in point 2 are compatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the restored gospel, and that to suggest otherwise was a load of b.s.
4. Compared the GSA to Bin Laden and terrorist organizations.
Some funny and spirited challenges to Archaea's POV came up. Two challenges, in particular, stick out in my memory. The first came as a series of funny and ironic posts from Non Sequiter, each underscoring the absurdity of Archaea's points by carrying one of his posts to a logical end. N.S. was witty and brief. The other main challenger was Faith, my wife, and a relative newcomer to the board. Having not learned to ignore Archaea's more extreme tendencies, she entered the arena and challenged him point by point, and in the end, in my admittedly biased opinion, handed Archaea's ass back to him on a platter.
What is known with full certainty is that Archaea then deleted the entire thread. The reasons he gave are thus:
1. Having previously behaved like a pit bull, I did it "in order to render this place more like a poodle's pad."
2. "I deleted a very pedantic posting thread." (sic.)
3. I did it because "It wasn't that great of a thread."
4. "If it's (deleting the thread) capricious and arbitrary, so be it."
5. I won't bring it back because, "Everybody missed the core question, so bring it back? (sic.)" (which is curious, since I posted the original quotes, which makes me wonder how Archaea knew MY 'core question.')
And what was lost because of Archaea's admitted capricious choice?
Faith, the faculty leader of a GSA club in one of South Central L.A.'s toughest schools, chose CG as a forum to share her thoughts and feelings about the GSA and her role in the club and the effect it has on the lives of her students.
Someone else (Homeboy?) shared his experience working with a bunch of school administrators in Utah who were working to undermine a local GSA club. He then told the administrators that he himself supported the GSA.. Very interesting story.
NS's wit.
And why was all of that lost? Because instead of following Mel Gibson's example all the way, an simply APOLOGIZING for his insanity, he decided to delete the entire thread.
Pride, then Flush.
This is a new and particularly ugly kind of censorship for CG -- Mods deleting multiple legal posts to conceal their own personal shame.
|