This past week Alex over at Spectrum Blog sent me an email expressing a desire to discuss the more political things with an exchange to be posted on my blog, Spectrum Blog is mainly political in its posts.
Also, I'm bored with your whining on the Spectrum Blog. Apparently you're not familiar with the 35-year history of Spectrum and the Association of Adventist Forums. Yes, we talk about issues with political implications, both inside our church and without. If you don't like reading it, don't read it. I don't tell you how to run your blog - so stay off mine. How's that for a good libertarian principle.
That statement certainly defines his political views (as I discovered with other E-mails and posts he made on Atomorrow.com). To disagree with Alex is to whine, to suggest alternatives is to whine, and yes even the links to factual data, is to whine. Clearly this is not the method of someone seeking a reasoned debate. It is certainly not a libertarian principle. Libertarians would not seek to tell those of differing opinions to stay off. According to Libertarian Principles Alex’s concluding sentence violates two of them (and there are only about 6 principles):
That all people are entitled to choose their own lifestyles, as long as they do not forcibly impose their values on others.
That the voluntary and unrestricted exchange of goods and services is fundamental to a peaceful and harmonious society.
Therefore if my posts were in reality whining Alex should say “more power to you” if he was behaving as a Libertarian. As a Libertarian he would say that the exchange of ideas on the Spectrum Blog should be unrestricted.
In any case I did not want my blog to get bogged down in politics anyway even if it was only to be a temporary situation. So I will honor Alex’s request, though I don’t think he is operating at all upon the tradition of Spectrum Magazine and certainly is very far from the perspectives of the Association of Adventist Forums. It is a shame that a more mature and thoughtful person was not chosen to lead the Spectrum Blog. As an often dissenting voice in Adventism, Spectrum is an important institution but I will not longer be reading the Spectrum Blog as per Alex’s request.
3 comments:
Private emails are now public fodder in a blogger flame war?
Come now- we need to tone it down.
Who will be the bigger person?
Let's have some thanksgiving goodwill yeah?
God bless!
Private emails are now public fodder in a blogger flame war?
Come now- we need to tone it down.
Who will be the bigger person?
Let's have some thanksgiving goodwill yeah?
God bless!
Well aside from the history of censorship performed by Alex at Spectrum blog I thought it was of enough interest to give the back story. That he suggested a debate of sorts on my blog and then his concluding comment on an email about those prospective debates was "stay off" "my blog" (I hope Spectrum knows that Alex thinks of that blog as his, or at least they get something for the use of their name).
Strikes me as hypocritical. I try to deal with substantive ideas. So be assured I have not engaged in any "flame war".
Post a Comment