I left a comment on luphinus' post about the fur dealer at Califur, which he saw fit to delete. I'm reposting it here, along with his (similarly deleted) response.

[As a quick side note, I automatically repost things like that on the theory that if someone gets upset enough to actually delete it, it obviously had enough of an impact to make it worth keeping around. Plus, I'm not a fan of censorship in general, particularly where it concerns civil discussion. I won't delete comments in my journal--unless they are patently abusive, or spam--for this reason.

I thought about not posting it, as I don't want to spread drama. But, (a) I feel pretty strongly about the censorship thing, and (b) it's funny in a tragic sort of way. >.> I trust those of you who read this to treat it for what it is -- silliness.]

( Cut for drama and general stupidity. Don't bother reading if you don't care about the discussion at hand. )

-- Des

...particularly when related to IRC chat rooms.

People who whine about being censored when they're asshats. If you come in, and you bitch, whine, moan, backstab, yell, scream, fling poop (obscenities) or generally make yourself unpleasant, the hosts of the party (the channel ops) will then ask you to leave. In so doing, they are not violating your free speech rights. There are plenty of other forums (even other channels on the same server) in which you may express yourself. But the 1st Amendment doesn't apply to private servers, period. So get this through your heads: On IRC, you have no 1st Amendment rights.

People who whine because someone else said something they think is offensive. No, we will not "think of the children", so just shut up already. A lot of us have sex drives, and we will make (not-too-explicit, not-too-tasteless) jokes about it. Some of us also do/do not like our Great Leader George W. Bush(tm). I don't care if you find that opinion offensive -- everyone has a right to one, however misinformed. They also have a right (because the #fcs channel rules, for example, give them that right) to express it in a considerate, respectful manner. If you find it offensive, that's your problem, and nobody else's.

Actually, I find the whole concept of being offended, offensive. (Ironic, isn't it?) Grow up already. We're all adults, or close to it -- we should be able to conduct ourselves in a considerate and respectful manner, no matter how passionately we may feel about something.

Yes, these two points are in opposition to each other. What it really boils down to, though, is how considerate someone is of those around them.

>>>

In other news, my freezer tried to kill me last night. It dropped a very heavy glass bottle on my foot at high speed, then bonked me on the head when I tried to stand up again after doubling over in pain. Needless to say, I'm moving slowly today. :p

-- Des