Really excellent argument, B! I appreciate getting a Christian take on things. One of the most telling aspects of the "SAN" campaign -- which I didn't go into since my essay was already wicked long -- is that they kept comparing Substack to Twitter unfavorably. As if the loosening of censorship rules on Twitter had turned it into a Nazi hellhole. They truly think that other people being allowed to openly disagree with Leftist orthodoxy, like saying "men aren't women" is the equivalent of Twitter having turned into the proverbial "Nazi bar." It's the old bromide about "if you're used to special treatment, equality feels like persecution" come to life, truly.
Like I have said before, yes, they were spoiled, no one enforced boundaries on them, and they are now acting like children throwing a temper tantrum because they're not getting that special treatment any longer.
But if we enforce boundaries, like it looks like Substack is doing, then they will go find someone else who is more amendable to giving into their demands. By enforcing our boundaries and saying, "No," we put a speedbump in their plans for censorship here. Now they will look for the path of least resistance and find other sites which will do what they want. They wrote off Gab, Parler, and they can write off Substack too. I mentioned that someone was still talking about Parler as some social media site evil people go to after the site was purchased and destroyed. They don't go back to those sites to look to see if things are better. They are just "evil boogie man" sites to them now. They fight persecutors who don't even exist and I mean it.
With more and more sites saying, "No," to them, I'm hoping it is getting easier and easier for sites to see that saying, "No," won't hurt them as badly as they think it will too.
Thanks for writing this. You've expressed so well many of own thoughts on the supposed "Substack Nazi problem." One of the main complaints of Katz and company is that Substack is financially benefiting from Nazis. As numerous commentators have pointed out, most of those they point to aren't actually Nazis by any sensible definition. But following your argument, even if Substack does make some small amount of money off those with actual Nazi-like views, this is actually a good thing since it keeps them on a public forum where their views can be engaged with and criticized. Banning them from Substack won't make them go away. If anything, it will make them more dangerous because they will retreat into more private spaces where their views won't face criticism.
Really well thought out and eloquently put. I love your approach on the topic of censorship and take on the whole Substackers against Nazis movement. Just fantastic.
Great article, Barbara! For the last month or two, I've been fighting back against the censors with irreverent logic, for the most part, but I'm ready to be done with the fight and move on. It's all become sort of old and tired, at least for me. And now that we know where Substack stands, it makes me feel better about the whole thing. It seems to be the perfect time to "walk away and put it in God's hands" - to let the censors throw their hissy fits and tire themselves out lol.
They basically are tiring themselves out with all of this. Being constantly angry and/or fearful wipes you out physically and emotionally. It doesn't leave room for them to get much done with their lives. That reminds me of another article I wrote on why communism can't work (https://lawofattraction.substack.com/i/86630644/additional-information)
"What you focus on you create more of. When you focus on critiquing everything, pretty soon all you see are problems. You can get so laser-focused on problems that you can’t see solutions anymore. When you complain it’s coming from a place of negative emotions, such as fear for perceived victims. You can’t figure out solutions from a state of fear because your mind closes them down. When you relax and have faith that things will work out, solutions start to come to you because your mind has opened up. People inside the drama triangle won’t be able to figure things out, but people outside of the drama triangle will be able to come up with solutions."
The best way to get what we desire is to focus on relaxing, having fun, and letting go of the drama triangle dynamics. Everyone still stuck focusing on problems day in and day out will not be able to succeed anywhere in comparison to someone focused on having fun creating rather than fighting.
You'd have us aim for "friendship" and understanding with Nazis? Really?
You do know that Nazism is a known quantity, don't you? This is a group that has been allowed to flourish before, with deadly consequences. What do you imagine allowed those ideas to take root in Europe, if not the spread of vile, abhorrent ideas?
Antisemitism is more prevalent than it's been since the Holocaust. The house is on fire. Unfortunately, it makes sense to expect further violence.
Beautiful ideas and writing, Barbara, thank you. I'm reading Huxley's "The Perennial Philosophy", a catalog of timeless wisdom that has appeared in spiritual practice for millenia. Using Acts 5 is an inspired take.
I think this is mostly wonderful, but I think you don’t understand the academic underpinning of CRT. It’s not a form of anti White racism, it’s about generations of structural factors that have colluded to subordinate one group to the benefit of another, and the long term ramifications of it in our society. It’s really not what people think it is.
I expect I agree with you on all the particulars of free speech, censorship and Nazis. I especially agree with this:
> It’s a waste of time to worry about them.
But I’m suddenly curious!
What would be a Nazi argument that I might want to argue against? Is it about Lebensraum for the German Reich? Is it about the desire for racial purity?
Which argument one would have with a Nazi would depend on what drives that person.
I don't have strong feelings on this subject enough to debate. But, what drives me concerning Christianity is the illogical trinity. It bothers me because I was lied to about it and it makes the bible confusing. When I studied it out and found out it wasn't true (no one in the bible believed in the trinity) then the bible made so much more sense. There was a clarity and calmness that washed over my understanding. It aggravated me that understandings of verses were lost to mistranslations.
My point is that I had very personal reasons and anger that drived my desires to study and argue the topic with others. I don't have a desire to argue any longer because I've made peace with it.
So, everyone comes from a different place and will have different desires and arguments to be made. But those arguments will be personal for them. I can't tell you what you would want to argue against.
I've been an atheist all my life (well, since September 7, 1972 anyway) and I have plenty of purpose and meaning. I've never been tempted by transgender or sexual freedom and Im opposed to censorship. I got lucky, I guess! Merry Christmas, Adam!
Really excellent argument, B! I appreciate getting a Christian take on things. One of the most telling aspects of the "SAN" campaign -- which I didn't go into since my essay was already wicked long -- is that they kept comparing Substack to Twitter unfavorably. As if the loosening of censorship rules on Twitter had turned it into a Nazi hellhole. They truly think that other people being allowed to openly disagree with Leftist orthodoxy, like saying "men aren't women" is the equivalent of Twitter having turned into the proverbial "Nazi bar." It's the old bromide about "if you're used to special treatment, equality feels like persecution" come to life, truly.
Thank you. Yes, I see that from them.
Like I have said before, yes, they were spoiled, no one enforced boundaries on them, and they are now acting like children throwing a temper tantrum because they're not getting that special treatment any longer.
But if we enforce boundaries, like it looks like Substack is doing, then they will go find someone else who is more amendable to giving into their demands. By enforcing our boundaries and saying, "No," we put a speedbump in their plans for censorship here. Now they will look for the path of least resistance and find other sites which will do what they want. They wrote off Gab, Parler, and they can write off Substack too. I mentioned that someone was still talking about Parler as some social media site evil people go to after the site was purchased and destroyed. They don't go back to those sites to look to see if things are better. They are just "evil boogie man" sites to them now. They fight persecutors who don't even exist and I mean it.
With more and more sites saying, "No," to them, I'm hoping it is getting easier and easier for sites to see that saying, "No," won't hurt them as badly as they think it will too.
Censorship is never the correct approach. We will never learn if we don't consider different viewpoints.
Thanks for writing this. You've expressed so well many of own thoughts on the supposed "Substack Nazi problem." One of the main complaints of Katz and company is that Substack is financially benefiting from Nazis. As numerous commentators have pointed out, most of those they point to aren't actually Nazis by any sensible definition. But following your argument, even if Substack does make some small amount of money off those with actual Nazi-like views, this is actually a good thing since it keeps them on a public forum where their views can be engaged with and criticized. Banning them from Substack won't make them go away. If anything, it will make them more dangerous because they will retreat into more private spaces where their views won't face criticism.
Exactly.
Really well thought out and eloquently put. I love your approach on the topic of censorship and take on the whole Substackers against Nazis movement. Just fantastic.
I am glad you and so many others have enjoyed it.
Great article, Barbara! For the last month or two, I've been fighting back against the censors with irreverent logic, for the most part, but I'm ready to be done with the fight and move on. It's all become sort of old and tired, at least for me. And now that we know where Substack stands, it makes me feel better about the whole thing. It seems to be the perfect time to "walk away and put it in God's hands" - to let the censors throw their hissy fits and tire themselves out lol.
They basically are tiring themselves out with all of this. Being constantly angry and/or fearful wipes you out physically and emotionally. It doesn't leave room for them to get much done with their lives. That reminds me of another article I wrote on why communism can't work (https://lawofattraction.substack.com/i/86630644/additional-information)
"What you focus on you create more of. When you focus on critiquing everything, pretty soon all you see are problems. You can get so laser-focused on problems that you can’t see solutions anymore. When you complain it’s coming from a place of negative emotions, such as fear for perceived victims. You can’t figure out solutions from a state of fear because your mind closes them down. When you relax and have faith that things will work out, solutions start to come to you because your mind has opened up. People inside the drama triangle won’t be able to figure things out, but people outside of the drama triangle will be able to come up with solutions."
The best way to get what we desire is to focus on relaxing, having fun, and letting go of the drama triangle dynamics. Everyone still stuck focusing on problems day in and day out will not be able to succeed anywhere in comparison to someone focused on having fun creating rather than fighting.
Perfectly said! I couldn't agree more 👌
It figures that I would find a great Christian argument against censorship here on Substack.
Poor censors, they just get it from all sides here.
They get it from all sides because censorship is stupid, doesn't solve anything and makes things worse, lol.
You'd have us aim for "friendship" and understanding with Nazis? Really?
You do know that Nazism is a known quantity, don't you? This is a group that has been allowed to flourish before, with deadly consequences. What do you imagine allowed those ideas to take root in Europe, if not the spread of vile, abhorrent ideas?
Antisemitism is more prevalent than it's been since the Holocaust. The house is on fire. Unfortunately, it makes sense to expect further violence.
Beautiful ideas and writing, Barbara, thank you. I'm reading Huxley's "The Perennial Philosophy", a catalog of timeless wisdom that has appeared in spiritual practice for millenia. Using Acts 5 is an inspired take.
Good writing, well done
I think this is mostly wonderful, but I think you don’t understand the academic underpinning of CRT. It’s not a form of anti White racism, it’s about generations of structural factors that have colluded to subordinate one group to the benefit of another, and the long term ramifications of it in our society. It’s really not what people think it is.
I expect I agree with you on all the particulars of free speech, censorship and Nazis. I especially agree with this:
> It’s a waste of time to worry about them.
But I’m suddenly curious!
What would be a Nazi argument that I might want to argue against? Is it about Lebensraum for the German Reich? Is it about the desire for racial purity?
Which argument one would have with a Nazi would depend on what drives that person.
I don't have strong feelings on this subject enough to debate. But, what drives me concerning Christianity is the illogical trinity. It bothers me because I was lied to about it and it makes the bible confusing. When I studied it out and found out it wasn't true (no one in the bible believed in the trinity) then the bible made so much more sense. There was a clarity and calmness that washed over my understanding. It aggravated me that understandings of verses were lost to mistranslations.
My point is that I had very personal reasons and anger that drived my desires to study and argue the topic with others. I don't have a desire to argue any longer because I've made peace with it.
So, everyone comes from a different place and will have different desires and arguments to be made. But those arguments will be personal for them. I can't tell you what you would want to argue against.
Can you say more about that, Adam? I'm an atheist and I’m not a fan of cultural insanity. What am I missing?
I've been an atheist all my life (well, since September 7, 1972 anyway) and I have plenty of purpose and meaning. I've never been tempted by transgender or sexual freedom and Im opposed to censorship. I got lucky, I guess! Merry Christmas, Adam!
What kind of foxhole do you have in mind, Adam?
https://raggedclown.substack.com/p/solitude