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I got an application today over on the wanderingpaths from a new member wanting to join. This is what the application read:
"I am part of the otherkin community at Otherkin.com i have not awakened myself and am not sure when or if i will but i have made many many friends in the otherkin community."
Taken by itself, I have no real problem with it, but then the warning bells started going off in the back of my mind. Otherkin.COM? I seem to remember never liking that site. Couldn't remember why, though, so I popped over to it and had a quick look at some of its FAQs. Oh, yeah... these guys are nuts.
From the FAQs:
"1). What makes a person a Vampyre?
A vampyre is a vampire who is "immortal" or "ageless". While nothing is really immortal, the Inheritor and Classical vampyres can and do live for hundreds or even thousands of years.
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2). Do Vampyres really exist?
Yes."
It continues, but I really think that says it all.
So now I have to decide what to do about this application. I'm really of two minds on it. So far, my policy on wanderingpaths has been that anyone who is not actively disruptive is welcome. I'd like to continue that, and hopefully exposure to more mature viewpoints would help this person move beyond the kind of bullshit fostered by sites like Otherkin.com; on the other hand, though, I can't help but wonder if the mere presence of people espousing this kind of view wouldn't be a massive disruption in and of itself (not that wanderingpaths has been all that actively lately for there to be anything TO disrupt, though). When their worldview focuses around Slayers vs Otherkin and Vampires/Vampyres, to the point where it's even included in a disclaimer upon entering the site that nothing on the site is to be used for hunting otherkin (as if that would stop someone who actually WAS a Slayer IF such a thing existed, which it does not) I really have to wonder if they're sane enough to allow in.
Then again, I keep thinking about this great quote from my reading of Jefferson the other day:
"If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."
And this reminds me of other quotes, too.
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
This surely also applies to the governance of mailing lists, does it not? An active disruption is one thing, but to censor members based on the ideas they hold feels wrong to me. Or, put another way:
"Well, in all my years I ain't never heard, seen nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about. Hell yeah! I'm for debating anything." -the character of Stephen Hopkins, from the movie version of the play 1776.
I think I'm going to end up approving this person. I just hope there are enough people with brains still paying attention to the list for reason to actually combat some of the shit they've undoubtedly bought into if they're active in the Otherkin.com community.
"I am part of the otherkin community at Otherkin.com i have not awakened myself and am not sure when or if i will but i have made many many friends in the otherkin community."
Taken by itself, I have no real problem with it, but then the warning bells started going off in the back of my mind. Otherkin.COM? I seem to remember never liking that site. Couldn't remember why, though, so I popped over to it and had a quick look at some of its FAQs. Oh, yeah... these guys are nuts.
From the FAQs:
"1). What makes a person a Vampyre?
A vampyre is a vampire who is "immortal" or "ageless". While nothing is really immortal, the Inheritor and Classical vampyres can and do live for hundreds or even thousands of years.
back to top
2). Do Vampyres really exist?
Yes."
It continues, but I really think that says it all.
So now I have to decide what to do about this application. I'm really of two minds on it. So far, my policy on wanderingpaths has been that anyone who is not actively disruptive is welcome. I'd like to continue that, and hopefully exposure to more mature viewpoints would help this person move beyond the kind of bullshit fostered by sites like Otherkin.com; on the other hand, though, I can't help but wonder if the mere presence of people espousing this kind of view wouldn't be a massive disruption in and of itself (not that wanderingpaths has been all that actively lately for there to be anything TO disrupt, though). When their worldview focuses around Slayers vs Otherkin and Vampires/Vampyres, to the point where it's even included in a disclaimer upon entering the site that nothing on the site is to be used for hunting otherkin (as if that would stop someone who actually WAS a Slayer IF such a thing existed, which it does not) I really have to wonder if they're sane enough to allow in.
Then again, I keep thinking about this great quote from my reading of Jefferson the other day:
"If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."
And this reminds me of other quotes, too.
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
This surely also applies to the governance of mailing lists, does it not? An active disruption is one thing, but to censor members based on the ideas they hold feels wrong to me. Or, put another way:
"Well, in all my years I ain't never heard, seen nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about. Hell yeah! I'm for debating anything." -the character of Stephen Hopkins, from the movie version of the play 1776.
I think I'm going to end up approving this person. I just hope there are enough people with brains still paying attention to the list for reason to actually combat some of the shit they've undoubtedly bought into if they're active in the Otherkin.com community.
