The Forums have linkage problems!!

It comes and goes.

-Kevin

On the podcast yesterday, I felt like there was a tense moment when V invoked his name... Is that a podcast no-no or something? Would people be offended by that? I mean you can believe anything you want, as long as part of what you believe in is tolerance right?

"You down wit G.O.D.?... yea you know me!"
lol

-ktms

Is taking over, and we are in constant fear of "offending" someone.

I'll try to make my point here, though I imagine some of the words I need to use as examples will have to be spelled in strange ways to get through the filters...

Here goes... political correctness is often derided by right wing talkshow hosts (and their listeners) as somehow dulling down America. Lucky for them they are typically straight, white Anglo-Saxon Protestants males.

Try being gay and hearing the word "F A G" on just about every radio show you might come across. Adam Carolla, Howard Stern, Kevin and Bean, etc. and they are even supposedly "gay friendly." Imagine yourself as a black person in 1960 and hearing the word "N I G G E R" every other minute. Yeah, it's kinda like that.

How about hearing people say "that's gay" when it is almost always intended to mean "that's stupid" or "that's ridiculous" or "that's <pick whatever negative feeling you wish to convey>" Luckily for the overweight among us - another common target - they at least benefit from hearing "that's phat!" mean something positive. LOL.

Anyhow, it's rare that I hear anybody who has actually been positively affected by a politically correct environment complain that "we have become TOO PC." It is almost always a statement coming from a member of a crowd that has never had to deal with it.

-Kevin

Let me make something extremely clear: I wouldn't like this thread to decline into a flame war, so let us respect everyone else's opinions.

I am as far away from a right-wing WASP as I'll ever be.
I am a Latin American, descended from Spanish (castilian) and French-Basque families, I'm caucasian, as white as anyone gets.

I live half-way around the world, but since my job is to do business with Americans, I've had to read, enforce and endure all kinds of PC.

I think everyone has a right to be offended by anything other people say, but taking offense is not enough to censor expressions, opinions or terms.

If you are a christian (of any denomination) and do not like to hear the word God used in colloquial language, cover your ears and sing la la la la, but please do not try to forbid me from using it.

If you hear someone say FSCK YOU! on the street, you do not have the right to prevent them from saying it.

Perhaps because of my country's culture and my upbringing I am more tolerant to foul language than the average person. Again, this is only my point of view.

Let's be clear about PC as a law and PC as a trend. I too abhor the idea that people cannot say what they want or should ever be censored in any way. I have been annoyed that certain forum posts by myself and others have been removed. I felt that was worth mention given that you are a moderator and have performed such removal :-P

When I speak of PC, I talk more about a cultural trend towards being considerate of other peoples' beliefs, lifestyles, physical circumstances, etc. I know it is sometimes difficult to pull away from lifelong habits. I say "god (God)" and "Jesus" a lot as exclamation points to statements but I have learned even today, it is offensive to a certain group of forum members. So, I should not do that in the future.

As I often say to people (and have recently said on this forum), just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. I disagree with laws enforcing political correctness but I would hope people could be enlightened enough to understand why it is something they should value in their culture.

-Kevin

Let me set something straight, I try to let this forum be as unmoderated as possible. The only posts I pull are the ones which constitute a blatant violation to the CNet Terms of Service. I usually pull Spam, linking to shady or spyware-ridden websites and/or the occasional over-the-top flame post. But for the most part, I just let the conversations take their course, since they will eventually die out (including this one )

I know, Santiago. You've been very fair and I just took an opportunity to poke your ribs a little bit. A corporate sponsored forum doesn't play by regular rules. The bottom line on such a forum is all about numbers and money and that means keeping the largest number of people possible happy and coming back for more (more hits, more you can charge advertisers, etc. It's all understood.)

-Kevin

I do not consider myself (or my 'group' - being a WASP) as having the 'right' to 'control' the speach of others. Nor (being almost a libertarian) do I think anyone or any group has the right to 'control' the speach of others.

However I do think I have the ability to request (in a polite manner) that words or phrases not be used around me. Of course the person (or group) to whom I make the request has the right to completely ignore it.

I, myself, find no problem in using the ancient name of God in language that (respectfully) refers to Him. However I am aware that doing so in the presence of an observant Jew is offensive to them. So I would not do it. I also would not allow my dog (if he were still alive) to touch a Muslim.

I don't think it is wrong of us to respect the cultural taboos of others, but I do think it is wrong to demand that respect.

What V. said was (something like) 'Thank God...' and Molly responded with 'Thank goodness'.

To me the 'Thank God' was not offensive as it was not vain (at least I don't think it was anyway).

The essence of it being offensive (to Fundies like myself, at least) is when the word 'God' is used in a flippant or derogatory manner. This stems from the 10 commandments. It isn't wrong to use the word 'God'. It's just not right to evoke it for effect or to steal authority from God (as when you condemn someone).

Thanking God for something happening that you wanted to happen is not (to me) flippant or derogatory.

I do, however, really appreciate that I am not hearing the 'O.M.G.' phrase in the podcast anymore. So, thanks to whoever may have taken it upon themselves to address that (if it was addressed).

stop talking about me...
I am already too busy listening to all your prayers and b.s...

lol.. seriously, what and why do you or would you care...

This is a known and recurring bug here at the forums, I think it has to do with one or more backend servers going out of sync.
The only solution is to go get a glass of water, wait a little and come back to hit F5. (Fortunately I don't work at CNet, or I'd have had a few techies for lunch already )