We are free to say whatever we want to say in this country. The Constitution prevents our Government from stopping us—there are a few exceptions, though.

However, just because we can say most of what we’d like to say, does not mean that we SHOULD. Freedom of speech carries with it an obligation to exercise due prudence before we open our mouths or start pounding on a computer keyboard.

A member ignored this prerequisite in posting a recent thread on Talk Delaware. I’d like to address it here.

Talk Delaware has recently gone through a rather traumatic time over a member’s avatar and whether the forum’s owner should have censored it. The member defended his use of the avatar on the basis that it represented facts and claimed that people taking offense at it did not constitute a legitimate basis of censorship.

The impetus behind the avatar was a combination of two converging incidents. The first was the way the Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church chose to handle the national scandal involving numerous priests and their incidents of sexual abuse of both prepubescent and pubescent boys.

The second involved criticisms—correct or not—of Pope Benedict XVI’s commitment to deal with the scandal sincerely and aggressively. Included in those criticisms was the charge that Benedict XVI was a Nazi. The latter was the subject of the avatar in question.

The fact that the avatar belonged to a member who was also a member of Talk Delaware’s moderating staff—a Super Moderator—heightened the emotions of all concerned to a feverish pitch, including mine.

Let’s deal with the issues of free speech and censorship. Among other things, the First Amendment to the Constitution forbids the Congress of the United States from enacting laws that abridge the freedom of speech, or of the press.

The important thing to remember is that we can’t say any old thing we’d like. Screaming fire in a crowded room when there is no fire is not protected by the 1st Amendment. It inherently excludes all such ulterior motive utterances.

Another thing to remember is that 1st Amendment prohibitions are against the GOVERNMENT, not private enterprise. Talk Delaware is private enterprise. As such, the organization is free to decide what it allows and does not allow.

If Chase, the owner of Talk Delaware, tells a member to lose an avatar because he deems it offensive, the member loses the avatar. Simple! If not, he has every right to take whatever legally sanctioned action he deems appropriate against that member.

In the matter of the offending avatar, it boiled down to the fact that many members were offended by it. These were NOT just members. Some were advertisers; others were financial supporters. Others were both, while still others were simply offended by the implication of the avatar.

Based on contextual characterization, certain words become inferentially incendiary. When someone calls the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church with a worldwide membership of about 1.2 billion people (60 million of which reside in the United States), it had better be both relevant and indisputable.

In so far as Benedict XVI’s situation, he was a member of Hitler Youth—a Nazi youth organization. In this respect and by the letter of the context, he was a Nazi. But, the avatar owner conveniently failed to mention that EVERY German boy of 14-years of age or older, beginning in 1939, was compelled to join the Hitler Youth Group.

The avatar owner also failed to mention that the future Pope Benedict XVI (Young Ratzinger back then) despised the group and refused to participate. He later served in an anti-aircraft corps, but he was a German citizen conscripted to fight a war, no different from our soldiers drafted to fight for the United States.

So, it appears that he was NOT a Nazi in the spirit of the context. Writing that he IS a Nazi was not just wrong, but was in the poorest of taste.

People are going to debate the conduct of the Catholic Church’s leadership in dealing with the facts of the sex scandal for years going forward. Smart leaders will welcome the debate and take steps to make sure it does not happen again.

However, there was no legitimate reason for posting the avatar. It was in plain poor and disrespectful taste to do so. Given the context in which the owner did it, it was disingenuous to a fault. It needlessly offended many good Catholics who genuinely love and live their faith.

Unfortunately, from what I’m still reading, the individual does not seem to have realized the extent of the damage he’s done here. He’s still attempting to justify his behavior.

This is a fantastic forum. There are not many generally available across the Internet; and, I’ve yet to find another like it in Delaware specifically. A combination of factors makes it so attractive and effective.

First are the participants, including the moderators. In many of the moderated forums, moderators do not participate directly. Talk Delaware is different, though.

On Talk Delaware, the posters (at least the ones I have read so far) all seem to possess qualities of genuine empathy, humor, and respect for other viewpoints. The moderators seem to have a knack for knowing when to step in and quell personal attacks from all sources.

With this one exception, they have done a fantastic job. But, what’s to be done when the offender is, himself, a Super Moderator? I applaud Green Lantern for his recent admonitions. I think he was spot on in his criticism and I thank him.

I genuinely admire the people who post here. I truly enjoy participating. I’d like to participate more. And as soon as I finish a few of the projects I am working on, I plan to do so.

But I’m stating, for the record, the Nazi charges were exaggerated by the selective omission of pertinent exonerating facts. The use of the avatar seemed to have amounted to nothing more than a juvenile hissy fit attempt to get attention.

The regular participants on TD, Catholic or otherwise, deserve an apology from ANY member of TD staff who would behave this way, let alone a Super Moderator. I know four-year olds with superior emotional control.

Chase, this is all I’m going to say on the matter. Enough is enough. Let’s close the matter and move on.

Regards,

Joe Walther

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Joe Walther
http://thetruefacts.blogharbor.com

Can Joe W. get an Amen???

Sorry, just trying to break the tension....

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Oh...

Amen!

Definitely.

You know you're screwed when Joe W. puts out a thread

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And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying Gravity
I'm flying high
Defying Gravity

yeah...and here I thought I pissed off people...lol


I don't think I got a full thread started by joe w.

guess im doing a good job at staying outa trouble eh? =oP

Thank you Joe, well said and broken down for us plain folk.

I was forced to join the cup scouts but I put my foot down when I heard the next step was webelos, only because I knew they wouldn't kill my family if I spoke up.

lol...hey Kid....