Angry in the Great White North

It all started when I tried to link to a post by Stephen Taylor, and I noticed something odd when I previewed my post.

Stephen Taylor's name was rendered as a period. The domain portion of his URL was rewritten as belinda.ca, referencing Belinda Stronach's website.

The weirdness remained when I posted.

So what was going on?

This was done so that some competing and anti-FD sites do not get traffic. Speak with Connie to get this minor problem resolved.

Competing sites? Aren't we all conservatives here?

We have no obligation to promote the site of someone who can't keep his word in his dealings with us.

Right then, there is some sort of fight going on here. Fine.

But that's not the point, and let me explain why.

They've changed my words.

Get it now?

They've changed my words!

This not about whether Stephen Taylor was selling Liberal Party memberships dressed as a ballerina (geez, I hope that's not what it is, but it really doesn't matter). This is about posting something under my name that I did not write. Worse than that, they changed the meaning of my post by flipping the domain.

Of course, there are the absurd attempts to justify this.

First is that I have not reached some sort of threshold:

15 posts and you are giving instuction on how the site should operate????

One post or one million -- what difference does it make? Should I not be confident that if my post is accepted for publication, that it is not changed? Why should that assurance be a privilege that needs to be earned?

Second is that this is to protect the Free Dominion readership:

What a whiner!

The software is designed to prevent obscenties, racial slurs, and poaching by competing sites.

Start your own site if you want to dictate the rules.

Stephen Taylor's name is neither an obscenity, nor a racial slur. And poaching? Then why allow links at all?

The software was designed to prevent the posting of obscenities or of links to spam sites. That purpose has been corrupted.

But then Stephen Taylor scares some people:

When I signed up to this site I was fully aware that I was in effect in Connie and Marks house and they made the rules. The software filters they have in place are there to protect them and us. If we don't like the rules then we have the option of not playing the game. Safety is safety and I'll put up with filters if it means that Connie and others are protected.

I've met Stephen Taylor. He's not in the least bit intimidating. Sorry, Stephen, but it's true.

But this is where things get dark. Once the logically absurd arguments are dispensed with, we are left with threats. From administrator Connie to me:

The software deleted two of your words, and changed a link.

Make it front page news if you like, but Taylor will look like an idiot if I have to explain why I did it. I deliberately didn't draw attention to it because I know Stephen from our board and I didn't want to publicly humiliate him.

It is ironic that I have more concern about his reputation than you do.

Are you saying I have to put up with this or else Stephen Taylor gets hurt? And what about my reputation? I didn't mean to put a nonsensical link to Belinda Stronach's site.

Don't be an idiot.

If you accuse us, I will have to defend ourselves, so the story is going to come out. You don't honestly think we would sit here and let you 'give us the once over' without telling our side, would you?

Get a grip!

Accept that I can change your post as I see fit, or Stephen Taylor gets it.

That's extortion.

Just what is it about this forum that makes it think it can use the word "Free" in its name?

Maybe they've got something on Stephen Taylor, but I can't imagine it is that bad. If they wanted to freeze out Stephen Taylor, what they could do is simply refuse to publish my post in its entirety, and state in their FAQ that references to Stephen Taylor by name, or to his site, will result in a post being rejected.

That would be the responsible and respectful thing to do.

It would respect my words, and I in turn would have to respect their ban.

But to alter my words and then post different words under my name without warning or explanation is forgery, and to warn me off of calling them out on this by threatening someone else is extortion.

It has nothing to do with freedom, and I have a feeling that the kind of Canada the moderators of this so-called conservative message board want to have is not one I would feel welcome in.

So I've made my argument. Feel free to post your comments. Links to Free Dominion will not be scrubbed out, as my policy is that I have no business modifying your words and your thoughts to suit any agenda I might have.

In the mean time, I hope people reading this consider just how serious something like this is. Thin end of the wedge and all that. My thoughts are committed to words, but the words are changed without my knowledge -- I can't think of anything more deceitful:

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

William Shakespeare

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Plato

Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.

Hermann Hesse

Words matter, and they must be respected, because by respecting words we respect the thoughts that gave rise to them. We don't need to agree, but disagreement without respect is the source of much of humanity's history of misery. That's why I think this is so important.