Quote:
Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan
Again, this breaks down Rowling's open letter pretty well. She is a very good writer and glosses over a lot and concern trolls over things that are absolutely not at risk, specifically any woman's organization's funding, status, or mission, and women being attacked by men who claim to be trans. |
Okay. The thread goes over a bunch of things Rowling said. It flags where Rowling was or may be wrong. I imagine another thread somewhere would argue with this thread.
Is this a basis to make Rowling a pariah? Is this a basis to boycott her?
Or is the more adult thing to do what this author has done - coolly take issue with numerous of her points? (Assuming he's not playing loose with studies and cherry picking points to attack and ignoring others where Rowling may have a point - a tactic many of these Twitter takedowns seem to employ.)
The crux of this "free speech" debate is right here:
1. Is it acceptable to meet views, facts, data, with countering views, facts, or data? Yes. In fact, it's desired. It's how debate and exchange of ideas enriches our understanding. It's a basic part of education.
2. Is it acceptable to meet views, facts, or data with demands that the speaker be made a pariah? In the case of someone like David Duke, yes. In very rare cases where a speaker has gone way beyond the pale and is clearly acting in bad faith for odious ends, you may demand he be deplatformed. But it's still smarter to simply ignore the person. In the case of someone like Rowling, who has merely stated an impolitic, partially flawed position, no. In that instance, the correct reply is to counter it and explain where and why it is incorrect.
This is not to say that people who wish to flip out and scream at Rowling do not have the right to do so. They do. That is free speech. They can advocate boycotts, and claim such infantile behavior is okay because they've been marginalized and this somehow confers them a unique right to behave like an ass (it doesn't, btw), but they're still asses, and they should be ignored.
