Re: Religion and SL and "US" vs "THEM"

If you are a Christian who believes homosexuality is against God's word (I am a Christian who does not), does stating so automatically qualify as making inflammatory posts disrupting the conversation of other residents? Resulting in, for example, a permanent SL forums ban? Recent events suggest it does.

If so, I'd like to point out that there are some large world religions who believe homosexuality is a sin (I do not). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Muslims are one, and they are a very big religion.

If LL is to become truly international, don't you think it will be rather difficult to allow some to express their beliefs, but not others? I'm not talking about hate speech - I'm talking about expressing one's religious or other beliefs.

Indeed, if the SL forums consisted primarily of Muslims, I imagine anyone stating that they thought homosexuality was NOT against God's word would, by this line of reasoning, risk banishment from the SL forums for "making inflammatory posts disrupting the conversation of other residents." I think we can agree that would not be good.

Lewis Nerd has been banned from the SL forums and received a 3-day in-world suspension, on the basis that his comments are "inflammatory" and "disrupt the conversation of other residents." This time, apparently, from the offhand use of the phrase "one man/one woman" when discussing something else entirely, and in fact merely responding to what another poster brought up.

coco

I'm not really sure how to write this.

Part of me thinks it should be done privately.. but part of me also realizes that there's a "public issue" that needs to be addressed as well. it's not a discussion, and I'm not interested in receiving public reactions to this post (please don't send them). This is between me and the Lindens. Please respect that. And if you're going to reply to this.. please READ the whole post first.

Re: Lewis Nerd. (ZOMG naming names).

I realize it is Linden Labs policy not to discuss matters of actions taken against other accounts, reasons for the actions, etc. I understand that, and that's fine. I don't NEED to know the details, or even the headlines. Frankly.. no response is necessary to this post.. but I am asking for action... which you are entirely within your rights to disregard... but I would be remiss if I did not ask.

Coco has stated that Lewis received a "Permanent Forum Ban" and a "3-day SL Suspension".

1. Discipline
   Be respectful. Please challenge opinions, state your own and enjoy the discussion, but do not cross the line into personal attacks and insults because you will risk having your Second Life account suspended or banned. We believe that in-world and forum behavior are linked and behavior carries across the boundary. This means if you are suspended or banned in-world you are also suspended or banned from the forums, and vice versa, if your account is suspended or banned from the SL Forums, it will also be suspended or banned from in-world. Violations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on the severity of the offense and past history of violations. The following types of disciplinary action are possible remedies for inappropriate posts.
   
   I was under the impression that if a person received a forum BAN it would require a matching SL BAN.. and conversely, that if a person was given a 3-day SL suspension they would receive a 3-day forum suspension. Perhaps the verbage is unclear in the forum guidelines.. or perhaps a BAN for "Resident Answers" was issued... I don't know.. but if there's inconsistency in the application of the bans, and the rules state there is consistency.. I would urge you to reconsider the disparity of Forum/in-world treatment.
   
   
   
2. I reported a post made by Lewis on 11-24-2006. The content and moral judgements implicit in the text he used, deeply offended me, and cut to some very personal pain in my life. In addition, a thread on a subject which I cared about very deeply had been pulled off topic by Lewis, and this post was the "Last Straw" for me. I AR'ed the post with the phrase" this is going too far". I then posted that I was no longer willing to participate in a thread where I was made to feel unwelcome because of my sexual orientation.
   
   Frankly, I figured the thread would be locked for being grossly off topic and bordering on becomming a religion/morality flamewar. I figured that would be the end of it. I don't know how much time elapsed.. it was like 12 hours or more.. with NOTHING from the forum police. I was angry, and had slept really really badly because of the personal drama that had been dredged up for me by that "confrontation by intolerance"... and I snapped off an "Angry letter to the lindens".
   
   
   
3. It was not until AFTER this letter, that anyone responded to my taking offense to Lewis' post. The responses ran the gambit. From people defending him, to people congratulating me for "calling that jerk on the things he says". None of these responses made me feel better. and Frankly, the ones congratulating me hurt more than the ones demonizing me. Frankly, by the end of the day, I was just hoping it would get a "we'll look into it, thanks".. and was glad when I got that hoped-for response by Robin.
   
   
   
4. around this same time.. Lewis wrote to me.. and said some things, challenging me to explain why I was offended. I made the mistake of replying, and explaining my offense to him. I reiterated it like 3 times in my response to him, muted him inworld, and very nearly put him on ignore in the forums as well. But I had asked him for an apology... not for his beleifs (that would be ridiculous to expect) but for the unintended consequences of his words.
   
   His response was to dig at me and my beleifs... to try and goad a continuing battle out of me. I guess I'm a fool for expecting better from people of strong faith. Unfortunately I put my foot in the bear trap by replying to him.. and his response hurt me again.
   
   
   
5. for quite some time after all of this.. I was really in a foul mood, and unable to seek the support of my friends. Oh I know.. boo hoo. My day was ruined.. several days in a row. I was angry and hurt and had no one to talk to about it. But I finally just started swallowing it and getting over the hurt.. moving on. That post from Robin loomed in the shadows.. "we'll look into it".. and all I wanted was for the whole thing to just "go away".
   
   Torley's post in the thread was like an early christmas present. The thread, hopelessly off topic, and clearly in a state of "Morals Debating".. wasn't locked. The Lindens weren't going to take a hard stance on this.. because maybe I was over the line.. sure Lewis has said some harsh things.. but moderate responses can work with people. A general warning was issued into the thread. As angry as I had been at Lewis for his comments, and for refusing even the most token "sorry it hurt your feelings, I didn't mean it like that"... This whole thing WAS just going to go away. The thread would meander on for a while until someone else said the wrong thing, and then it would get locked up with a clearer "reason".
   
   My releif was visible. for the first time since this started, I got some quality work done.
   

I realize that Lewis Nerd has been a harsh critic of Linden Labs. He has been quite outspoken in his opposition to the shift to the Blog, over the dissolution of many various "general conversation" forums here.. and generally he seems to make it his business to find SOMETHING to complain about, regardless of what is going on.

Knowing that.. I also realise he's probably stepped on the line a few times before.. and possibly hurt some feelings along the way. His unrepentant response to my insistence that he had offended me... if he'd do that to me, he's surely done it to others.

BUT.

The fact is, that while my taking offense was genuine and real, and my feeling targeted and unwelcommed by his words (and others who did not call him on them) were also very genuine...

The offense in this case was against a "hot button issue" for me. And I am guilty of reacting more to the words than to the message. I still think he could apologize for his phrasing... but this single incident seems.. to me, worthy more of a "warning" and a "suggestion that he apologize for the offense"... not a permanent forums ban.

I fear that in this case, (if what Coco has reported is factually correct), Linden Labs may have come down too hard... with too heavy a hammer. A hammer that, regrettably, I handed them because I was crying.

If mine is just the last complaint in a series.. then I guess you have your case made for whatever action you've taken, or opt to take. But if my complaint triggered a "make an example out of him" response.. I would urge you to reconsider the harshness of your decision.

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To anyone still reading this.. whose last name is not "Linden".. if you feel moved to respond to me with some sort of admiration for making this post.. please don't. I really, seriously want this whole thing to just "go away".. and I'm ashamed that it went as far as it did. I wish this hadn't all gone down in public.. and I'm sorry for my part in it.

Oh no! This is probably overcomplicating things...

So simply: we value free expression and tolerance. Says so in the Community Standards.

Also, while we can't reveal disciplinary histories of other accounts, usually there's a lot more context than is publicly mentioned on something like the Police Blotter. It's generally not accurate to consider public quotes as being entirely representative of someone's whole history.