Comments by "Brenda Rua" (@brendarua01) on "I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. Here's why I left | Megan Phelps-Roper" video.

  1. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” MLK
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  2. It looks like you didn't hear a word she said. Positively brilliant example of doing it wrong. Thank you.
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  3. King(x) I'm all for free speech. But there are limits. You don't shout fire in a theater for several reasons. So that establishes that that it's not an absolute right. In the same vein, the proliferation of trolls who only call people names and spew scat is not speech at all. People posting about turning off comments or social justice are not in that category. But it's often not relevant to the TED topic they post a comment on. It distracts from the subject matter and is rude to the presenter in the way that shouting fire or trolling are. This is TED's party and it seems to me they have the right to manage things. I suspect that if you reactionary folk were civil and made reasoned cases for your opinions that were on point then TED would welcome it. If you produced something then you'd have the same right and I hope would welcome civil, reasoned discussion.
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  4. I'm delighted to hear that you are chatting with her. And your reply to me here is quite nice, even though there is some contention between us. I appreciate it. What spurred my initial reply to you was in part that your opinion about TED's policies has nothing to do with Megan's presentation. You look to be trying to inflame opinions against her by adding inflammatory subjects. That "taint by association' is an all too common rhetorical tactic. To that extent it goes against several of her concluding points. You say yourself, "My opinions about TED'S youtube practices... have nothing to do with Megan's views." I agree with you there. So why say that when her presentation offers so much to think about?
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  5. King X, those are certainly very hard questions with unclear answers. But I can't agree that means we have to throw open the doors and allow any kind of behavior. Rather, it suggests to me there's something wrong with the formulation of the concept of free speech, or the questions being asked. By analogy, one sees something similar, but more clearly, in poorly formulated systems of arithmetic or scientific models, when they lead to contradictions or infinities. I think we can all agree on some examples of trolling and uncivil behavior. You'd probably agree with me even if you disagree about appropriate responses. The problem arises because there is a range or a continuum to these things. Who decides then? I suggest we have a good measure of it though. That measure is: Would the person do it to another person face to face? Our society has become very polarized and contentious with the rise of cyber and social media. People become very brave when there are no consequences to their actions, because they can hide behind the veil of cyber. You see it with the outright trolls. You see it with people calling others names rather than addressing arguments. You see it with people posting comments that have no bearing on the topic. But the point of your questions doesn't really address my point that the producers of content such as TED have a fundamental right to determine what's appropriate on their channel Your questions don't address the corollary that no one has an absolute right to post anything they want wherever they want. If there is a conflict of rights here, the right to post what you what where you want seems quite weak. It seems to me there is little to no injury involved in granting these limits since people can create their own venues and produce their own content. Limitations on people creating their own venue are a different beast entirely.
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  6. Mr Beans it was MLK Jr
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  7. Remy, your value laden reply to me contradicts the point you are trying to make. And you're assuming the conclusion in your opening sentence. Nice try.
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  8. Fredie-kins, really? While the left has been violent in the past, it is the conservative, reactionary or religious right that is resorting to violence now. Go back to your opium dreams. Your ubermensch canceled your ride.
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