Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire

Po 07 dubna 2014

Let me quote here one comment in the current discussion about Brendan Eich and his contribution for Prop 8:

I’ve decided I will let my web browser provider think whatever they want, so long as they don’t support fascist segregation of ideas

—ertdfg

I have struggled since the start of this one particular battle of the Kulturkampf with a question how should I react. I certainly value honoring your opponents in the discussion (which is IMHO much better concept than mere freedom of expression, which is rather limited and legalistic) very highly, and if that was in stake, I wouldn’t mind to loose my browser for it (or job, or many other things; I grew up in the Communist Czechoslovakia, so I know a little bit what I am talking about). However, is this the case? And is loosing Firefox which otherwise IS the most freedom-loving browser around (switching to Chrome feels to me truly like jumping straight out of the frying pan into the center of the fire).

Thinking about some other hot topic issues (actually participation of a Protestant in Eucharist; tell me about controversial issue, this was the one actual battles with dead people lying on the battlefield were fought for!) I came to the preliminary conclusion that the worst thing is when your opponents drive your decision by negation. Back to the issue of Firefox, Brendan, and tolerance. The worst thing we can do is to switch from Firefox, and let ourselves drawn on the shitty (literally, that's the stuff fought with over there) battlefield of these cultural wars. If we want to keep our discussion on more civilized level, we shouldn’t let be drawn to the level of bigots. “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” (Proverbs 6:24 KJV; or in the modern paraphrase “Don’t argue with idiots because they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”)

Category: computer Tagged: homosexuality cultureWar BrendanEich mozilla