I don’t disagree on any of your major points. “Harmful” speech, or that which incites violence or harassment, should most definitely be catalogued for future generations. Denial of its existence would be ignorant at best, and outright harmful a worse. Interestingly, there’s a great tumblr post about “Birth of a Nation” (one of the most vile and raciest pieces of cinema generally talked about) and why it’s important that we not erase the fact that it happened.
It’s also true that there are some good points in some of these debates! A lot of MAP-ideologically aligned people will talk about youth rights, which I think is extremely important. Sadly, the bad actors will then twist that important discussion for their own ends. This is where I think problems start to arise, and what I think should not be welcome on these sites meant for furry art. Not to say that we can’t have thoughtful discussions on them, of course. Also, yes, the ability to discuss harmful ideologies, how they do harm, and the like is important! It’s just a matter of “where and when is this appropriate?”
And I apologize if what I said implied 100% of predators were incapable of reform in some way. That is absolutely untrue. I meant more that, for example, grooming cannot be done on accident (regardless of who/what you are grooming). One-off offenders without this kind of history would be a different story, as far as I currently understand it. Again, sorry if I came off as insensitive in that aspect. I very much want people to be able to get help and reform whenever possible. At the end of the day, it is a mental illness.
I don’t disagree on any of your major points. “Harmful” speech, or that which incites violence or harassment, should most definitely be catalogued for future generations. Denial of its existence would be ignorant at best, and outright harmful a worse. Interestingly, there’s a great tumblr post about “Birth of a Nation” (one of the most vile and raciest pieces of cinema generally talked about) and why it’s important that we not erase the fact that it happened.
It’s also true that there are some good points in some of these debates! A lot of MAP-ideologically aligned people will talk about youth rights, which I think is extremely important. Sadly, the bad actors will then twist that important discussion for their own ends. This is where I think problems start to arise, and what I think should not be welcome on these sites meant for furry art. Not to say that we can’t have thoughtful discussions on them, of course. Also, yes, the ability to discuss harmful ideologies, how they do harm, and the like is important! It’s just a matter of “where and when is this appropriate?”
And I apologize if what I said implied 100% of predators were incapable of reform in some way. That is absolutely untrue. I meant more that, for example, grooming cannot be done on accident (regardless of who/what you are grooming). One-off offenders without this kind of history would be a different story, as far as I currently understand it. Again, sorry if I came off as insensitive in that aspect. I very much want people to be able to get help and reform whenever possible. At the end of the day, it is a mental illness.
(God I hope no one here is a minor… yeesh.)