In addition to my last post, the person who complained about my deleting his comment now agrees that he himself can write whatever he wants on his journal, but that my deleting his comment is censorship. Of course, that is illogical. Only a government can censor. If I were a government, I’d be furnishing a second home and then selling it at a profit…
Oh, well, no loss that we have both deleted each other from our “friends” lists. I also took him off my Twitter feed and blocked him.
Why does this make me feel better? This is the first time I’ve felt called to do this, and it’s kind of sad, really. But life is (especially now) too short to worry about it.
I’m feeling feisty this morning, so I can’t resist:
Using the definition of censorship to respond to someones argument looks pedantic and useless to me.
I think a better response would have been to simply state: It’s my journal and if I think your comment is offensive, I’m going to delete it. Deal.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest. My sympathies for having such an experience.
Hehehe
I have two opposing thoughts on the general topic: as a long time publisher and editor in the old dead trees industry, I have frequently had to explain that my declining to publish something isn’t censorship, it’s exercising editorial judgment.
On the other hand, I’ve always had a quibble with people saying that “only a government can censor.” Because, to be truly pedantic, most dictionaries (I only double checked in Chambers and Oxford American, but I can look further afield), a censor is simply someone with the power to delete or repress content and prevent it from reaching the public.
I do, by the way, agree that choosing not to let your journal be used to espouse someone else’s opinion is not really censorship, because you’re not taking any actions to make it more difficult for him to publish it elsewhere, but this notion that only governments can censor is a fairly artificial one.
It’s alright Chris. I feel that the blog owner definitely has the right to screen comments, so why not make it screened before published?
I do see the need to actively practise censorship since nowadys, people do verbal vomit without thinking of consequences, or thinking in the other party’s shoes.
And if such a minor gesture led to the removal of friends and all, it just goes to show it is not worth having the person as a reader at all. And definitely, there are tonnes out there who are still willing to read, and comment with precision and thought.
No loss. Keep writing. Keep censoring. 🙂