Why should audiophile deniers be allowed on an audiophile forum?

On online audio forum.

It may be an ultimately trivial thing, but the kind of thinking that becomes accepted in such corners, any corner of the world, the kind of thinking where it’s accepted to simply silence people for bad thoughts, is a bad omen for the future.

I could provide a litany of thoughts that are not only ignorant, stupid and flat-out wrong, but also dangerous and harmful.  It would please me to no end if such thinking magically disappeared forever.

Of course, no matter how much I wish for bad ideas to go away, they will not.  They’ve been around since the beginning of man and will persist until the end of time.

It’s simply a far worse play in the long-term to start censoring people than to use your voice to bring logic and truth into the fray.
If people get what they wish for, they will be sorry when they can no longer express their opinions because a censorious society has become the norm.

@nonoise 

These days, both sides of the aisle are advocating censorship.  It’s one thing to get it from one side, but now we’re getting from both sides.  This is a disturbing trend, to say the least.

I consider it quite fair that someone, in light of these trends, would be alarmed to see people willingly and eagerly advocating censorship, regardless of the venue and their policies.

It’s one thing for the managers of a venue to implement restrictions on their patrons’ behavior, but it’s another thing to see the venue’s patrons REQUESTING a loss of freedom.  It seems self-defeating, masochistic…I dunno…stupid?  “I couldn’t help but notice there’s not enough censorship here, Mr. Director, may we please have some more?”

I will challenge this kind of thinking regardless of the venue, because I think it is bad and indicative of an accepted mode of thinking in our population that is more than complicit in the erosion of our freedoms.

I’m pleased to see so many people advocating free speech.

I’m so sick and tired of both sides of the aisle trying to destroy this crucial tenet of a free society.  Everybody’s in favor of free speech until that speech runs contrary to their personal beliefs.  It doesn’t work that way.

It’s the seemingly innocuous apologia that starts with, “free speech is applicable to blank for blah-blah-blah-reason, but in this instance we should blah-blah-blah…” that creates the type of permissiveness that leads to the absence of free speech on a much broader and more destructive level.  Obviously, at that time it’s already too late.

Again, I’m pleased to see people here who understand that and advocate free speech.

It’s depressing to watch so many people dig their own grave.

If I advocate censorship, and contribute to a precedent being set that silences those who opinions I dislike, that precedent can be used to censor me.  I’m contributing to my own loss of freedoms by advocating censorship.  I’m digging my own grave.  I will be crying when I am disallowed my right to voice my opinion.

This ain’t rocket science.

It kills me watching so many people, from both sides of the aisle, eagerly advocating the erosion of our democracy.