I have no interest in discussing bigotry or homophobia in ATMB but these recent comments illustrate that a certain class of doper believes that some topics are so far beyond the pale that they are not worthy of discussion and that people who hold a different view should be banished.
I understand the arguments against SSM because I have spent time in other forums where people make sincere arguments against it. I don’t agree with those arguments but I understand them. I think it’s important to understand those arguments because the majority of the population subscribes to them and we need to engage them. If we dismiss them with a wave of the hand and a you are all just bigots and homophobes, we will never persuade them that they are wrong.
If we drive away the people with whom we disagree by calling them names; if we allow the Heckler’s Veto to shutdown controversial arguments or, worse, outright ban them, we’ll never be exposed to them and we’ll be able to confidently proclaim, like Kron, ‘I can’t think of any reason, except homophobia, to be anti-SSM’.
If someone were to rely on the Straight Dope for understanding on culture war issues, they would remain in the dark. Rather than fighting ignorance, we are enshrining it.