# I disagree with this warning: **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 28, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354 "2013-12-28T14:38:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/21 "2013-12-28T16:34:29Z")
I’ve been warned on similarly ambiguous posts and replies, and while they irritated me at first - I, too, felt I’d been misunderstood - I was happy to just shrug and move on. The webz is a shitty place for serious continued conversation, and I’ll take a slightly fast draw on the moderating stick over letting the quality of participation degade. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/22 "2013-12-28T16:40:48Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Except you didn’t talk about everyone. You only mentioned those you found to be assholes. 😕 Yes–I addressed that in the second paragraph that you quoted. > [@](#): > > If you had left out the “you” it would have been fine. And I addressed this in the third paragraph that you quoted. > [@](#): > > As it was you were tiptoeing the line of calling the poster an asshole and got called on it. I also addressed this in the third paragraph that you quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/23 "2013-12-28T16:56:20Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You really think he thinks Carrot Top is an _asshole_? Doesn’t everybody? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/24 "2013-12-28T17:01:09Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I wrote: > > My warning was because the phrase implies that I’m calling the poster an asshole. > > Thing is, I think I wasn’t. I was suggesting that everyone on earth has a legal right to express an opinion. If I’d wanted to suggest that the poster was an asshole, I’d have prefaced “asshole” with “other.” > > On rereading, I can see that it’s a bit ambiguous. I disagree that warnings should be given for unintentional ambiguity. OP is correct, the post he was warned for does not imply that his interlocutor is an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/25 "2013-12-28T17:06:49Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > He compared a poster to the fucking Klan. Also, to the Revolutionary Maoist Youth League. Also, Carrot Top. You, the Klan, the Revolutionary Maoist Youth League, and Carrot Top may read whatever book you like without fear of prosecution. Are you mad at me? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/26 "2013-12-28T17:07:23Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > OP is correct, the post he was warned for does not imply that his interlocutor is an asshole. Not as such. But I defer to Paul Newman here: > [@Judge Roy Bean](#): > > I understand you have taken exception to my calling you whores. I’m sorry. I apologize. I ask you to note that I did not call you callous-ass strumpets, fornicatresses, or low-born gutter sluts. But I did say “whores.” No escaping that. And for that slip of the tongue, I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/27 "2013-12-28T17:18:54Z")
While the “and” in the cited post does give the OP wiggle room (and I initially was agreeing with him), I think that explanations by **Loach, bucketybuck, Amateur Barbarian** and others do justify the warning. Question for LHOD: If a poster said, "Oh, I’m sure you have a reason. I’m sure you and serial killers and child rapists and scammers of the elderly and pedophiles and KKKers who hung blacks and skinheads that beat gays all have “reasons”. Would that be in need of Moderation? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/28 "2013-12-28T17:23:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > What would be the point of saying that–would it be to suggest that acting on inborn urges is unacceptable? Not quite - the emphasis would be a little different, that _some_ inborn urges must not be acted upon and therefore the mere fact that an urge is inborn does not mean it is all right to act upon it. Good luck trying to make that point without being accused of saying that “favourite urge” is the same as “clearly unacceptable urge”, though. /hijack ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/29 "2013-12-28T17:37:02Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > 😕 Yes–I addressed that in the second paragraph that you quoted. > > And I addressed this in the third paragraph that you quoted. > I also addressed this in the third paragraph that you quoted. Yes, I realize you don’t agree. That’s why you made this thread. I think you are wrong. That’s why I wrote the post. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/30 "2013-12-28T17:42:18Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I included “you” on the list out of a perhaps misguided urge to make the concept personal It’s the “make the concept personal” part that crossed the line as I see it. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/31 "2013-12-28T17:44:39Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Not quite - the emphasis would be a little different, that _some_ inborn urges must not be acted upon and therefore the mere fact that an urge is inborn does not mean it is all right to act upon it. Good luck trying to make that point without being accused of saying that “favourite urge” is the same as “clearly unacceptable urge”, though. > > /hijack One point that’s being lost is what LHoD was actually replying to. The poster was asserting that a Liberal would never defend the right to free speech (from govt interference) of racist/ugly/unpopular opinions. So his comment, a list of people with racist/ugly/unpopular opinions whose rights he’d defend, was spot on point. That was the point. I think that was unclear initially and got lost. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/32 "2013-12-28T18:07:28Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > He compared a poster to the fucking Klan. You’re a lawyer, right? If the OP’s sentence had been on the LSAT Logical Reasoning test, your conclusion would have been listed as one of the wrong answers. It might look superficially correct to people who aren’t paying attention, but listing a person in the same sentence as the Klan is not the same as comparing them to the Klan. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/33 "2013-12-28T18:22:45Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > If the OP’s sentence had been on the LSAT Logical Reasoning test, your conclusion would have been listed as one of the wrong answers. It might look superficially correct to people who aren’t paying attention, but listing a person in the same sentence as the Klan is not the same as comparing them to the Klan. Everyone who has replied in this thread, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Adam Lanza, Pat Robertson, Richard Speck and the congregation of Westboro Baptist Church have breathed air, you know. It all boils down to whether Dopers should have to carefully parse a sentence to find out they have not been insulted, or if the sweep of an insulting accusation is enough to warrant mod attention. I’m behind the mods for looking at the bigger picture and not the microanalytics here. This is neither a courtroom nor the LSATs nor any place where effectively emptying your revolver around someone’s head doesn’t count as an attack. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/34 "2013-12-28T18:32:09Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Yes, I realize you don’t agree. That’s why you made this thread. I think you are wrong. That’s why I wrote the post. Right, but you quoted my explanations, and then responded as if you hadn’t read them. It was a little weird of you to do is all. > [@Oakminster](#): > > It’s the “make the concept personal” part that crossed the line as I see it. Again, though, I was directly responding to the Voltaire “quote” about “I disagree with what you say.” The original quote had the “you” in it. That’s the part that made it show up in my list, why it was at the start of my list. It was not my intention to call aldi an asshole. Do you agree that, although your reading is one possible reading, the reading I intended is another legitimate reading? If you do not agree, how do you account for all the other posters in this thread who read it the way I intended? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/35 "2013-12-28T18:43:42Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > It all boils down to whether Dopers should have to carefully parse a sentence to find out they have not been insulted, or if the sweep of an insulting accusation is enough to warrant mod attention. Frankly, I am very surprised that before he hit the submit button the OP didn’t look at what he had just written and think “mmm, actually that doesn’t come across well”. Its so clearly treading a fine line and he must have realised it was doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/36 "2013-12-28T18:46:15Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Frankly, I am very surprised that before he hit the submit button the OP didn’t look at what he had just written and think “mmm, actually that doesn’t come across well”. Its so clearly treading a fine line and he must have realised it was doing so. I honestly didn’t realize it–if I had, then I absolutely would have changed it. I don’t call people names in GD, haven’t had a warning in my 14 years here until now because I’m careful about such things. In hindsight I agree that the wording was ambiguous, but if I’d noticed that at the time, I would have reworded it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/37 "2013-12-28T18:53:10Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > It all boils down to whether Dopers should have to carefully parse a sentence to find out they have not been insulted… The thing is, i didn’t have to “carefully parse” it. The point he was making was immediately obvious to me. And it was immediately obvious precisely because it’s probably one of the most common rhetorical devices used in the defense of free speech - the argument that even ideas that a person disagrees with vehemently are deserving of free speech protections. If working it out taxed you a little bit too much, that’s a burden you’ll have to bear on your own, i’m afraid. I guess i can understand reading in haste and missing his point first time around, but continuing to miss it when you know what he meant, and when the language and the context of the debate also make it clear, does you little credit. If the OP had written something like “and every _other_ asshole,” i’d be agreeing that he deserved a warning, but he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/38 "2013-12-28T18:55:50Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > He compared a poster to the fucking Klan. If I say that you and Adam Reposa are both entitled to protected free speech that doesn’t mean I’m comparing the two of you. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/39 "2013-12-28T19:01:14Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > OP is correct, the post he was warned for does not imply that his interlocutor is an asshole. You really can’t say for sure one way or another. It’s ambiguous and the interpretation tends to be based on patterns of language usage, not logic. My immediate interpretation was that “you” was included in the asshole group but I can see that it could be the other way also. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354/40 "2013-12-28T19:03:57Z")
It’s kinda ironic that the OP claims that by putting all these in one sentence he was not comparing one to the other, but his post was a response to the incident where Phil Robertson put gays and terrorists in the same sentence and was accused by GLAAD for comparing gays to terrorists. I wonder if the OP agreed with GLAAD at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-this-warning/677354.md?page=3)