# If someone wants to commit suicide by mod, you should let them **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 25, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072 "2018-11-25T20:54:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/101 "2018-11-26T16:18:31Z")
Race-adjacent? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/102 "2018-11-26T16:18:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This “racial” thing again? You’ve complained about it for years but never adequately explained it. I still don’t know what the hell it means. I’m not going to hijack this thread. Just go back and reread one of the threads where zi explained it a dozen times or two. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/103 "2018-11-26T16:21:07Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I’m not going to hijack this thread. Just go back and reread one of the threads where zi explained it a dozen times or two. Tried that before, with no luck, but I’ll drop the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/104 "2018-11-26T16:21:54Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I take it that you object to something I wrote. Why don’t you point to those parts and explain yourself. Granted it would be more work for you, but if you’re trying to communicate something, it is more helpful. You claim that there is no such thing a “hate speech” and that relabeling racist talk as “racial” makes it o.k., so I’ll just stick with what I wrote. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/105 "2018-11-26T16:22:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, “missionary” is a position. > > “You’re inferior” isn’t \*just \*namecalling, it’s the very fucking Platonic ideal of namecalling, the dark thought buried at the heart of nearly every other pejorative out there. Position 1) Race A is superior to Race B Position 2) No race is superior to another race That’s what I mean. And notice how there is no “you” mentioned ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/106 "2018-11-26T16:24:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You claim that there is no such thing a “hate speech” and that relabeling racist talk as “racial” makes it o.k., so I’ll just stick with what I wrote. There is racist speech/events. And there is racial speech/events. Us the later only when the former is insufficient. If it is sufficient, stop there. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/107 "2018-11-26T16:25:32Z")
It’s cool that this is now a thread about whether racism should be allowed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/108 "2018-11-26T16:25:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > “Mouth breather” is just a roundabout way of calling someone mentally handicapped, because it’s quite strongly associated with Downs and cerebral palsy. So not \*that \*different, actually. Umm, no. To me, “mouth breather” is synonymous with “slack jawed yokel” except that SLY implies redneck ancestry and MB does not. Someone “standing around with their mouth agape” can be called a mouth breather, or, if you are in the southern US a “slack jawed yokel”. Neither term is complimentary, but neither implies any sort of mental defect. [Further discussion here.](https://ask.metafilter.com/131663/Are-mouthbreathers-really-dumb) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/109 "2018-11-26T16:27:38Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s cool that this is now a thread about whether racism should be allowed. I think that the point being pushed here is that racism shouldn’t be a valid reason to ban someone on this board. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/110 "2018-11-26T16:31:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I think that the point being pushed here is that racism shouldn’t be a valid reason to ban someone on this board. That’s a great topic for another thread, but not a good one here. Wait, I take that back. I think it’s a terrible topic for another thread, akin to, “Should people be allowed to smear their boogers on strangers at the mall?” and also a terrible topic to hijack this thread with. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/111 "2018-11-26T16:33:32Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > There is racist speech/events. And there is racial speech/events. Us the later only when the former is insufficient. If it is sufficient, stop there. Racism and Racialism are synonyms, according to the Oxford online dictionary and Merriam-Webster. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/112 "2018-11-26T16:44:58Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I take it that you object to something I wrote. Why don’t you point to those parts and explain yourself. Granted it would be more work for you, but if you’re trying to communicate something, it is more helpful. Wave Hey, i really tried. Honest. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/113 "2018-11-26T16:46:16Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > We are allowed to be hateful to non-posters!! Count me in as not wanting to lose these valuable conservative posters. Who knows how low the level of discourse here will drop without their contributions. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/114 "2018-11-26T17:14:33Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s cool that this is now a thread about whether racism should be allowed. I vote no. Racism has hurt a lot of people, and caused lots of problems and damage where it has thrived. Even under a sneaky synonym, I vote “No.” ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/115 "2018-11-26T17:18:54Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > This is nuts. The fact is that some women appear to be more masculine than others, regardless of race or color. If someone says—either seriously or jokingly—that Michele Obama looks like she may be a man, how do you know that race plays any role in that at all? Especially since it makes much more sense to assume that her tallness and musculature (male-associated traits) is what led to the comment and not color or race, which are not male-associated traits. It’s similar to the way I can conclude that if an older local sheriff’s deputy in Mississippi refers to adult black men as “boy” is likely due to the person’s race rather than anything else. You are free to think it’s nuts. Your view on this matter is not ever going to be adopted by this message board. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/116 "2018-11-26T17:20:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Racism and Racialism are synonyms, according to the Oxford online dictionary and Merriam-Webster. What is your point? ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/117 "2018-11-26T17:21:40Z")
Back to the OP, I have a couple of suggestions, for whatever they’re worth. If someone is racking up multiple warnings in a thread, especially over the course of a few hours, they should get those warnings. That’s behavior worth tracking. Sure, drunk-posting rage may be different from constant long-term sniping, so three warnings in four hours (for example) may be taken as less significant than three warnings in four weeks. But it’s worth remembering that someone engages in drunk-rage-posting, so if it happens again, that pattern can be considered. If someone’s warnable posts are bad enough to shut a thread down over, maybe a short-term suspension is also in order. Finally, if someone’s doubling down after a warning and continuing to antagonize everyone around them, that might be a good opportunity to do a cost/benefit analysis of their continued presence on the board: are they a valuable enough member of the board that it’s worth keeping them around? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/118 "2018-11-26T17:24:29Z")
List expanded: Those who asked to be banned, those who dare the moderators to ban them, and racists/racialists. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/119 "2018-11-26T17:30:21Z")
Ban the racists, but maybe the racialists could be, in honor of the wordsmithing, permanently suspended. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/120 "2018-11-26T17:36:02Z")
IMO an explicit “suicide by mod” where the person asks for it or dares the moderator to ban them should be granted. In the sequence of events that prompted this thread. the poster wasn’t explicitly asking for it. He was going down a path that, from the outside, would likely lead to banning. But it’s difficult to see that when you’re the one posting and are emotionally charged up. For that, I think the 24-hour cool-off suspension is a better approach. And as **LHoD’s** suggests, warn them for every offense so you can track if they have a pattern of this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072.md?page=7)