# Is there a specific rule about advocating Naziism? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 14, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217 "2012-07-14T16:41:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/61 "2012-07-15T19:27:43Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Can we get back to whether it’s against the rules to endorse Nazi ideology? Nobody ever said it was. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/62 "2012-07-15T19:29:14Z")
What about [this guy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15269031&postcount=40)? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/63 "2012-07-15T19:31:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And nobody thinks you’re a Nazi based on that number, **Astroboy14**.) Watch out for **Huerta88** , though. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/64 "2012-07-15T19:33:41Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I assume we’d all recognize the difference between someone who chooses the username AH88 because their name is Andrew Hackett and they were born in 1988 and someone who chose the username to honor Adolph Hitler. Somebody might choose that particular name innocently, without knowing the other meaning. Even so, once it has been pointed out to him, he’d probably be well advised to change his username. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/65 "2012-07-15T19:33:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, to take the example I linked to in the OP, how would you distinguish the poster’s intent? Already answered: > [@Marley23](#): > > The mods explained that we give those posters some leeway to present their views, wrong as they are, as long as they do it in a civil manner. This guy was not doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/66 "2012-07-15T19:37:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What about [this guy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15269031&postcount=40)? Didn’t I explain my reasoning already? I posted a brief explanation because I thought it was obvious why I was banning a guy who called gays “faggots” and posted “Heil Hitler.” Posters can make dumb arguments about the differences between the races if they want to, but they can’t post insults, slurs, and stuff like “Heil Hitler.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/67 "2012-07-15T19:41:07Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > What about those who throw out what they genuinely believe in to get a rise out of people? At least one staff member is on record as saying that also falls under “trolling”. In my view, trolling is posting in a deliberately inflammatory manner in order to get a rise out of people. This includes when the poster actually believes in what he is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/68 "2012-07-15T19:46:22Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Didn’t I explain my reasoning already? I posted a brief explanation because I thought it was obvious why I was banning a guy who called gays “faggots” and posted “Heil Hitler.” Posters can make dumb arguments about the differences between the races if they want to, but they can’t post insults, slurs, and stuff like “Heil Hitler.” Why is “Heil Hitler” considered worse than claiming that gays are predisposed to rape children, the blacks like to rape white women or that Arabs are ignorant savages? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/69 "2012-07-15T19:48:14Z")
**RNATB** has a point. The line between, > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > to endorse Nazi ideology and, > [@Marley23](#): > > stuff like “Heil Hitler.” is so fine as to be invisible. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/70 "2012-07-15T19:49:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > We have a poster whose username includes “88.” Many years ago it was suggested to him in the Pit that he change it because of the Hitler association, even though his posts never implied any Nazi or fascist leanings. (He didn’t change it; he explained that the number was assigned to him when he signed up for hotmail.) To my knowledge, the issue has not come up again. Actually, while far from a Right Wing Mainstasy, he does have some views that are not Left Wing Conformist and once or twice a year someone will try to gig him for the “88” in his username, based on their choice to interpret that as a neo-Nazi code word. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/71 "2012-07-15T19:49:22Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Why is “Heil Hitler” considered worse than claiming that gays are predisposed to rape children, the blacks like to rape white women or that Arabs are ignorant savages? None of those stupid beliefs involve an endorsement of genocide. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/72 "2012-07-15T19:52:41Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Didn’t I explain my reasoning already? I posted a brief explanation because I thought it was obvious why I was banning a guy who called gays “faggots” and posted “Heil Hitler.” Posters can make dumb arguments about the differences between the races if they want to, but they can’t post insults, slurs, and stuff like “Heil Hitler.” You gave him a warning for posting “faggot” - which I agree was justified - and then banned him in the next post. Since posting “Heil Hitler” is apparently not against the rules- according to you- you effectively banned him for one offense. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/73 "2012-07-15T19:52:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Can we get back to whether it’s against the rules to endorse Nazi ideology? You know who else endorsed Nazi ideology? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/74 "2012-07-15T19:53:48Z")
How _dare_ you Godwinize my thread about Nazi ideology! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/75 "2012-07-15T19:59:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Since posting “Heil Hitler” is apparently not against the rules- according to you- I never said that. I think “Heil Hitler” is clearly hate speech and jerkish, and I banned him for that reason. I said we don’t have a specific rule against advocating Nazism as opposed to some other racist, hateful ideology. If he’d been advocating racial separatism and following the rules against insults and hate speech we might’ve let him hang around a little longer so people could point and laugh. Since he was not doing that, I banned him. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/76 "2012-07-15T20:02:21Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > None of those stupid beliefs involve an endorsement of genocide. I respectfully disagree with your logic but fair enough. YMMV and all that. Beyond that, I’m certainly not going to get upset about someone for getting banned for saying “Heil Hitler” and would have been upset if the mods hadn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/77 "2012-07-15T20:03:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You know who else endorsed Nazi ideology? Barney Frank? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/78 "2012-07-15T20:46:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Of course it can. But that isn’t restricted to numbers. You could inadvertently post a word or phrase that has some significance that you are unaware of in any case. This^^^. For a ‘phrase’ example, it’s impossible to mention “States’ Rights” in a legitimate discussion of the proper extent of Federal vs. State power, without some yahoo coming along to accuse you of ‘dog-whistling’ to white southern racists, simply because the WSRs used it during the Jim Crow era to justify those laws. Ron Reagan got dinged by that trap once, when he was talking about repeal of the federal 55 MPH speed limit, which of course has, and had, nothing to do with race. As long as unsavory idiots adopt ‘codes’ to recognize each other, and being idiots, can’t manage to keep their unsavoryness hidden, those codes will eventually become widely known. And, since they were adopted to provide plausible deniability, they will inevitably be something that’s innocently used by others. And those others will wind up being accused by people who are too thick to look at context. Sorry, **Musicat**. That’s just the way life works. I’ve got a number that’s personally significant to me (my place on the initiation rolls of my college fraternity chapter) that ends in ‘69’[sup]note 1[/sup]. I can’t use it without being accused of making a sexual innuendo. I knew that right from the start, because I was (jokingly) accused at the time of holding out on paying my initiation fee[sup]note 2[/sup], just to get that number. Oh well. I just don’t use the number anywhere I’ll get _sincerely_ accused of making an innuendo. That sucks, I deal with it. End of story. fnord. I’m a member of the Illuminati. Deal, d00d. We’re going to destroy you. You CANNOT destroy us. You cannot even stand up to us. You will become one of us, or you will be destroyed. Your choice. We are the Illuminati. We don’t care… [note 1] 269. Get it? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge… ‘To Sixty Nine’, Get it?.. ;)😉 [note 2] For those who care about the story, it took me an extra semester to come up with the cash, you can’t get initiated to the national rolls in that fraternity without sending the fee to National, and I insisted on ‘going National’ before that semester’s new pledge class. Therefore, I was holding out for that number. The theory fails, in that any one of my pledge-brothers who didn’t come up with the fee, could have come up with it the previous semester, and I’d be stuck with 270. No sexual innuendo there. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/79 "2012-07-15T21:03:08Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Can you say “context”? > > Gosh! That was _good_! I _thought_ you could. > > Did you know that some words can have more than one meaning? It’s true! “Context” helps us understand what the meaning of a word is. Here’s an example of how normal people use “context” to understand ambiguous terms. > > If someone is talking about how Hoagy Carmichael could tinkle those ivories and really make those 88 sing…he’s talking about _pianos_. Can you say “piano”? > > If, however, someone is talking about killing Jews, invading the Sudatenland or racial superiority, and drops in “14/88” or just “88” he’s talking about Hitler. Hitler is _bad_. Can you say “bad” > > _GOOD_ for you! 🙂 You’ve completed your first lesson in “context”. Let’s say it together. “Con-text”. 🙂 > > Well done! > > Let’s practice it for our next lesson. 🙂 Kind of like pricking your finger _vs._ fingering your prick? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217/80 "2012-07-15T21:32:19Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > Kind of like pricking your finger _vs._ fingering your prick? fnord Stop ‘fingering your prick’. That’s not allowed. fnord. You are being watched. And we _don’t_ like what you are doing. Your time is limited. You have been warned. ‘Pricking your finger’, on the other hand, is OK. Carry on… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-specific-rule-about-advocating-naziism/628217.md?page=5)