I believe you miss my point.
What you said was that “we” - FReepers - were “better” than “that”, ie better than to use language you disapprove of to describe or identify homosexuals. You were not comparing FReepers to non-FReepers, nor to events or attitudes outside the forum itself. You were comparing individual FReepers to some ideal image you have of FReepers.
There’s inherently nothing wrong with that. People criticize each other routinely, here and elsewhere, and can do it in a variety of ways. My preference is for a more straightforward statement, such as, “I don’t like it when you use language that I morally disapprove of on a thread I’ve started,” or, “Quit using the term ‘faggot’, you Neanderthal,” or, “Hey come on guys, let’s try to keep the language clean and respectful here.”
Your statement is not factual: We’re NOT better than that. I don’t, but people here DO use language like that, and it serves the purpose of language just fine. If the language is not up to some PC standard you’d like to see here, just say so - “We OUGHT to be better than that.”
Maybe we OUGHT to, maybe not. We can discuss that. But most people do not like for other people to define them, and to do so in a morally superior way that uses shame and our need to belong in a manipulative way, and that’s what this little, often-used-here phrase does. You can get away with this with a young child who hasn’t caught on to it yet, but I think the crowd here is immune to such tactics.
It’s a phrase I often hear Leftist politicians use manipulatively. In fact, I first caught on to it when I heard it cleverly used by Governor Cuomo years ago. Listen to them: they’re always saying, “We’re better than that as a people. The American people are better than that. The people of the fine State of New York are better than that. The proud people of Manhattan are better than that.” No, they’re NOT better than that - just gullible enough not to have grown up and figured out this manipulation.
‘Nough said.
YOU SAID: My preference is for a more straightforward statement, such as, “I don’t like it when you use language that I morally disapprove of on a thread I’ve started,”
WHAT I SAID: A personal note. I do not like the derogatory terms for gays used on a thread I post.
That seems pretty close, but because you said Nough said, I guess enough has been said. I declare you the winner and I will battle the other side instead of our side.