Can't believe I'm going to bat for the Christians but here I go:
Maybe it's OK that not everyone thinks the same about every single issue and that we have some diversity of thought on the fucking internet.
Their rules also make it very clear that they're not going full Westborough. But even if they were, the Internet is not just for people who agree with me. This trend of orthodoxy is quite disheartening.
We don't need to pull the marketplace of ideas thing when the "ideas" being defended are things like "I don't think LGBTQ+ people should exist / are sinners".
aka the paradox of tolerance which isn’t a paradox but a treaty but people know the name “paradox of tolerance”. we’re in pretty good philosophical company on this one: slippery slope and “but free speech” arguments have clear counters
Frankly? When the thing they think is bigotry, no it is not ok. This isn't a casual difference of opinion, it's discrimination - thinking that an immutable part of someone's identity is a fundamental sin.
We do not need to adhere to free speech absolutism, and we do not need to equally entertain all ideas and opinions. We are human beings, not abstract concepts that adhere to ideological purity - we can make exceptions.
So disagree then. Even though I think your suggestions are as dangerous as the bigotry, it's a part of the diversity of thought I'd like to see in an online forum. There are 2.6 billion christians in the world and 1.7 billion muslims. And according to you they should all be deplatformed. That's more than half the worlds population instantly dismissed by you as bigots because they believe in the book of fairy tales they were taught to believe in. I disagree pretty strongly with their views, but they have a right to exist on the internet. Unless they're actively organising a pogrom or a crusade, you're not helping anyone by deplatforming them. And even then, they'll just find another place to organise it - personally I'd like to keep it visible. Both as an early warning system, and as a chance to have the sunlight do the disinfecting.
And, honestly, to think that deplatforming bigotry is just as dangerous as bigotry is absurd to the point where I don't think any reasonable discussion could be had here anymore.
Running around deplatforming people who think Bad Things but haven't hurt anyone is seriously anti-enlightenment, and I think it's equally absurd you can't see the danger in it. But I am still glad that we have a place that we can have this conversation.
people who think Bad Things but haven’t hurt anyone
“People who think bad things but haven't hurt me personally, ergo they haven't hurt anyone”
Why don't you go ask trans people in Florida whether Christian bigotry has hurt them or not
Or were you just talking about physically hurting people? Because it would be naive to think that's the only way you can make someone suffer. It's also not true, Christian extremists have attacked and even killed trans people and continue to do so.
Awesome. You've definitely changed my mind. Let's get em! In the name of tolerance let us make sure there is no safe space for anyone to discuss the Bad Things. This is sure to be effective at reducing the proliferation of bad ideas, and certainly does not undermine the marketplace of ideas.
Then there's reddit and facebook and youtube comments and 4chan and twitter and bluesky and threads and so on. Not everywhere has to be welcoming to bigots just because you like them more than the minorities they hate.