A friend recently suggested that we go along with Okcupid's suggestion that we all boycott Firefox because it is made by Mozilla, which is run by a man who personally opposes gay marriage. This was the first I'd heard of it. My first thought was, "Why should I care?" Personally, I don't care about Okcupid's opinion on gay rights anymore than I care about Brendan Eich's.
After brief consideration, I realized do care. I care a lot. How dare they attack someone's place of business just for employing someone who has a viewpoint they disagree with. No one is even suggesting that he is using his position to further that belief in any way. Mozilla is an innocent bystander.
It's not like they're allowed to ask him at the job interview what his thoughts are on gay marriage, and thank goodness for that. Do we really want our employers to become our thought police?
If you're still reading this, and still think for a second that this was right, tell me what you would think if the situation was reversed. How would you feel if a bunch of anti-gay marriage zealots had put pressure on a company to fire a pro-gay marriage employee?
Today they drove the man to voluntarily step down as CEO. You better think the way they tell you to or else.
Agreed, and.... some more.
ReplyDeleteFreedom of expression is an illusion as there is no or little room for tolerance in our human rudimentary makeup shaped for basic survival where the diversity is a threat.
The tolerance is an acquired quality in peaceful times and achieved by education and understanding of the place and time of our humble existence in the universe of beings with the same desire to survive,
People use words to express themselves in a way which says who they are; like Paula Deen –immersed in southern culture TV personality who made quite innocent faux pas with the relations to Afro-American race; Bill Maher - controversial political commentator and comedian, Don Imus - Radio personality who made some derogatory comments relating to black women athletes, etc.etc. Those people almost or did lose their jobs, social and economic status at some point over their controversial statements.
Personally, no matter how different those statements may be from my own views, I tend to distance myself from joining such retaliations. Once, my eleven then years old daughter asked me why I was filling the gas at the BP gas station (after BP being vilified by their oil spill incident). I told her, because I have nothing against the people who I know and who work there. For me they were the faces of BP not those who's negligence caused the spill.
My original Huckleberry Fin book is full of derogatory expressions, so is one of my favorite movie “Guess who is coming to dinner”. Am I supposed to burn the book? Or, not watch the movie? I am almost offended by people telling me I should be offended. I do see a hypocrisy there and I laugh at those acts of self importance.
I enjoy the diversity which on its own is the best education experience anybody can encounter, I think I cannot be offended by words and I am stunned by outcries over rather harmless expressions like this. I see them (outcries) as someone's agenda, who is manipulating public and with the power of the media aims to destroy someone they do not like.
Public outcries are media phenomena, politically motivated; hypocrisy laced with mob lynching characteristics that otherwise would not exist. If not for the media, single individual's reaction would not gain the track and attention, blown out of proportions and to be an issue.
WMIC