[Wikipedia-l] The groundrules for a discussion with Helga

[Ray Saintonge]

Gareth Owen wrote:

>Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> writes:
>
>> Expressing and supporting a majoritarian point of view should still 
>> leave room for alternative points of view, even when the majority 
>> considers them quite goofy.  It is still perfectly acceptable to 
>> state that these alternate or eccentric points of view are somewhat 
>> removed from the beaten track.
>
>I'm sorry, but suggesting that World War II was started by a Jewish conspiracy
>is not "goofy".  It is deeply offensive to the memories of the victims of
>Naziism, and entirely at odds with the facts.
>
It was certainly not my intention to enter into the semantics of the 
word "goofy".  Anything entirely at odds with the facts can be 
encompased by this term, as can anything inspired by little green men 
aboard flying saucer, as can anything that has been a fit subject for 
Generoso Pope's most famous periodical.  Gareth's denial that the 
mentioned Jewish conspiracy is "goofy" seems to put him at odds with 
himself.

The simple fact is that some people do sincerely believe such things.  
Their serious delusions are not an adequate basis for imputing motives 
of hatred.  When Gareth quoted me he left off the second sentence.  Even 
there I said nothing about World War II or Jewish conspiracies.  Why 
should he find it so offensive that I should even suggest that they are 
goofy?

>I, for one, will have nothing to do with any project that, implicitly or
>explicitly, grants credibility to such a viewpoint.  To do so would not be
>neutrality, but an abrogation of moral, intellectual and human responsibility
>to record and report accurately on those events.
>
Gareth's intolerant approach to these stories is what gives them 
credibility, and fuels their perpetuation.  When someone raises these 
theories, I'm content to have them gently manoeuvred into some backwash 
section of the article saying, "That's what some people believe; go 
figure."   I too view the Nazi era as an aberation, but this would not 
justify my adopting their tactics to suppress dissenting opinion and 
free speech.

Eclecticology