[WikiEN-l] Human dignity

[Anthony]

On 7/15/06, Mark Gallagher <m.g.gallagher at student.canberra.edu.au> wrote:
>
> G'day Anthony,
>
> > Calling 911 to get a date is boneheaded.  Trying to force yourself
> > sexually onto a child is more than just boneheaded.
>
> Writing an article to punish its subject is pretty boneheaded in itself.
>   That the subject is "boneheaded" (or worse) is no reason to write a
> bad article on someone, even people you think are attempted rapists.
>
I never suggested that the reason to write an article was to punish
its subject.  The reason to write an article on [[Brian Peppers]] is
that there are an enormous number of people looking for information on
him.

And I never suggested writing a bad article on anyone.

> We attempt to have neutral, unbiased articles about the utter dregs of
> humanity, the worst scum the human race has produced.  We don't say
> (sorry) "Mr Hitler was a bad man, so we don't need to follow NPOV" ---
> we say "Let's write a good article about that Hitler chap, and be
> watchful, because he was such a bad man that other people will no doubt
> come along and try to POV-push there."  If we can do that for history's
> greatest criminals, why are we even *thinking* of saying "Mr Peppers is
> a bad man, so basic human dignity doesn't apply here"?
>
I don't think this is a matter of basic human dignity.  I think it's a
matter of personal privacy, which I fully agree with Jimbo is one
legitimate factor to consider.  But I don't think anyone is suggesting
that we don't have any articles on living people, so the question is
where do we draw the line.

When is an article about a living person acceptable?  I think one
situation is where they have convicted of the felony attempted gross
sexual imposition.  You might disagree with me, but please stop
mischaracterising my point of view.

Anthony