Frank,

The reality is there can be no justification for tolerating the negative behavior towards guests, any more than there can be justification for tolerating guests' negative behavior towards others.

Regardless of what has happened in the past, there is simply no justification for tolerating bad behavior here, yet it is done all the time. It is a slippery slope. Once you tolerate members flaming and harrassing guests, you tolerate a lot of negative, bigoted, racist, sexist sorts of behavior in your midst. You ignore it because your friends are doing it. People you admire are doing it. Everyone who means anything to you is doing it, so you do it too, or remain silent about it.

That is how hate happens, and the rhetoric of hate against guests in Mudcat is intolerable. That rhetoric of hate against ANYONE wouldn't be tolerated on any decent moderated forum, to be sure.

So, if people feel justified in their rhetoric of hate against guests, it is easy to justify the rhetoric of hate against Catholics, Jews, Arabs, or Dave Bulmer for that matter.

If you look objectively at the language used about any of the above, you'll see what I mean. I just read the entire 3 part thread on Celic Music/Dave Bulmer. Some people were actually suggesting someone do bodily harm to Bulmer. Others defended it. Most remained silent about it, or attacked the guest(s) who objected to it.

If you tolerate that sort of hatred in your midst, it definitely poisons you as individuals, and as a group.

It is really easy to hate us guests, isn't it? Easy to justify painting every one of us with the same broad brush. It is easy to hate Dave Bulmer--after all, look at all the terrible things he has done. So why not have a few of the lads pay him a visit when he is on his way home from his local one night? And the Palestinians--well, they bloody well deserve what they are getting right now from the Israelis--after all, look at what those suicide bombers did.

Its a slippery slope, accepting and justifying the hate and violence in our midst. Much easier than confronting it and trying to stop it.