Posted by Lorraine on June 17, 2001, at 12:35:09
In reply to Re: redirect from p-b-elizabeth, posted by MorganW on May 16, 2001, at 19:47:42
A couple of points:
1. I think Elizabeth is one of the most valuable posters on the board. I don't find her posts condescending. I think she goes out of her way to engage in extended conversations with people who really need help.
2. I think Elizabeth does get unfairly attacked for taking opiates for her condition.
3. I think that there are some people on the board that are anti-drug. I don't think that is a useful approach to a board that I think is drug-approach oriented. I also think that some of the anti-drug stuff is intentionally beligerant as though people were trying to start a war. I mean you don't ordinarily go into a gay bar and bash gays, do you? I respond to this by ignoring those posts. I think that this is what Elizabeth was telling other people to do--quit feeding the flames of people who are getting off on negative energy. That view point has to be correct.
4. As someone who is medically ill, I don't need to hear about how drugs are wrong. To say that drugs are wrong reflects a moral judgment about the validity of mental illness. It is the whole stigma thing that we get in the real world. Why do we find this behavior acceptable here? Why is it wrong to gay bash but not to bash people who take drugs for mental illnesses? This is the same as bashing people who are mentally ill. Why do we find this behavior acceptable here?!! I think we are way too tolerant of an insidious form of prejudice against the mentally ill under the guise of allowing a diversity of viewpoints.
5. I also believe (and I have not been diagnosed as paranoid---yet :-) that there are people who are trying to generate anti-drug sentiment to fuel plaintiff's law suits against manufacturers. (disclaimer: I'm an attorney so I'm pretty sensitive to "ambulence chasing" sorts of tactics by the plaintiff's bar.) I left an unmoderated board because it really seemed as tho that board was being manipulated and stirred up into a frenzy to support these types of lawsuits. I see some of the same manipulation on this board as well. Again, not fueling the flames of this type of activity seems the best approach.
6. I think that what Elizabeth said about chetah was simply that we should feed the flames of innappropriate or counter-productive topics on the board. I agree. I'm not sure why the penalty being exacted here--a one week ban from posting--is so strict. I think the only thing she did offensive was use the word "trolls" in her message. So, I would think that a weekend ban would have been sufficient.
poster:Lorraine
thread:1192
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010315/msgs/1435.html