[WikiEN-l] User names

Sun Oct 12 00:25:06 UTC 2003

LDan wrote:
>Our contributers have views, all of them. Just 
>because someone's views are expressed in 
>their username doesn't mean they should be 
>banned.

Where did I say that they should be banned? Changing a user name does not ban 
the user. Think of it as a dress code; the great majority of employers do not 
allow their employees to wear shirts expressing controversial opinions. Why? 
Because it is disruptive and creates divisiveness in the workplace. 

>If people didn't like wikipedia because usernames
>might reveal something about them, then shouldn't I
>change my username to something not implying I'm a
>child? After all, children, just like christians,
>can't write good encyclopedia articles.

Where did that come from? Please lay off the straw men. 

>You're offended because someone is expressing 
>that view? I'm against religion is school, but this is 
>like telling people they can't say they have a religion
>when they're in the classroom.

Saying something on a talk page or a mailing list post is rather different 
from having your name itself make a POV statement /all the time/ in every 
context. 

>Jesus is Lord! is just a slogan, 

And a slogan does not a user name make. It is s /slogan/, not a name. A slogan 
servers a POV evocative purpose while a name serves a nominative one. 

>and it's not like telling people "You have
>to believe in Jesus, otherwise you're going 
>to go to hell".  

Funny, I get told that often by people who wear "Jesus is Lord!" t-shirts. 

Simply put; user names should not be slogans. 

-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)