[WikiEN-l] Attacks and threats vs. world harmony

Mon Oct 27 17:29:13 UTC 2003

Personal attacks are not allowed. See [[talk:Silesia]] for an example of
me (as Uncle Ed) laying down the law. 

Saying "Stop attacking me verbally, or I'll ask the site owner to decide
whether your contributions amount to a bannable offense" is not itself a
threat. To put it another way, insisting that someone stop hurting you
or you'll report them to the authorities is not a "threat" in the same
sense as "shut off that damn stereo or I'll come over to your house and
jolly well do it myself - and woe to anyone who tries to stop me!" 

It's the distinction between vigilante activity and seeking help from
the sheriff. Visitors to Jimbo's living room (or tavern or reference
library) have to follow Jimbo's rules, or he'll kick them out. It's not
against Jimbo's rules to ask someone (politely) to follow the rules.
It's not a "bannable offense" to warn someone that their repeated
violations are provoking you to request Jimbo to ban them.

I applaud JTD and Eloquence for DOING THEIR BEST to be civil toward one
another, despite the strength of their feelings on the MT article. The
fact that no one had to ring Jimbo's cell phone while he attended the
wedding is really a cause for mutual back-patting all around. 

These are trying times. Violence is heating up in the Middle East. We
can do our part for world peace by finding ways to work harmoniously
together on the Great Project of Wikipedia. We are contributing to world
knowledge, and it's not easy.

We need something we can all rally around. An idea or person, maybe. For
now, it's the idea of creating a top-notch free encyclopedia. This idea
is being sponsored by a wonderful philanthropist, Jimmy Wales.

Ed Poor