Our dear "brother devoted" has asked the question: "What happened?" Well, I ask the same question, albeit with a slightly different twist. My question is: "What happened to allow all these f****** little trolls to slither in?" I find myself thinking about what the former leader of mainland China - Deng Xiao-ping - said regarding the so-called "spiritual pollution" of foreign ideas and concepts that would invariably enter China along with capitalism and foreign capital. He said: If you leave the door open, some flies are bound to come in."
Due the "open door" policy of this forum, I guess trolls are something that we have to tolerate, something akin to flies crapping on your food at a picnic. But there *are* pop-up blockers and spam blockers. I wonder if Simon could install a TROLL FILTER. That would be cool, although probably unworkable from a practical point of view. Alas!
Well, dear brother devoted-to-all-of-the-Society's-hypocrisy-greed- and-lies, putting sarcasm aside for a second to answer your question, I have to say that, really, nothing has happened. Freedom of speech is still a part of the Constitution. And most people are still friendly enough so as to welcome a conversation with a "neighbor" or even a stranger. Most folks are good folks, willing to listen to others and engage in human contact. But there are limits to everything, including free speech. First, you have to realize that 99% of what Witnesses say is pure, unadulerated bull****. Victims themselves, Witnesses are cajoled, browbeated and psychologically intimidated into propagating their lies, often under the sophistic guise of "spiritual warfare." They are trained how to lie so as to lure others into their cult. They are trained on how to spread their poison throughout their neighborhoods. They are induced to destroy lives and tear apart families. This is not necessarily a good thing.
This aside, there are always limits on free speech, as I have said. There are limits in regard to place and time. In other words, people cannot say whatever they damn well please, wherever they damn well please , whenever they damn well please. Furthermore, there is a balance that must be respected between freedom of speech on the one hand, and people's right to privacy on the other. Freedom of speech cannot encroach upon people's right to privacy. People have the right to say: "I'm not interested." And they can say this to Witnesses or anybody else. As has been pointed out previously, this same basic concept also applies to telemarketers and others. In short, people have the right to be left alone, just as they have the right to worship their concept of God. I assume from your troll-like comments that you are a Witness. How would you like people coming to your Kingdom Hall and harassing you during your Sunday afternoon Watchtower study? You would not like it too much, right? Well, in the same vein, many people do not like to be disturbed on their weekends either. Got it? Capice? Comprende usted lo que digo?
