re: “let’s kick people with X political beliefs out of nerdfighteria!”

Bit concerned about the people saying they don’t want anyone who supports Romney to be in the Nerdfighting or Harry Potter community. That’s not really how it works. Shutting people out of communities, for one, implies that the way you think is the only thing that matters, which isn’t really a community if you think about it. I understand why people are reacting in that way because I used to feel a lot like that, especially in secondary school when I was very left-wing and almost all of my friends supported the tories (who are to the left of the Democratic party in the USA, really, but at the time I just thought it was outrageous and unacceptable) and sometimes I wondered whether it wasn’t worth just walking away from those friendships with those people because I didn’t understand why they thought the things that to me seemed so unfair and objectively wrong. I tried to listen but every justification seemed flawed to me. Disagreement, however, isn’t enough of a reason to break down a community into people who agree about everything, or even just people who agree about everything politics. It’s reason to keep talking. Keep talking in a way that is larger than simply a back and forth conversation with an individual who thinks in a different way than you do, keep the larger conversation going by sharing articles and ideas with anyone who follows you and anyone you follow and above all, value good discourse. How are we going to get anywhere as a community (both smaller scale i.e. HP or NF and larger scale i.e. country/planet) if we only surround ourselves with people we agree with and don’t listen to anything else? By all means challenge it, but in order to challenge it properly, you have to listen first and the communities have to exist in which that kind of communication can be possible.

  1. vitamindeej reblogged this from regularguy5mb
  2. eireannmarie reblogged this from hermionejg
  3. markimbay reblogged this from hermionejg and added:
    You can’t say, “Nerdfighteria was founded on equality, so get out you Thatcherite bastard!” True equality means freedom...
  4. laughoutmacleod reblogged this from hermionejg and added:
    my political ideal is somewhere left of communism and one of my best friends in secondary school was a die-hard tory and...
  5. erinwenrick reblogged this from hermionejg and added:
    This “I don’t think you should be in Nerdfighteria because x, y and z” thing has been a huge thing that has kept me from...
  6. excitablemaedchen reblogged this from hermionejg
  7. lifeasgrey reblogged this from hermionejg and added:
    I’m glad that I actually got a reply as it does feel like a disscussion now, and not me talking to someone who I think...
  8. crossovergenius reblogged this from hermionejg
  9. hermionejg reblogged this from lifeasgrey and added:
    I understand what you’re saying but how are we going to achieve equality by excluding people from those discussions? And...
  10. mach712 reblogged this from hermionejg
  11. rowbawtbee reblogged this from kayleemb
  12. kirkcaldy reblogged this from hermionejg and added:
    EXACTLY ROSI. My boyfriend and I disagree on almost everything educational, which could cause problems if we ever come...
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  14. kayleemb reblogged this from hermionejg