0 comment Friday, December 5, 2014 | admin
Many of you read AmRen. I read it, though I don't post there. But I am finding the quality of comments over there of late to be deteriorating.
First, I have heard that comments there are heavily moderated, and apparently many posts never make it, being culled out for whatever reason.
That's fine: I would actually prefer to read a moderated discussion from which the profane and illiterate posts are excluded, along with the obviously trollish and disruptive.
However I wonder what the policy is there, as regards which comments make it past moderation and actually get posted. I have noticed that the mod or mods are tolerating a lot of comments which are openly hostile to Christianity, from one poster in particular. He manages to work in some kind of dig at Christianity on just about every thread he posts on, regardless of the topic being discussed. For example, on a thread about the financial crisis and the 'subprime mortgage' situation, he gets in a shot at Christians.
If there were similar criticisms and slams of other religions, it might not be so noticeable, but on the many threads about, say, Somalis or Moslems per se, I recall seeing few criticisms of the Islamic religion. Christianity alone is fair game, it appears. Yet I don't recall this being the situation when I first began reading AmRen.
In addition to the anti-Christian comments, there is the commenter who repeatedly urges people to return to Europe. I mentioned him before; actually, it appears that there is more than one such poster, though they may be the same person under different names. The commenter always mentions that all his friends, or "many" of his friends, are relocating to Europe and blending right in there. The whole story seems implausible to me; what are the odds that an individual would know 'many' people emigrating to Europe? The rare person might know one such friend, but 'many'? I suppose it could be that he is living in an ethnic enclave and has many friends whose ties to the 'old country' have never been broken, and hence they've decided to return to their ancestral country. Still, the man seems to be on a mission to convince as many as possible to follow their example and go 'back to Europe.' Now, if he were making the argument that a certain country needs immigrants and welcomes them, it would make more sense, but he isn't making a pitch for a particular country or locality, just 'go back to Europe' where you will fit right in. It all seems odd to me, and the comments are repeated almost word-for-word on many threads over there, as if he is cutting and pasting.
And last, I've noticed that a certain leftist commenter has been dominating certain threads with digs at Protestantism, as well as slurs against the realists who make up most of the commentariat there. Why he is allowed to post repeatedly on certain threads and spew his nonsense is more than I can understand. I know that AmRen states that they 'reserve the right to hold critics to a lower standard' when it comes to comments, but there should be some limits to that policy.
I suppose I am just saying that I don't understand the moderators' standards for approving comments there. If the idea is to drive away people who are sympathetic to AmRen's cause, it might just work. Or if the idea is to provide a platform for obnoxious leftists and anti-Christians to spout their poisonous ideas, then they are certainly accomplishing that.
I think AmRen serves a useful purpose especially for people who are finding themselves opposed to political correctness and multiculturalism, and looking for answers, but I am disappointed with the direction they seem to be taking over there. It does seem as though the commenting standards have lowered, or changed. Does anyone else perceive it that way?
First, I have heard that comments there are heavily moderated, and apparently many posts never make it, being culled out for whatever reason.
That's fine: I would actually prefer to read a moderated discussion from which the profane and illiterate posts are excluded, along with the obviously trollish and disruptive.
However I wonder what the policy is there, as regards which comments make it past moderation and actually get posted. I have noticed that the mod or mods are tolerating a lot of comments which are openly hostile to Christianity, from one poster in particular. He manages to work in some kind of dig at Christianity on just about every thread he posts on, regardless of the topic being discussed. For example, on a thread about the financial crisis and the 'subprime mortgage' situation, he gets in a shot at Christians.
If there were similar criticisms and slams of other religions, it might not be so noticeable, but on the many threads about, say, Somalis or Moslems per se, I recall seeing few criticisms of the Islamic religion. Christianity alone is fair game, it appears. Yet I don't recall this being the situation when I first began reading AmRen.
In addition to the anti-Christian comments, there is the commenter who repeatedly urges people to return to Europe. I mentioned him before; actually, it appears that there is more than one such poster, though they may be the same person under different names. The commenter always mentions that all his friends, or "many" of his friends, are relocating to Europe and blending right in there. The whole story seems implausible to me; what are the odds that an individual would know 'many' people emigrating to Europe? The rare person might know one such friend, but 'many'? I suppose it could be that he is living in an ethnic enclave and has many friends whose ties to the 'old country' have never been broken, and hence they've decided to return to their ancestral country. Still, the man seems to be on a mission to convince as many as possible to follow their example and go 'back to Europe.' Now, if he were making the argument that a certain country needs immigrants and welcomes them, it would make more sense, but he isn't making a pitch for a particular country or locality, just 'go back to Europe' where you will fit right in. It all seems odd to me, and the comments are repeated almost word-for-word on many threads over there, as if he is cutting and pasting.
And last, I've noticed that a certain leftist commenter has been dominating certain threads with digs at Protestantism, as well as slurs against the realists who make up most of the commentariat there. Why he is allowed to post repeatedly on certain threads and spew his nonsense is more than I can understand. I know that AmRen states that they 'reserve the right to hold critics to a lower standard' when it comes to comments, but there should be some limits to that policy.
I suppose I am just saying that I don't understand the moderators' standards for approving comments there. If the idea is to drive away people who are sympathetic to AmRen's cause, it might just work. Or if the idea is to provide a platform for obnoxious leftists and anti-Christians to spout their poisonous ideas, then they are certainly accomplishing that.
I think AmRen serves a useful purpose especially for people who are finding themselves opposed to political correctness and multiculturalism, and looking for answers, but I am disappointed with the direction they seem to be taking over there. It does seem as though the commenting standards have lowered, or changed. Does anyone else perceive it that way?
Labels: Blogosphere, Free Speech, Political Correctness