I read, several years ago,( not on Substack) a small article on anti-masonry written by a far right-Christian person. It ranted on our Founding Fathers being Masons, which they said was part of the Lucifer Brotherhood. So, I have been concerned since I read that article. It was not at all accurate but full of "God" this and that and replete with Self-Ignorance on any deeper subject. I also liked how you suggested that upgrading a portion of the pledge to be more inclusive. This shows that the values of the Order are being used within you and you are expressing your discoveries to help expand and unify.
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
This was so painfully illustrated during the covid panic. Not just from those in charge, but from the masses who bought into the narrative that turned out to be bullshit after the fact. Complete strangers turned into the Stasi overnight. If you wanted to see a demonstration on how the state could turn otherwise nice people into snitches, there it was.
Watching documentaries on the daily lives of the citizens in North Korea is so incredibly sad, as you know they live 24/7 in a constant state of fear. One small misstep and your life, and the lives of your family could be forever changed. As an American, I would have hoped that there was more common sense in our society, but that's obviously not the case.
I think community policing ("distributive" as the article refers to it) is the answer, or at least works well in many platforms at the moment. I've always been anti-censorship, but that doesn't mean people can say anything they want all the time everywhere. All people should have a voice, but no one is owed a pulpit and audience.
"That’s why, alongside the incredible writers who have signed this letter below, I am not advocating for a lack of moderation, I’m advocating for community moderation. I’m advocating for decentralized moderation."
And Emeth is moderated. I don't have to do a lot of that, because we are just a tiny grain of sand in the vast ocean of the internet, but I do have to moderate from time to time. Once in awhile, a bad sort ends up here.
Ultimately, we made it almost two years here before objectionable things started rearing their heads, but then the day came. So, I sat down and thought about what is appropriate here on Emeth, and what is not. What I knew I didn't want to do, is moderate under ever changing, seat of the pants, no explanation given, rules like has been done on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere. So, I wrote the rules down, and posted them on Emeth's main page. In the time since, that has served well.
But, I think that each little community on this platform is different, and will have different needs for moderation, and that's why it should be done, by each little community.
That's how it works, even on huge platforms like Reddit.
And, if folks who are members of a little community here disagree with moderation decisions of whomever is running the thing, they will vote with their feet. Again, that's how it is on Reddit. I spend some time there in the Freemasonry sub, because it is well moderated to stay on topic. But even though I love Tarot, I don't spend any time at all on the big Tarot sub, because it it moderated so tightly that nothing interesting gets through.
Ultimately, I think (I hope) that I've got it right here on Emeth. Free reign, as long as there is no intent to deceive or run wildly far away from our Craft.
I must admit that I never read fiction literature but then many people would say the one(s) I do read is/are fictions and in the www I see both sides of our fence and some sitting on that fence.
And the ones on the opposite side rarely agree with the other.
I can explain totalitarianism easily:
There are two kinds of people in the world, those who want to be left alone and those who won’t leave them alone.
- Unknown
Or this,
Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people who want to feel important.
- Unknown
Or this,
Tell me who you are not allowed to laugh at, and I will tell you who rules you.
- Br. Voltaire
If you desire security over liberty, you deserve neither.
- Br Franklin
I like that you quoted Voltaire, he and Ben Franklin, two French Masons played so.e of the biggest part of Free-Masonry and a Free-Country.
I read, several years ago,( not on Substack) a small article on anti-masonry written by a far right-Christian person. It ranted on our Founding Fathers being Masons, which they said was part of the Lucifer Brotherhood. So, I have been concerned since I read that article. It was not at all accurate but full of "God" this and that and replete with Self-Ignorance on any deeper subject. I also liked how you suggested that upgrading a portion of the pledge to be more inclusive. This shows that the values of the Order are being used within you and you are expressing your discoveries to help expand and unify.
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
--C. S. Lewis
This was so painfully illustrated during the covid panic. Not just from those in charge, but from the masses who bought into the narrative that turned out to be bullshit after the fact. Complete strangers turned into the Stasi overnight. If you wanted to see a demonstration on how the state could turn otherwise nice people into snitches, there it was.
Watching documentaries on the daily lives of the citizens in North Korea is so incredibly sad, as you know they live 24/7 in a constant state of fear. One small misstep and your life, and the lives of your family could be forever changed. As an American, I would have hoped that there was more common sense in our society, but that's obviously not the case.
I too was surprised by the general reaction during that time. Very surprised. But, hopefully lessons were learned.
I think community policing ("distributive" as the article refers to it) is the answer, or at least works well in many platforms at the moment. I've always been anti-censorship, but that doesn't mean people can say anything they want all the time everywhere. All people should have a voice, but no one is owed a pulpit and audience.
Agreed. As the letter I signed puts it:
"That’s why, alongside the incredible writers who have signed this letter below, I am not advocating for a lack of moderation, I’m advocating for community moderation. I’m advocating for decentralized moderation."
And Emeth is moderated. I don't have to do a lot of that, because we are just a tiny grain of sand in the vast ocean of the internet, but I do have to moderate from time to time. Once in awhile, a bad sort ends up here.
Ultimately, we made it almost two years here before objectionable things started rearing their heads, but then the day came. So, I sat down and thought about what is appropriate here on Emeth, and what is not. What I knew I didn't want to do, is moderate under ever changing, seat of the pants, no explanation given, rules like has been done on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere. So, I wrote the rules down, and posted them on Emeth's main page. In the time since, that has served well.
But, I think that each little community on this platform is different, and will have different needs for moderation, and that's why it should be done, by each little community.
That's how it works, even on huge platforms like Reddit.
And, if folks who are members of a little community here disagree with moderation decisions of whomever is running the thing, they will vote with their feet. Again, that's how it is on Reddit. I spend some time there in the Freemasonry sub, because it is well moderated to stay on topic. But even though I love Tarot, I don't spend any time at all on the big Tarot sub, because it it moderated so tightly that nothing interesting gets through.
Ultimately, I think (I hope) that I've got it right here on Emeth. Free reign, as long as there is no intent to deceive or run wildly far away from our Craft.
In any event, our moderation guidelines are here:
https://emeth.substack.com/p/emeth-content-moderation-policy
Hopefully they encourage, rather than stifle debate.
I think you've pushed the envelope on "Emeth is about Freemasonry, and nothing else" ... but wonderfully so. :^}
True! But it helps that I figure there is some way to connect just about everything with our Gentle Craft! ;-)
אמת : "truth," "firmness," or "veracity"
I must admit that I never read fiction literature but then many people would say the one(s) I do read is/are fictions and in the www I see both sides of our fence and some sitting on that fence.
And the ones on the opposite side rarely agree with the other.