Hi all, as with most of you, I’m an immigrant from Reddit. I never used to go on to the NZ or regional subreddits because frankly, I felt very unwelcome and those places were extremely negative.
How then do we build a new community that is based on being positive and accepting, even of those with different points of view, political leanings, religious beliefs or lifestyles? Everyone deserves a voice, no one deserves to be shouted down or made to feel unwelcome or belittled because they have differing thoughts.
Even festering cunts like Brian Tamaki and his ilk, deserve a seat at the table. We live in a free country and that means everyone should get a voice. Everyone gets to speak their piece, even if you don’t like it.
How do we stop this community devolving into yet another online echo chamber?
Some political views are incompatible with “no one deserves to be shouted down”. That’s what fascism and neo-Nazis are all about.
I think you’re trying to get at the idea that we should be more worried about behaviour than beliefs, but unfortunately some beliefs drive some very undesirable behaviour. You can’t really say things like “all gays should be killed” in a behaviour-neutral way.