Current Events > Woman who got un-hired by NYT over Nazi friendship says it's due to pacifism

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/the-new-york-times-fired-my-doppelganger/554402/

I think if Id gotten to write for the Times as part of their editorial board, this might have been different. I might have been in a position to show how our media doppelgngers get invented, and how we can unwind them. It takes time and patience. It doesnt come from denying the doppelgngertheres nothing there to deny. I was accused of homophobia because of the in-group language I used with anons when I worked with them. [Antifar's note: She means calling people ***s] (Anons refers to people who identify as part of the activist collective Anonymous.) I was accused of racism for use of taboo language, mainly in a nine-year-old retweet in support of Obama. Intentions aside, it wasnt a great tweet, and I was probably overemotional when I retweeted it.

I was called a Nazi because of my friendship with the infamous neo-Nazi known on the internet as weevhis given name is Andrew Auernheimer; he helps run the anti-Semitic website The Daily Stormer. In my pacifism, I cant reject a friendship, even when a friend has taken such a horrifying path. [Antifar's note: There's gotta be a better way to practice pacifism, imo] I am not the judge of who is capable of improving as a person. This philosophy also requires me to confront him about his terrible beliefs and their terrible consequences. I have been doing this since before his brief time as a cause clbre in 2012I believe itd be hypocritical for me to turn away from this obligation. weev is just one of many terrible people Ive cared for in my life. I dont support what my terrible friend believes or does. But I strongly advocate for people with a good sense of themselves and their values to engage with their terrible friends, coworkers, and relatives, to lovingly confront them for as long as it takes, and it would be wrong to not do so myself. I had what I now see as the advantage of coming from a family of terrible people. This taught me that not everyone worthy of love is worthy of emulation. It also taught me that being given terrible ideas is not a destiny, and that intervention can change lives.

Not everyone believes loving engagement is the best way to fight evil beliefs, but it has a good track record. Not everyone is in a position to engage safely with racists, sexists, anti-Semites, and homophobes, but for those who are, its a powerful tool. Engagement is not the one true answer to the societal problems destabilizing America today, but there is no one true answer. The way forward is as multifarious and diverse as America is, and a method of nonviolent confrontation and accountability, arising from my pacifism, is what I can bring to helping my society.

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how dare this person. obviously blind hating is the answer.
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If anything the NYT could do with a bit less "loving engagement" with the "opposing" side.
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ModLogic posted...

how dare this person. obviously blind hating is the answer.

Hating bigots is correct and good
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Paper_Okami posted...

ModLogic posted...

how dare this person. obviously blind hating is the answer.

Hating bigots is correct and good

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Say_Hello%21_to_Irony.jpg
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Pacifism doesn't mean you have to be friends with every person
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Who are you to judge how to practice pacifism? What would Jesus have done? Would he have shun people simply because they had vocalized a violent ideology? You know theres actually great people(and organizations) out there who through their friendship and engagement with various Neo Nazis got them to see the error of their ways.
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That isn't what pacifism is

Un hired. I love it.
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PoopPotato posted...

Un hired. I love it.

Firing didn't seem the right term for someone who never started working there
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Someone on imgur did a recounting of alt-right group recruiting and indoctrination.

Long story short, the majority of those who identify as alt-right were just regular Joes and Janes (mostly Joes) with no support structure, friends, sometimes family, or purpose.

My advice, give those people a structure that isn't alt-right to watch the alt-right crumble.
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eston posted...

Pacifism doesn't mean you have to be friends with every person

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@Kazi1212 posted...

Who are you to judge how to practice pacifism? What would Jesus have done? Would he have shun people simply because they had vocalized a violent ideology? You know theres actually great people(and organizations) out there who through their friendship and engagement with various Neo Nazis got them to see the error of their ways.

"What would the religion who shuns anyone who doesn't practice it and sends them to hell have done?"

Probably shun them.

*this applies to all religions like that
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