What ALA thinks is appropriate... / a Plea for the discussion / an apology

[David Merchant]

>"What's fisting?"
>"Foot fetish?"
>"More on sex with animals: Bestiality and STDs?"
Etc.

Now while I'm not for perversion, someone asking the question "what's
fisting?" and my giving them the answer is not automatically my condoning
it, nor is it automatically that the person asking is asking so they can do
it.  Heck, they could be someone against such stuff who is looking for
information so that they could intelligently argue against it.  We have to
be very careful when "filtering."  But both sides of this debate are guilty
of "holier-than-thou" attitudes.  Both the ALA and the Pro-Filter factions.
 Both sides have good points, if we can dig them out of the mud and muck
that each side is wallowing in.

I thought maybe we shouldn't discuss this issue at all, since all of us are
getting a bit childish about me (me included, of which I apologize for).
But this does affect libraries and their Internet use.  Whether we like to
admit it or not, it's a complicated issue.  Can we debate this without
grandstanding, without preaching from a pulpit, without name calling,
without making hasty assumptions?  And can we realize that someone can be
_honestly_ on the opposite side of us, that they are not devils and demons
(they may actually honest believe what they belive, even if misguided they
can be honestly misguided and attacking them won't help them see the err of
their ways but actually backfire on you)?  

TTFN,
David Merchant
Systems Librarian, Louisiana Tech University 
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"Christ never ever condemned a sinner, but he did condem those that acted
holier-than-thou."
I apologize, again, if I stayed into the holier-than-thou area.