It’s been an eventful week in the blogosphere, and it feels strange to have been merely observing (with a puppy in my lap or chewing things) and not blogging my own responses or comments. I’m referring to what happened to Kathy Sierra, of course. It amazes me that some people (see the comments) can say that Kathy’s making “a big deal” of the fact that she’s received death threats just for the attention, and that she should just get over it.
Well, if someone told me they wanted to kill me, and posted pictures of me, with a gag over my mouth (or whatever the heck that is), and then said it was just a joke and that I should just get over it, well, they shouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t just get over it. Threatening someone isn’t a joke, and then claiming your bad behaviour is just a joke, is a cop out. And if going to the police is just attention-seeking, well I hope the unfunny cowards get caught. I wonder if they’d like that sort of attention…
It really irks me that arguments for free speech can be misused by such people to justify their rude and indecent behaviour. I’m not saying that anyone can stop anyone else from saying what they think, regardless of how rude, ignorant, misguided, or downright hateful they are. But that doesn’t mean that that sort of behaviour is acceptable, anywhere. I don’t know how you can stop people from saying (or even thinking) such things, but I do think that it is important that we make a stand against such behaviour. (I really liked Nancy White’s post on the issue.)
To Kathy Sierra, I don’t know you at all but I did read your blog, and I hope you and your loved ones are okay!