ANST - The Fine Art of Sounding Alarums

Dennis and Dory Grace amazing at mail.utexas.edu
Tue May 26 13:07:41 PDT 1998


Salut Cozyns,

Lyonel aisai.

Well, this has been a hot week, electronically speaking.  I'd rather see
the death of this discussion of censorship, warnings, libel, and free
speech--primarily because these issues are mostly hot-button topics.  As
most of the postings on this thread have shown, few writers can maintain
any degree of rationaility or lucidity in hot-button discussions.  Still, I
would like to respond to a few questions raised during this discussion that
I do not believe anyone has actually answered.

The most recent question I've seen asked on the warning topic was, "If I
know for a fact that X is a danger to the people of Y, how do I properly
warn the people of Y?"  

Frankly, I'm sure there are a number of ways to handle this problem.  When
I discovered that a confidence man with a history of preying on SCA folks
had moved to the Northwestern United States, I contacted the rational
authority figures I know in Artemisia and An Tir and suggested that they
pass on the information.  I trusted the folks I contacted to discretely
disseminate the information.  Had I known exactly where this individual was
going, I would have contacted the police in that area (he was running from
a few warrants).

A corollary to this first question also arises:  "Why shouldn't I simply
post my warning to the list?  Won't this method ensure a more rapid
dissemination of information?"

Well, it certainly will be more rapid, but speed isn't the crucial element
in this decision.  My main concern with public postings is with erroneous
postings.  Understand, I do not for a millisecond doubt the reliability of
Sir Kief's warning post.  I am certain he made no false or misleading
claims.  I am certain he did not exaggerate, embellish, or generalize.  I
am equally certain that my brother knight did not post his warning out of
malice.  

Then what--you may ask--is the problem?

The problem is that we aren't all Sir Kief.  Not every person with access
to this list is as rational or as reliable.  Sir Kief's posting was soon
followed by an unfortunate and ill-informed posting about an alleged rape
charge.  Fortunately, Sir Gunthar posted more facts in this case (the
"charge" has not yet been--and may never be--filed), but the damage may
have already been done.  No matter the outcome of this incident, some will,
I do not doubt, always remember that the individual in question was once
charged with this heinous crime.  With any luck, the veil of memory will
not obscure the fact that he was cleared of the charge.

Moreover, this posting isn't the worst possible consequence of such
"warnings."  If such warnings become commonplace, innocent lives can easily
be ruined by unthinking or malicious people.  It's simple enough to see how
a mistaken identification might cause a good person to be accused of all
manner of crimes or improprieties.  Imagine how you'd feel if you went to
check your e-mail and saw that you were being spoken of as a thief, rapist,
or pedophile.  

And don't believe the SCA is free of malicious people.  Some years ago
in--let's just call it the Barony Elsewhere--a handful of baronial officers
decided to get rid of their new baron and baroness.  The majority of the
barony had supported the new B&B, but the old officers had their own
candidate, and they felt their seniority gave them the right to choose
their leaders despite the wishes of the populace and the Crown.  The
chronicler of Elsewhere began posting innuendo in the baronial newsletter
about the alleged personal affairs of the new treasurer of Elsewhere (a
vocal supporter of the new B&B).  An unidentified individual called the IRS
and caused the treasurer's personal finances to be audited by suggesting
he'd been stealing from the SCA.  The seneschal of Elsewhere called the
Baron's workplace and informed them (lied) that he was a known child
molester.  He lost his job.  Ill words can do much damage.

My heart goes out to those who have been assaulted, molested, or otherwise
injured by the individual around whom this bit of e-turmoil has arisen, and
I do not wish to protect or mollycoddle the guilty, but we can't endanger
the innocent in the name of warning them.  I think this was Pug's concern.

Be well, my friends.

lo vostre por vos servir
Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace



============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.



More information about the Ansteorra mailing list