Ravelry is a world-wide fiber arts web site--I'm on it every day for quilting, knitting, weaving, spinning, and dyeing forums.

Their new policy: No Trump support allowed.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/a...itters-ravelry-trump

I don't know much about fiber art, but I know what I like.

Many on the left believe that social exclusion is an important weapon to deploy. I've watched that idea sprout organically many times. I believe it's an important test of character, the degree to which one agrees with the principle of social exclusion as a political tactic.

On the list of "important" character tests, I would put social exclusion much further down the list than misogyny, antisemitism, homophobia, racism, lying, bullying, and inciting violence, just to list a few off the top of my head.

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
I don't know much about fiber art, but I know what I like.

What Nina said.

I really don’t want to live in a world with red companies and blue companies, red hobby groups and blue. Count me out.


Besides, Ravelry should be a Maurice Ravel fan club site.

quote:

Besides, Ravelry should be a Maurice Ravel fan club site.

On this we can agree!!

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
What Nina said.

What SK said ...

quote:

Originally posted by Horace:
Many on the left believe that social exclusion is an important weapon to deploy. I've watched that idea sprout organically many times. I believe it's an important test of character, the degree to which one agrees with the principle of social exclusion as a political tactic.

Shunning people who are outside of acceptable societal behavior has happened since before humans learned how to talk.

I could have legitimate disagreements with Bush supporters, Reagan supporters, Romney supporters. Hell, one of my friends is married to someone who worked in the Reagan White House.

This Administration is different. Trump is flat-out evil. On some level, if you do not shun people who explicitly and loudly support evil, that says something about you and your character. It's like saying, I disagreed with Hitler, but I won't shun him or the people who worked in concentration camps. Because we have our own concentration camps now.

(And Mike Godwin has explicitly approved Hitler comparisons, in relation to Trump.)

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of association. I am not forced to associate with such people.

So that's the more relevant test of character, as far as I am concerned. If someone thinks it's OK to allow children to die (five so far? Or is it more?) because they entered the country illegally, and because horrific and inhumane conditions upon arrival might discourage further migration, then that person is not someone with whom I choose to associate.

Big news in the fiber world, indeed.

I love Ravelry. I also kind of like knowing who the jerks are, so I can shun/avoid them on my own, but I’m sure moderating all of that was taking a toll on the Ravelry mods.

Ravelry is privately owned, and the owners get to make the rules for their site.

It's interesting to me that they have explicitly said no Trump supporters, instead of no political posts. I also wonder (but not really) why Trump/political posts are on a knitting site.

I say not really, because we all saw what happened on the old PW site. But there are a gajillion places where you can vent your political opinions of all stripes. Seeing political posts on hobby sites, etc., is just exhausting, annoying and obnoxious.

It all started with those pink hats...