Godwin's Law

Whats so sacred about Godwin’s law to use it to lock a thread?
I think the example sited re: flags was an appropriate one in the argument.
Its history!

From the perspective of the moderator/admin team whenever any thread makes reference to Stalin, fascism , or Hitler it then will inevitably escalate into a shouting match, flame festival.
So when Godwin’s law is invoked we will lock the thread.
Here is a description of some of the reasons for locking posts and or moving them to the wasteland.  From the HTMF FAQ.

[quote]What is the wasteland?  Why do you move posts there?

The Wasteland is where we send threads that we don’t like.  Common reasons for moving of threads include:  liberal use of the word ‘racist,’ name calling, disruptive posts, annoying others, etc.

Basically, if one of the moderators doesn’t like the thread, he or she may move it to the Wasteland.  Moderators can choose to split the undesirable posts from the thread and move them to the Wasteland, or just move the entire thread to the Wasteland.  Moderators can also choose to lock threads, so that they cannot be continued.

Moderators do not generally remove posts.  For legal reasons, we keep all posts, even if they are moved to the Wasteland.  Posts moved to the Wasteland cannot be edited.

The Wasteland is visible to registered users only. [/quote]

My feeling is that because the reference to …ummmmmm…the former leader of Germany and his group was based on fact that it was a valid part of the arguement surrounding the flag.  I don’t feel that Godwin’s law was applicable but what do I know, I only heard about Godwin’s law about 12 hours ago.

I also feel that it is important that the atrocities that happened to one group of people by another group of people be discussed and not forgotten.  Locking every thread in which the “H” word or his group is discussed is counter productive and an injustice to those who died by his hand.  Of course we have to be responsible and if I was to refer to any random group as a bunch of N— bastards then I would agree that Godwins law shoud be used to preserve the correct context and allow history to define the correct context.  In this day and age of electronic communication and internet forums we also have to allow people the opportunity to openly discuss this so that our children and grandchildren can ensure that this doesnt happen again.

Hey you’ll get no disagreement from me about the importance of knowing history.

But the thread was about ripped flags on a pole at the Yacht club.  Equating that with Hitler and the Nazi’s is exactly what Godwin’s Law is about.  Reductio Ad Hitlerum.  Sorry, but those flags aren’t ripped because we’ve forgotten about Hitler. 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_Hitlerum  Take a minute and read that. 

Surely you can make an argument that that the flags need to be replaced without bringing up Hitler. 

If you want to have a discussion about Hitler and his atrocities, start a thread that isn’t about the ripped flags at the Yacht Club. 

Otherwise every thread that we have can have a Hitler component.  Did you know Hitler didn’t like smoking?  Did you know that Hitler supported gun control?  Did you know that Hitler wore Khakis? 

So go ahead, start a thread about Hitler and his atrocities.  Those threads are specifically exempt from Godwin’s Law.  But threads about ripped flags don’t get the Hitler treatment, sorry.

You make it sound like I brought up “H” and his henchmen for no valid reason.  The discussion was about flags and someone mentioned that people don’t die to preserve flags.  The comment about “H” was a valid part of the arguement.

What happens if you fail to uphold Godwins Law?  Do Godwin’s police come and getcha?

[quote=“BoNeCrAcKeR”]What happens if you fail to uphold Godwins Law?  Do Godwin’s police come and getcha?
[/quote]

Nah, I just lock the thread and you try and make the same argument without invoking Hitler and Nazis, showing you don’t need to resort to logical fallacies to make an intelligent point.

You know who else had secret police?  You know who else had flags?

Here, I’ll get you started:  “The flags should be replaced, because they represent this nation, and having torn flags is disrespectful to those who built and defended this nation.  A lot of good people died fighting with that flag on their shoulder.”  See?  How hard is that?

The Maple Leaf wasn’t Canada’s flag until 1965. Canadians in WWII didn’t die wearing a Maple Leaf.

I agree with the moderators.

If some HTMF posters are concerned about the state of the flags then maybe these patriots should get off their duff and do something about, eh?  Would be a cool thing to do and would REALLY show you give a tinker’s damn.

As for me, meh.

I did do something. I posted the info here, and some respondents are taking further action.

From your previous posts I know you don’t give a damn. Maybe you should take the silver spoon out of your mouth and get a valid perspective?

OK, let me chenge the reference to Japan and if they had their way we’d be flying a white flag with a red dot in the middle. Is that better?

No body said they died to save a Maple Leaf, they died for what it represents. We wouldnt have a Maple Leaf it some groups had their way.

Sure I could have argued that the flags could have been repaired without bringing up “H” but I could also argue how some ethnic groups have suffered atrocities without bringing him up either.  His actions certainly can strengthen an arguement though.  

Logical fallacy?  It wasnt a fallacy it was a fact.  We can all choose to ignore it, thats fine with me.

Then why didn’t you?

Go ahead and start a thread about Hitler’s atrocities if you want.  Godwin’s Law doesn’t apply to those. 

You posted the info? That’s your valid perspective? You took a photo, put it on chat group, whined about it and hoped someone else would do something. Yeah, way to show respect for the fallen soldiers. I’m sure they weep at your valid perspective on generosity.

What if – gasp! – you bought a flag yourself and asked it it to be raised? Would that kill you? heck, if it did, come by my work, I’ll hand you the money. heck i’ll take a picture of your great deed.  Then I’ll give a damn.

Until then, you just keep typing your valid perspectives, kid.

The flag isn’t just representing fallen soldiers. It represents Canada.

It also represents our own internment camps, where I’m certain the Canadian prison guards never flew ripped flags.

The RCMP officers who killed Robert Dziekanski also wore pristine Canadian flags. Does that mean we are disrespecting them by flying ripped flags?

I love Godwin, it lets you associate one thing with another totally unrelated thing.

Ok, let’s just lock this one too.

Bonecracker, you’re more than welcome to start a thread about Nazi atrocities and history if you’d like.  Godwin-exempt and everything.