![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingSo. Um. Apparently there are crazy people in this world (big surprise there) and various groups of crazy people are doing things like trying to market other people's fanfiction without being willing to defend that practice in court (FanLib), or pressuring lj into deleting people's journals for 'pedophilia' even when the people are completely innocent (Warriors of Innocence).
---------------
I did get one of FanLib's 'come sell your soul to us!' emails a few weeks ago. They seem to have found me via FictionAlley, which is just weird since I've hardly posted anything there for at least a year, and I was never 'known,' (for whatever value of 'known' they're using -- if they snagged me, I think their standards are damn low) until I started writing Naruto fanfic rather than HP fanfic, but let that go.
I thought it seemed vaguely fishy and also totally irrelevant. What the hell would I want 'recognition' for? I write this stuff because I can't not write (well, okay, I can't stop writing for long) and these are the ideas that hit me hardest at the moment I sit down at my computer. Having the story reach other people is the second most important point, yes, but it still falls behind the need to tell the story in the first place.
(Remind me sometime to write about the difference between the audience in the head and the audience in the world. Yes, all storytelling is an act of communication -- it requires an audience -- but that doesn't necessarily mean a writer will stop telling stories just because people stop listening. The beauty of the written word is that you're sending your story into the future and believing, sometimes in the face of overwhelming evidence, that there is, or will be, an audience. It's an act of faith.)
Anyway, if FanLib contacted me because I'm well-known, or well-respected, or whatever, then don't I already have 'recognition' and therefore have no need of them? But apparently logic is beyond their grasp. So I deleted the message and promptly forgot about it.
---------------
As for the other wank... from what I've seen, these people may well have begun with reasonable intentions, but their methods are extremely questionable at best, and reminiscent of the Inquisition at worst. Also, they have no aim; if their quest were a gun, they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn point blank. They have let their goal blind them to subtleties and common sense, and have accepted the doctrine that the ends justify the means, that any losses along the way are not worth worrying about.
...
I don't like absolutists. You cannot talk to them, and more and more, I feel the world is dominated by mutually exclusive gangs of absolutists.
I'm a moderate living in America. I'm used to holding my head and wishing people on both sides of various debates would just shut up and learn to compromise, because absolutism almost never gets you anywhere, and if it does get you somewhere, it's a Pyrrhic victory. You cannot legislate people's minds and hearts. You have to convince people, and that takes time and patience and, above all, the ability to listen and genuinely accept that people who don't share your point of view are not automatically evil just because they disagree with you. They are not doing things because they are trying to be evil; they are doing things because they think they're doing right. Just like you are.
Absolutism -- black or white, good or evil, us or them -- shuts down discussion. And once you shut down discussion, you have lost your hope of ever getting anywhere. So I don't care what point of view you're supporting. If you're going to use the rhetoric of hatred -- the rhetoric of Revelations, of the elect and the damned -- then get off my side, because you are not helping.
---------------
Um.
That was not directed at anyone in particular. I just needed to vent.
---------------
I did get one of FanLib's 'come sell your soul to us!' emails a few weeks ago. They seem to have found me via FictionAlley, which is just weird since I've hardly posted anything there for at least a year, and I was never 'known,' (for whatever value of 'known' they're using -- if they snagged me, I think their standards are damn low) until I started writing Naruto fanfic rather than HP fanfic, but let that go.
I thought it seemed vaguely fishy and also totally irrelevant. What the hell would I want 'recognition' for? I write this stuff because I can't not write (well, okay, I can't stop writing for long) and these are the ideas that hit me hardest at the moment I sit down at my computer. Having the story reach other people is the second most important point, yes, but it still falls behind the need to tell the story in the first place.
(Remind me sometime to write about the difference between the audience in the head and the audience in the world. Yes, all storytelling is an act of communication -- it requires an audience -- but that doesn't necessarily mean a writer will stop telling stories just because people stop listening. The beauty of the written word is that you're sending your story into the future and believing, sometimes in the face of overwhelming evidence, that there is, or will be, an audience. It's an act of faith.)
Anyway, if FanLib contacted me because I'm well-known, or well-respected, or whatever, then don't I already have 'recognition' and therefore have no need of them? But apparently logic is beyond their grasp. So I deleted the message and promptly forgot about it.
---------------
As for the other wank... from what I've seen, these people may well have begun with reasonable intentions, but their methods are extremely questionable at best, and reminiscent of the Inquisition at worst. Also, they have no aim; if their quest were a gun, they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn point blank. They have let their goal blind them to subtleties and common sense, and have accepted the doctrine that the ends justify the means, that any losses along the way are not worth worrying about.
...
I don't like absolutists. You cannot talk to them, and more and more, I feel the world is dominated by mutually exclusive gangs of absolutists.
I'm a moderate living in America. I'm used to holding my head and wishing people on both sides of various debates would just shut up and learn to compromise, because absolutism almost never gets you anywhere, and if it does get you somewhere, it's a Pyrrhic victory. You cannot legislate people's minds and hearts. You have to convince people, and that takes time and patience and, above all, the ability to listen and genuinely accept that people who don't share your point of view are not automatically evil just because they disagree with you. They are not doing things because they are trying to be evil; they are doing things because they think they're doing right. Just like you are.
Absolutism -- black or white, good or evil, us or them -- shuts down discussion. And once you shut down discussion, you have lost your hope of ever getting anywhere. So I don't care what point of view you're supporting. If you're going to use the rhetoric of hatred -- the rhetoric of Revelations, of the elect and the damned -- then get off my side, because you are not helping.
---------------
Um.
That was not directed at anyone in particular. I just needed to vent.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-31 12:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-31 12:21 am (UTC)Have a WORD.
Agreed on every account.
What you said about writing is beautiful. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-31 03:13 am (UTC)Thought you might like this--a friend passed it on to me.
----
"The following is the first communique from a group calling itself Unitarian Jihad. It was sent to me at The Chronicle via an anonymous spam remailer. I have no idea whether other news organizations have received this communique, and, if so, why they have not chosen to print it. Perhaps they fear starting a panic. I feel strongly that the truth, no matter how alarming, trivial or disgusting, must always be told. I am pleased to report that the words below are at least not disgusting:
"Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.
"Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic _expression!
"People of the United States, why is everyone yelling at you??? Whatever happened to ... you know, everything? Why is the news dominated by nutballs saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea? Sister Immaculate Dagger of Peace notes for the record that we mean no disrespect to Jews, Muslims, Christians or Hindus. Referred back to the committee of the whole for further discussion.
"We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.
"Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues.
Part Two
Date: 2007-05-31 03:13 am (UTC)"We are Unitarian Jihad. We will appear in public places and require people to shake hands with each other. (Sister Hand Grenade of Love suggested that we institute a terror regime of mandatory hugging, but her motion was not formally introduced because of lack of a quorum.) We will require all lobbyists, spokesmen and campaign managers to dress like trout in public. Televangelists will be forced to take jobs as Xerox repair specialists. Demagogues of all stripes will be required to read Proust out loud in prisons.
"We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm. Get a dog, or comfort someone in a nursing home, or just feed the birds in the park. Play basketball. Lighten up. The world is not out to get you, except in the sense that the world is out to get everyone.
"Brother Gatling Gun of Patience notes that he's pretty sure the world is out to get him because everyone laughs when he says he is a Unitarian. There were murmurs of assent around the room, and someone suggested that we buy some Congress members and really stick it to the Baptists. But this was deemed against Revolutionary Principles, and Brother Gatling Gun of Patience was remanded to the Sunday Flowers and Banners committee.
"People of the United States! We are Unitarian Jihad! We can strike without warning. Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere! Nice people will run the government again! There will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room after the revolution."
--James Carroll
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-31 08:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-31 09:31 pm (UTC)