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This is totally unrelated tealterror0 March 3 2013, 03:21:47 UTC
But apropos our recent discussion of Sanderson, I thought you might find this article interesting (incidentally, the author is himself an evangelical, albeit a quite liberal one).

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Re: This is totally unrelated inverarity March 3 2013, 03:36:57 UTC
I agree with the essential point: someone who advocates for injustice in a very kind and respectful way has goals that are just as heinous as the guy waving the "God Hates Fags!" sign around.

I differentiate for people like Brandon Sanderson not because I think being nicer about his bigotry makes his position fundamentally better, but because it makes him more reachable, and thus, more likely to be persuaded to change his position.

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Re: This is totally unrelated tealterror0 March 3 2013, 03:45:00 UTC
True enough, but when the question is "Will I refuse to read this author on moral grounds?", whether or not he can be persuaded seems somewhat beside the point--you're (probably) never going to be in a position to persuade him, after all.

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Re: This is totally unrelated inverarity March 3 2013, 04:10:55 UTC
I suppose so. The thing is, for me, intent does matter and factors into my moral calculations - if someone is wrongheaded but probably not evil, I'm more likely to hold out hope that they will change.

Otherwise, I'd have to be more limited in who I'm friends with.

I'm also thinking that my original answer to the question is probably not true - I will read authors whose views are antithetical. I'm moving more towards "but I'll find a way to do it without putting money in their pocket."

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