Why would Santa do this? Santa isn't real, he can have any gender or race. He can have a hat full of noodles. He can have two beards and one eye. I'll defend the right to make Santa whatever the hell you want him to be.
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· 5 years ago
Han Solo isn't real either, but he is a straight white fictional man who smuggles stuff in a galaxy far away.
You can have your lesbian Hannah Sola fanfic, and I will defend your right to write and read it. However, that doesn't change the original.
Santa is a straight white fictional man who delivers gifts to every home on Earth, likely through quantum physics.
You can have your gender neutral Sant@ fanfic, and I will defend your right to write and read it. However, that doesn't change the original.
(To be fair, the original was Saint Nick, who didn't fly through the sky with Rudolph and his red nose.)
1. All 3 of those examples of source Santa are male.
2. You say in your first comment that you will defend my right to make Santa whatever I want him to be. Does that extend to whoever made the comic?
1. True. But... Many “Santa” legends are based on St. Nicholas- patron saint of children. However- the modern commercial Santa is non secular and whatever the roots may be, has changed greatly. The character “Ripley” from aliens was written as a male part and character originally too, but changed to a woman through creative process. Likewise the particulars of “Santa” change based on local culture world wide- meaning that there isn’t any particular part of Santa that can’t change.
2. You’re mixing up the logic. Defending your right to make Santa whatever you want doesn’t mean defending your right to dictate to others what Santa should be. It’s a thin line- but I’d say that a good indicator we have crossed it is when Santa has a gun to someone’s head and a pillow over their face for suggesting defending the gender neutrality of Santa clause. It’s sort of like asking: “If you’ll defend my freedom to do as I like in a capitalist economy- why won’t you defend my right to own slaves...”
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· 5 years ago
If you're going to put a false equivalent on a slippery slope, then this discussion isn't going to go anywhere productive.
Hyperbolic yes, extreme example yes. False equivalent? Why? Because you say it is? You can’t really have a discussion where people simply dictate their thoughts as facts without any sort of backing either. It’s the equivalent responding to a debate with: “you’re wrong. Case closed.” The burden of proof is on you to prove a false equivalent was made- notnon me to defend against the accusation. A common tactic made to derail a discussion. Accuse your opponent of a faux pas of the rules of debate, or latch on to an article of minutia to deflect the obvious point- compounded by a lack of supporting evidence to the statement. I’m to take your word? How does a discussion work where one party is given de facto absolute authority to dictate and the other party is simply to take their judgments as gospel? I’m pretty sure by the rules of debate the moderator isn’t involved in the debate if we want to get formal.
However- to your point- broad tolerance has an inherent intolerance to it. That is that in the defense and preservation of tolerance- one can only be tolerant of that which is not intolerant. This is especially so on democracy or government by the people, where by definition the sentiments of the majority dictate policy. In other words- an entity that holds freedom as its core value but can be molded by the will of the people most impose upon people in ways that would prevent those people from taking away the freedom of others. Paradoxical in theology, more straight forward if not sometimes murky in reality. No freedom is absolute, and one has a responsibility to exercise their freedoms responsibly. Those limits are imposed by social zeitgeist and law.
You can have your lesbian Hannah Sola fanfic, and I will defend your right to write and read it. However, that doesn't change the original.
Santa is a straight white fictional man who delivers gifts to every home on Earth, likely through quantum physics.
You can have your gender neutral Sant@ fanfic, and I will defend your right to write and read it. However, that doesn't change the original.
(To be fair, the original was Saint Nick, who didn't fly through the sky with Rudolph and his red nose.)
2. You say in your first comment that you will defend my right to make Santa whatever I want him to be. Does that extend to whoever made the comic?
2. You’re mixing up the logic. Defending your right to make Santa whatever you want doesn’t mean defending your right to dictate to others what Santa should be. It’s a thin line- but I’d say that a good indicator we have crossed it is when Santa has a gun to someone’s head and a pillow over their face for suggesting defending the gender neutrality of Santa clause. It’s sort of like asking: “If you’ll defend my freedom to do as I like in a capitalist economy- why won’t you defend my right to own slaves...”