Friday, March 20, 2015

Censorship at the British Stammering Association Facebook page

Wow, I have just witnessed censorship on the British Stammering Association Facebook page. I saw this post and suddenly it was gone.

Interestingly, on another occasion some time ago, Norbert Liekfeldt has blocked me as a Facebook friend for my Facebook posts. Norbert has a problem accepting other people's views if they clash with his own ideology. Especially when they are politically incorrect according to him, which is not ideal for a neutral manager.

As you know, I am for full transparency and open debate. That's why I will post the screenshot here. Things need to be discussed (even if politically not correct) not suppressed! This has been a major disease of the last decade in the UK.



9 comments:

L said...

"Norbert has a problem accepting other people's views if they clash with his own ideology. Especially when they are politically incorrect according to him"
Dear oh dear, Tom. That's really, really sad.
It could just be that I choose what I see *on my own, personal Facebook feed* and I choose not to see views expressing that bullies who get bullied only have themselves to blame, just as women who get raped are really themselves to blame, which is, I believe, a succinct summary of the views you expressed at the time. I kind of feel that is my good right.

Tom Weidig said...

You have the right to see on your news feed what you want to see.

I am however concerned that you are CEO of the BSA and are so blinded by your own ideology that you do not accept alternative views on bullying.

And you completely misrepresent my statement "bullies who get bullied only have themselves to blame" when in fact I wrote that one necessary condition to be bullied is that you let yourself be bullied, which does not mean that the bully is not guilty. Again, something the CEO of the BSA should not do.

If you do not understand the difference between those two views, I believe that you are harming the lives of those people who stutter who are being bullied.

You are sending a message that the person being bullied does not need to reflect on why he or she is being bullied. That is very dangerous.

Having been bullied myself, I clearly see that my inaction and my attitude made me a victim of something who was looking for a victim. So yes, I had it in my hand to change my destiny.


L said...

"I am however concerned that you are CEO of the BSA and are so blinded by your own ideology that you do not accept alternative views on bullying."
You still don't get it, do you? I don't dispute your right to hold these views. But I have the right to regard them as either so disgusting or so poorly expressed (if I wished to be kind) that I do not wish to see them on my own newsfeed. You have freedom of speech, I have the freedom not to listen. Why does it even matter to you that I don't see your posts on my newsfeed?

"And you completely misrepresent my statement "bullies who get bullied only have themselves to blame" when in fact I wrote that one necessary condition to be bullied is that you let yourself be bullied, which does not mean that the bully is not guilty. Again, something the CEO of the BSA should not do."
I think your 'explanation' really does vindicate my views quite nicely. But of course you yourself misrepresented by showing a carefully targeted and tendentious excerpt, by not highlighting (not being aware) of the expletive-laden posts I had to delete in that and other threads on that afteernoon and by forgetting to mention that when posts were deleted subsequently, I'd already left the group. But he, what's a bit of intellectual honesty amongst friends?

Anonymous said...

This is the problem with you guys. Instead of fighting amongst yourselves please ask someone to find a cure. No one is doing anything related to stuttering. I am sure the cure lies with a combination of the erasing past history + a tiny bit of brain reprogramming.

It is not in our control. The researches have to find a neurological cure.

Ora said...

Tom - What do you think about Anonymous's comment that "no one is doing anything related to stuttering"?

Obviously it's not literally true... people are doing research on stuttering. But what's your opinion of this research? Do you think it's enough? Is stuttering research appropriately funded? Are people doing the right sort of investigations? Etc.

Anonymous said...

Yes there is research but that goes on for years and once the results come out its always disappointing.

See pagaclone.

There is not enough motivation because most researchers are not stutterers themselves. Not is there any sufficient funding nor media attention.

Lets say you have an annoucement like "A Billion Dollars To The Person Who Finds A Cure In The Next 1 Month"

You think there wont be a cure???
Of course they will be a cure because there is motivation and once you are motivated the possibilities are endless. However complicated the problem may be.

Let me tell you with experience. There are some really really smart people in this world who can find solutions to difficult problems.

I hope that makes sense.

Anonymous said...

Great quantities of ingested THC cures stuttering...Invest in Vaporizers...

Arthur1959 said...

The above post was regarding myself, in my own opinion Norbert is doing very little for the BSA earning an income via the BSA puts him in a very tricky predicament, he should be putting our community at the forefront of his mind rather than trying to score cheap points against others who really do care about our community, the arrogance of the man is spoiling what should be a happy place for us stammerers to air or views & personal journey, it's our BSA not only his, he'd be well advised to remember that.

Arthur Young.

Paul Blythe said...

Arthur Young's continuous criticism of the CEO of British Stammering Association (BSA) is bemusing and unjust. Norbert Lieckfeldt's knowledge and enthusiasm help BSA to change the lives of children and adults who stammer. He has worked tirelessly for 20 years to help those affected by stammering and many people have benefitted from his wise advice and guidance.