I started posting on Bellgab in 2015. That's three years ago. That is when I met Peter and many other of the regular posters to Bellgab. I've PM'd, Skyped and have even spoken on the phone to Peter as well as some other fellow Gabbers. Most posters are down to earth and not "in character" behind the scenes. Believe me, if "Peter" formerly SV on Bellgab were a dangerous character I certainly would not have associated with him.
Everyone has their different posting styles. I'm sorry that you are so easily offended. The internet is a wild and wooly place. There are many people that want their safe spaces everywhere they go and for everyone to be super nice all of the time. That can be good to a certain extent, but it brings a very boring Church lady atmosphere to any forum. It is also a form of censorship. As much as aggressive 4chan type of behavior and posts kill a forum, so does the other extreme. Any extreme is bad.
You mentioned that you've been attacked with a fire torch. I don't know what type of a life you lead, or what type of people you associate with. Or maybe you were in the military. None of my business at any rate. However for you to think that someone on another continent who was threatening such over the top, bordering on the ludicrous behavior towards cat ladies was being serious gives me pause. Like there is a disconnect with reality. If SV always made posts such as these, I would agree that it is too much and too aggressive. But if you took the time to read his other posts, you would see that he is not the loose cannon that you make him out to be.
You brought up John Cleese. He was in Fawlty Towers as well as on Monty Python. Monty Python did a movie called Monty Python and the Holy Grail. At one point in the movie, one of the characters gets both arms, one leg, and finally the entire lower-half of his body cut off with arterial blood flow and all. Were you aware of this? Do you think John Cleese should have been banned from the comedy arena because of such violent behavior? It was an over the top scene that was meant to be funny by being shocking. And it was one small part of Cleese's career.
Any forum that stops being entertaining and becomes a snooze fest is dead in the water and will have 3 regular posters doing all the posting and being an echo chamber to each other. It scares me to think that is what you want for this forum.
You've well established that he is not a threat. Without knowing his background, he could have been anyone, up to and including a violent reprobate on drugs that kills cats and harasses the elderly. He could be a twelve-year old in a basement saying things for attention. There is no way to immediately know for sure. When in doubt, and until proven otherwise, it is best practice to assume the worst case scenario. While I was reasonably sure his threat was not credible or actionable under current practices, (prior to your first response) in my opinion and the opinion's of several others it was in bad taste, no matter what PW's intent was.
I am actually in agreement with you about extremes. Both 4chan and Safe Spaces represent symptoms of two extremes in a deteriorating social fabric. Neither should need to exist, but they do. 4chan is in effect a relief valve of unchanneled anger and misplaced creativity. Safe Spaces are both a political vehicle of a reactionary sort to the very perceptions (right or wrong) of the type of person that inhabits 4chan in everyday society, and by extension the activity that was seen on Bellgab that was driving people away.
I would not think Bart would want a Church Lady site, nor is that what anyone on site actually wants. My morality is not sourced from religious Puritanism, but rather a desire for at least a moderate sense of order and decorum. For the most part, he has been successful in doing this. The Zoo was a very creative idea.
As for the torch incident it was one of hundreds suffered by both my Mom and I at the hands of my biological father. I wouldn't surround myself with anyone of his ilk, nor any abusive people in general. If you are not educated about domestic violence, please watch the movie
A Burning Bed, for an approximate parallel kind of story. It is full of violence of course. My father would take out his aggression and anger to anything or anyone in his path including pets. He would brag about running people off the road into the ditch. He had an IQ of 89, got through school when there was still an 'E' between 'D' and 'F' in the grading system. He was addicted to all kinds of things, at one point or another, usually one at a time. Today, he is on the downhill side of things and alone. Materially, he made it out like a bandit with two nice houses and a brand new Vette paid for in cash. He was oblivious to my Mom dying of MS complications in 2009. As for me, I'm childless, never been married and agnostic. My cat really is my family.
As for John Cleese, the specific sketch you talked about was not a BBC product (as an example of their censorship), and the humour was not about gratuitous violence, but vectored on absurdity. Same idea as Tom and Jerry, the Coyote and the Roadrunner. Nothing new under the Sun. I wouldn't want him banned from comedy. Regarding sites ending up with 3 posters, that is a bit of a slippery slope. Snooze-fest? Does it all have to be about entertainment? Isn't what you have learned here reward enough?
PS) To tie this back to Heather, remember the illustration I gave when there was a discussion as to why someone might wrong a string of people - or do things that seemed insane in desperation or confusion? I was painting my life history into that anonymously as an illustration. It gives empathy, even though it does not excuse anything she may have done.
PPS) For Brig. Before you advocate for the Anarchic and censorship free society, consider all the things that protect your comfortable place with the beautiful overlook. You probably wouldn't like living in the world you idealize. Think about it. (you can TL/DR the above like you did on my post in Feb 2017, or read it and consider the diverse viewpoints you claim to want to understand.)
