Exclusion by "inclusion"

Guess I'm not letting this go, but I'm just annoyed when I see a position misrepresented to make it easier to dismiss. So, just to be very very clear...

Accusing someone of wishing harm on people because they didn't disagree enough with someone you don't like isn't fair. Its bullying and intimidation. You may not want to confront that reality, but people who did aren't "overreacting".

Misrepresenting someone's position is lying. Its not expressing an opinion. You can disagree with someone who believes in fat acceptance, but when you accuse them of not caring about the health of fat people because they don't think they way you do, you're lying. Don't expect to be respected for misrepresenting someone.

Suggesting that fat acceptance is all about gluttony, stuffing one face, gorging on food, etc. isn't disagreement. Its trolling and it deserves to be called as such.

Saying that someone is "retarded" for, well, any reason isn't reasonable discourse. Saying it about people who believe a fat-acceptance position is most decidedly anti-FA trolling. Its not astute. Its not moderate. Its not talking sense. Its hateful. Praising the person doesn't make you inclusive. Condemning people for being insulted and knowing it doesn't make you inclusive.

It makes you exclusionary, and the people being excluded are the ones who actually believe in fat acceptance. Its telling them that they aren't safe. Its telling them that the rules of discussion will allow hate directed at them, but no proportionate response will be tolerated. That recognizing this behavior as unacceptable will get you labeled intolerant or extremist. For all the hand-wringing about perceiving exclusion in disagreement, this behavior creates a very hostile environment that drives people out. No amount of denial, no amount of insistence that we don't know we are talking about will change that. is going to make it right or make

Maybe worst of all, it won't work. You can drive out anyone you like for believing in fat acceptance too much. You can drive out everyone whose commitment gets them deemed inconvenient. You can drive out everyone who critics whine about being insufficiently nice and capitulant to their attacks on fat acceptance. But it won't be enough. As moderate and "inclusive" as you try to be, in the end you'll be labeled as out-of-touch extremists. No matter how many people you identify as "the problem" and make unwelcome, demands will keep being made for more people to be offered up. The attacks will lose all pretense of respectability and veer into increasingly vitriolic and outrageous slander. The "respectable" naysayers will be joined by more and more overt hate-mongers and you'll find that they respectable naysayers will find little to complain about them. They'll run out of distractions and you'll be targeted. You'll be accused of murder, profiteering, and brainwashing. People will call on you to be thrown in jail. They'll call for your deaths. There will never be enough people to throw under the bus to stop it from bearing down on you.

People who are passionate and committed to fat acceptance aren't a liability. Playing "nice" with people who hate us and what we believe in isn't a virtue.