Endorsement via Linkage
Today I was having a look at another new CSS design gallery, CSSImport. It’s a clean site which is simple and to the point, I like it.
So in my perusal, I saw some thumbnails of sites I didn’t recognize. I love hip new design, especially from people not usually in the normal design rounds of bloggers. That’s when I happened onto Awaken America (designed by Gurry Design).
Sad, sad, sad. No, not the design — the content.
As I told the author of CSSImport in my email about this subject, while I can appreciate good design and hard work, I see links as endorsements. I support their right to post whatever they want, but I just want them to consider what they are endorsing in case they didn’t have a clear look. The distortions in the articles on Awaken America are rather unbelievable — specifically their big Open Letter to all Americans article.
EDIT:
While my original post was, in retrospect, a bit hasty, I am passionate about the subject matter and did feel rather sad about the kind of content on AwakenAmerica.
However, after speaking with the nice people over at CSSImport and now knowing that they in no way endorse this kind of content, I can safely say that all is well. I continue to support CSSImport and the good work over at Nine Mile Studio.
As a note, I’ll try to spare everyone from my spur-of-the-minute posting in the future. I also wish AwakenAmerica luck in their fight to bring the world back to the Middle Ages, have fun!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
3 Responses to “Endorsement via Linkage”rss
naturalawyer, on June 17th, 2005, said:
Dear Post Slacker,
Glad you recognized the nice design of Awaken America. As the author of the article on voting that you referred to, I found your criticisms interesting.
Although you accuse it of being a “distortion of truth” and of having “absolutely no meaning except to believers,” I note that you have not even attempted to contradict any single piece of information or taken issue with any fact. I am tempted to dismiss this as a typical liberal emotional knee-jerk reaction, but I will not for now. You can do better than that.
A vast number of Americans do believe there is a problem with activist judges. One of those Americans is our President, many are Congressmen and women, and still many more are thankfully voters. On that note, you’ll be glad to know that the voting borchure was distributed in communities in Ohio this last election cycle, and will be again in connection with many nonpartisan voter registration efforts. Even the liberal law professors that teach constitutional law in law schools admit that the Constitution itself grants no authority of the courts to void the actions of other branches of government, but rather freely admit that CJ Marshall simply created that authority. So, even the liberal law professorate would seem to undermine your position to this extent.
The main issue I want to address with your post is your self-contradiction. You claim to be a champion of tolerance and free thinking, and yet, your post is asking a web site to remove content strictly becasue you disagree with the views and opinions expressed therein. Thank about that for a minute. Is that consistent with free speech? How about freedom of religion? Aren’t these fundamental rights under our constitutional system? Why do you think these particular opinions should be censored? Isn’t that hypocritical in the extreme? Gosh, actually, you seem to be really intollerant. On the one hand the “fundies” as you call them, are advocating positions that a) innocent unborn babies deserve to live and b) that government policy should not encourage children to grow up without a mother or father becasue both are important and should be reinforced as a norm. Those are pure policy arguments. Notice I have invoked no Bible verse (and don’t need to). You on the other hand are advocating censorship and chilling of free speech merely on the basis that you disagree with it. I’m glad we don’t live in the society that you apparrently envision.
You go on to say that groups and philosophies of fundamentalists like those associated with Awaken America are “the real reason America is suffering.” Why is that? How have fundamentalist Christians caused America to “suffer” in any way?
Is it through helping the poor in their communities, which they still do in dispraportionate numbers? Is it through preaching the Bible? Are fundamentalists at fault for high rates of teen pregnancies? For the spread of AIDS and other STDs? For failing public schools? No. (I’ll answer the hard ones for you).
Rather, they are responsible for keeping America closer to its roots. That’s what the word conservative means - one who conserves the principles we were founded on. You may be surprised for example to learn that well over half of the first Congress was comprised of mean who were ministers and preachers, seminarians, etc.
Keep thinking and keep your mind a bit more open.
Rich, on June 17th, 2005, said:
First off, I unfortunately have to agree with the individual who posted before me. As vile and distasteful as his website, the purpose of CSSImport was to show off solid CSS design, which “Awaken America” has. Removing content you disagree with is never a good idea.
The critical question the jesus freaks never look at is a simple one. We all know the Founding Fathers were deeply religious men so, why is God and/or Jesus never mentioned in the Constitution?
It’s true, the founders’ letters and speeches plainly demonstrate their deeply held faith in God. Those same letters also demonstrate these are quite intelligent men with a thorough understanding of the world around them.
This would include the various European founding documents of the era. All of the European documents of the time explicitly invoke God and/or Jesus. They grant and deny rights with the authority of God. The United States Constitution does no such thing.
This is very plainly not an oversight. The founders didn’t forget to stick “Praise Jesus” in the constitution. This was a calculated measure to be sure future Americans would not have to flea the country they love just as the Founders’ ancestors had to do.
The government does not need to enforce your concept of morality for you to be a good Christian. Forcing your beliefs on people simply because you think they’d be better off is the antithesis of Jesus’ teachings and, more importantly to the point, to the spirit, intent and text of the United States Constitution.
Travis, on June 17th, 2005, said:
I agree with Rich.
However, CSSImport’s authors are from Vancouver. I merely wanted them to be fully aware of the kind of disinformation they’re linking to and allow them to make a decision. I spoke about this in emails to CSSImport and all is well with that end.
In no way do I want AwakenAmerica to be forced into taking their site down, spreading their views or voicing their concerns about America. If CSSImport, or any other site, agrees with or doesn’t care about the content of the site, they can link to it, put huge flash banners about it, or do whatever they want to do.
It’s obvious I don’t agree with the content. In knowing what I know about the design community, I wanted to make sure the authors were aware. I did not email them with threats, harsh words or any kind of demands for action.
I asked if they had reviewed the content and if it was an endorsement or what.
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