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[McDoomhammer]

Heh.  Plenty of people didn't like her when she was alive.  Even the massive charity campaigning didn't sway everyone, so I'm sure that a few people weren't moved by her death either.  They probably kept quite quiet during the massive public mourning, though.

Anyway, back in the region of the topic, perhaps I came on a bit strong- it just strikes me as unnecessarily insensitive to have the first reply or two to a post that mourns a fellow human's death express disinterest or dislike.

[Reasonableman]

PRAISE BE TO SCOTTY, PUNCHER OF KLINGONS.
May he brawl endlessly with them and drink from a limitless supply of scotch.

[DarkMagnus]

Good grief.  Didn't you people learn to speak well of the dead or not at all?

Oh, that Hitler. What a nice guy he was.

Gotta love those silly, nonsensical, vestigial religious traditions..

Did you just compare George Carlin to Hitler?

Whatever. Great guy, great comedian, even if you didn't like him your favorite comic did.

If you really think I was comparing George Carlin to Hitler, and not using an obviously exaggerated comparison to illustrate a point about an old superstition.. um. Well, I guess in that case further explanation is lost on you.

Speaking well of Hitler and speaking well of George Carlin was the comparison you made, and frankly, it sucked.

'Speaking well of the dead' isn't even a religious superstition, it's not there to protect us from their vengeful spirits. It's about having the common sense not to go out of your way to condemn someone who is no longer able to defend themselves, and just like anything that relates to common sense, it gets suspended in some cases. Hitler, in my opinion, would be one of those cases. A comedian? Not so much.

[Aqizzar]

I'm surprised nobody called in to badmouth James Doohan.  He was reputedly a big jerk off camera.  Heck, he was the only surviving original cast member who flat out refused to take part in the Futurama spoof episode.

[DarkMagnus]

I'm surprised nobody called in to badmouth James Doohan.  He was reputedly a big jerk off camera.  Heck, he was the only surviving original cast member who flat out refused to take part in the Futurama spoof episode.

I always heard he just hated Shatner up until the last few years of his life, that was the cause for most of the division.

[Torak]

Anyway, back in the region of the topic, perhaps I came on a bit strong- it just strikes me as unnecessarily insensitive to have the first reply or two to a post that mourns a fellow human's death express disinterest or dislike.

'I didn't think he was funny' does not add up to dislike of him. I thought he was right about most of the things he was preaching against in his jokes.

[Bullion]

PRAISE BE TO SCOTTY, PUNCHER OF KLINGONS.
May he brawl endlessly with them and drink from a limitless supply of scotch.

When he died there was a huge debate between two towns in scotland over who should get a statue of him.

[Lord Dullard]

Speaking well of Hitler and speaking well of George Carlin was the comparison you made, and frankly, it sucked.

No. No, it was not. The only reason I used Hitler as an example is because he is an archetypal example of an evil human being. I used him as an example - clearly not as a comparison - to show the inherent silliness behind the idea that you shouldn't speak ill of the dead. Because I could have used any 'evil' person as an example - Manson, Palpatine, Mussolini, et cetera - and because I could substitute any 'not evil' person for George Carlin, it was not a comparison between the two elements. Never once did I try to draw the reader's attention to any similarities between George Carlin and Hitler (except that they are both dead).

Furthermore, Godwin's Law is not applicable because no Reductio ad Hitlerum was ever made. A Reductio ad Hitlerum occurs when someone makes an argument of the form 'Because Group/Person did/does Action, and because the nazis/Hitler did Action, Group/Person are like the nazis/Hitler'.

To the original poster of this idea: I apologize because what was intended to be a light, sarcastic aside has obviously derailed the topic. I didn't mean to start any 'flame wars' on a forum that has a very respectable tradition of not having any.

[Cthulhu]

Because Lord Dullard did put Palpatine in a list of evil human beings, and because Hitler killed twelve million people, Lord Dullard is Hitler.  Not like Hitler, he physically is Adolph Hitler, in the flesh.

[McDoomhammer]

Speaking well of Hitler and speaking well of George Carlin was the comparison you made, and frankly, it sucked.

No. No, it was not. The only reason I used Hitler as an example is because he is an archetypal example of an evil human being. I used him as an example - clearly not as a comparison - to show the inherent silliness behind the idea that you shouldn't speak ill of the dead. Because I could have used any 'evil' person as an example - Manson, Palpatine, Mussolini, et cetera - and because I could substitute any 'not evil' person for George Carlin, it was not a comparison between the two elements. Never once did I try to draw the reader's attention to any similarities between George Carlin and Hitler (except that they are both dead).

Furthermore, Godwin's Law is not applicable because no Reductio ad Hitlerum was ever made. A Reductio ad Hitlerum occurs when someone makes an argument of the form 'Because Group/Person did/does Action, and because the nazis/Hitler did Action, Group/Person are like the nazis/Hitler'.

To the original poster of this idea: I apologize because what was intended to be a light, sarcastic aside has obviously derailed the topic. I didn't mean to start any 'flame wars' on a forum that has a very respectable tradition of not having any.

Okay, no Godwin.  That was more of a gambit to end this quickly and cleanly than anything, really, but we seem to have succombed well and truly to topic drift anyway.

Respectfully, You indeed did not compare the people.  You did, however, compare the situation of their deaths- and since the people are so different, that comparison breaks down.  "Speak well of the dead or not at all" is a quotation or at least paraphrase from a religious text, but it is not a purely religious convention- as Magnus said, it comes down to common respect.  (I've heard it argued that respect for our dead is one of the fundamental things that makes us a civilised species.)  So I don't feel that bringing it up here is inappropriate, nor find the point of your aside- that we can't always apply it- germane.

[Wooty]

Geroge? Shouldn't it be George?

I thought he was kind of funny, but there was too much boring inbetween the good parts to make me watch all his stuff.

[Aqizzar]

Fixed it.  Swear to god it said "George" the first time I typed it.  Even double checked to make sure.  Typed it after work, leave me alone.

And man, Hitler just sticks his ass into everything doesn't he?

[Reasonableman]

Aren't we getting a little off topic here? Shouldn't we be talking about Scotty, puncher of klingons?!

[Cthulhu]

KHAAN!

[Reasonableman]

KHAAN!





And don't tell me this post was pointless. You need the echo if you're going to quote Star Trek II. It's like some kind of commandment or something.