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Comment by anonym29 | Hacker News Reader

The issue I think arrives when there is an unwillingness to tolerate people who hold intolerant ideas, views, or beliefs, even when those people do not act on those ideas, views, or beliefs - i.e. when the people with intolerant views are not actually practicing intolerance.

It's one thing to shun a customer for practicing intolerance, it's another to shun a customer for holding intolerant beliefs without actually practicing intolerance or materially affecting the quality of life of anyone around them, is it not?

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Someone who takes no actions based on their beliefs effectively doesn’t hold those beliefs, as far as anyone else knows, and doesn’t get shunned for them. So you’re trying to define some level of advertising your beliefs as “not acting on them”. What’s that level? An op-ed on the problem of gay people, or just a casual remark that of course gay marriage is a sin?

The vast majority of people take no meaningful actions based on their beliefs.

I'm thinking more along the lines of the OpenSUSE project banning contributors who wouldn't concede to a demand to wave a trans pride flag, referring to all conservatives as "Rotten Flesh", NixOS purging "Nazis" (read: people who didn't openly and vocally support all aspects of LGBTQ+ culture), etc. And I say this as someone who is themselves not heterosexual, and who has a non-cisgender partner.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like having to fear for my safety around genuinely bigoted and threatening people, I just don't like the "wave our flag or you're a literal nazi / rotten flesh / subhuman who should be excommunicated from the entire linux community" type of messaging coming from the opposite camp either. Those extremes both make me feel profoundly uncomfortable and unsafe.

I read about the opensuse story and... It seems like the project acted quite reasonably? It seems that certain bigoted snowflakes were triggered over the pride themed open suse lizard thing on reddit.

> And I say this as someone who is themselves not heterosexual, and who has a non-cisgender partner.

That really doesn't mean much.

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