Punishment Essay: Taimi Vandene

Author: Taimi Vandene

"There are people who need to apologize for their behaviour simply because it was inappropriate and against the Constitution. We have a right to disagree, but disagreements should be about matters and not lead to attacks against individuals, their intelligence or other personal traits. In the election case, many people of all ranks acted in an inappropriate way, and in doing so they offended other members. These people must have (or really should have) understood that their words were hurtful, but they went on anyway, sometimes against directions of moderators or administrators. It is something that we should never see in this community.

There were also some people (I count myself in this category), who expressed their opinions but did their best to not to insult anyone. But because things got out of hand, situation is a bit sensitive right now, and some people might also find those comments offensive. Being offended is not, after all, something that the offender defines. It's pretty useless to say something like "I didn't offend you, how can you feel like that?". Everyone has right to their feelings, and especially since in this case everyone's feelings are strong, it's best to be extra careful. Apologizing on "just in case" basis is more constructive than denial of anyone's feelings and doesn't hurt the one who does it.

As a personal opinion, I wouldn't like a situation like this ever develop again. We should in under circumstances forget who our true friends are. The mistakes cannot be undone, but they can be forgiven and they can be learned from. I think, that both as a community and as individuals, we should do both."