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Comment by 15155 | Hacker News Reader

I am on that thread as well. The issue with these "codes of conduct" isn't that they exist, it's that their purveyors force the "code" upon every participant regardless of forum.

If you don't support their special interests in completely unrelated venues, you are persona non grata and will either fall in line or be excommunicated. It's a sophisticated form of control via identity politics.

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I think you're seriously overreacting; you don't need to believe the same things that they do, all the CoC states is that if you want to engage with the community, you agree not to harass people. Every community has similar expectations; having it in a markdown just makes it more explicit.

Sure, you don't need to "believe" the same things they do, but if you are vocal about your ideals on Twitter, for instance, you are unwelcome.

"Don't publicly disagree with my ideals or I will use my little fiefdom to destroy you."

You might be letting your personal experiences pollute things. The CoC never says that. It's anti-harassment language, and specifically enumerates what that might look like. Some contributors are members of the LGBT community, and I'm sure don't want to debate their personal identity when they're there to contribute to a project and write code.

I mean, yeah — people won't want to be in community with someone who transgresses against their social norms and values. Freely choosing with whom you associate is not a "form of control". You're still welcome to use the project.

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