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Comment by npinguy | Hacker News Reader

Since noone is explaining it to you honestly, I'll tell you.

By implying that the LGBT interests are a campaign to be bought, or convinced by, or tricked into, you are showing a complete lack of understanding of the true reasons why people in the tech industry (who tend to be socially progressive) find the idea of fighting against gay marriage (which is what Brendan Eich did) completely appalling. You are also revealing yourself as an anti-progressive dinosaur who is on the wrong side of history when it comes to LGBT human rights.

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I'm constantly amazed by the popularity of the phrase "wrong side of history". What does that even mean?

The Mongols wiped out vast numbers of villages and communities in their time. The names and culture of many of their victims were completely erased to history. It seems that they were on the "wrong side of history" even though they did not necessarily deserve their fate.

Consider Nikola Tesla: for the latter half of the 20th Century (and to some degree continues to be today), he was on the "wrong side of history" as opposed to the man who initially exploited and eventually competed with him, Thomas Edison.

Perhaps the phrase should be retired.

A lot of common expressions don't hold up to scrutiny when examined in their most "literal" explanation.

This particular one has been used to associate with social civil rights. The implication is that 50 years from now gay and trans acceptance will be such a non-issue, that members of future generations will ask us why it took so long for us to pass such obvious legislation protecting human rights. Exactly the same way that we today look back at segregation and the civil rights movement and shake our heads.

Whatever people's personal or religious beliefs are on gay marriage, it is GOING to be 100% legal in the entire western world whether they like it or not. Desegregation wasn't very popular at the time it was put in either.

It doesn't mean anything, it's a simple political bandwagon campaign that's popular right now. There have been others and surely there will be more in the future.

Thank you for stereotype of me. That's quite progressive of you. And there is no right or wrong side of history, as we are not through with it yet.

Let it be known that in my original post, I did not single out one person, nor attack any one position. It was originally supposed to be a one-off remark/question. I knew exactly how it would ruffle feathers, but it's an honest question, as it was the central catalyst why Brendan decided to go. If that catalyst was so important to Mozilla, than the opposite of fighting against gay marriage, fighting for it, should be an opinion of the new CEO, if tolerance, community, acceptance, and freedom are so important to the organization. We should know about it.

> I did not single out one person, nor attack any one position.

Sure you did, when you wrote this:

> No word on if he supports the GLBT community hook, line and sinker.

"Hook, line, and sinker" has a pretty clear meaning, as demonstrated by these examples from dictionaries of American idioms:

> The public isn't swallowing the administration's policies hook, line, and sinker.

> They made up such a good story that we fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

> She fell for our story hook, line, and sinker.

> They believed every word hook, line, and sinker.

(via http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hook,+line,+and+sinker)

You suggested that supporting the GLBT community is the same as falling for a lie. That's a straightforward attack on the position of the GLBT community and on people who support it.

It's cool if you want to back down from that attack -- I think it would be the right thing to do. But don't act like we don't know what words mean.

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