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> Eich: Two things. One is -- without getting into my personal beliefs, which I separate from my Mozilla work -- when people learned of the donation, they felt

> Eich: Two things. One is -- without getting into my personal beliefs, which I separate from my Mozilla work -- when people learned of the donation, they felt pain. I saw that in friends' eyes, [friends] who are LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered]. I saw that in 2012. I am sorry for causing that pain. To everyone yelling about bigotry & discrimination, if you actually read the article & those words, those don't sound like the words of a bigot to me.

Udo 13y ago
I think the idea that religious extremists are always assholes is convenient but unrealistic. Most of the time, most of them are just normal people, even pleasant ones. I'm not sure phrasing it as being a bigot or not is helpful, and neither is the money/speech categorization. Not knowing Mr Eich personally, I'd give him the benefit of doubt. I believe him when he says that he has LGBT friends, and that they were hurt by his actions, and that maybe he was sorry for causing that pain. It must be deeply uncomfortable to believe in something that compels a person to hurt their friends. It's not his religious views per se that got him into hot water, it's the willingness to use legislation to deny a group of people equal rights which still stands as an unethical act. Speaking as someone who both admires Eich as a technologist but was disappointed by the message Mozilla was conveying by his appointment as CEO, I really don't care that much if he's a religious fanatic. It's not only his right to believe these things, it also doesn't really matter. His achievements can very well stand on their own, and likewise acknowledging the achievements of a person does not imply endorsing all of their beliefs. Beyond the initial ethics violation, Mr Eich has done nothing wrong that I can see. The fault lies solely with the Mozilla board for appointing him to a position that consists of little else but projecting the public image of the foundation.
- joelrunyon 13y ago
  I just wanted to say I appreciated a well thought out & reasoned comment in a discussion filled with people yelling "bigot", "homophobe" at a person they don't know personally. There's often several lenses to see things through. People are complicated, messy things.
nollidge 13y ago
Note that he did not apologize for his actions, or say that his actions were wrong. "Words are wind."

Udo 13y ago

I think the idea that religious extremists are always assholes is convenient but unrealistic. Most of the time, most of them are just normal people, even pleasant ones. I'm not sure phrasing it as being a bigot or not is helpful, and neither is the money/speech categorization. Not knowing Mr Eich personally, I'd give him the benefit of doubt. I believe him when he says that he has LGBT friends, and that they were hurt by his actions, and that maybe he was sorry for causing that pain. It must be deeply uncomfortable to believe in something that compels a person to hurt their friends. It's not his religious views per se that got him into hot water, it's the willingness to use legislation to deny a group of people equal rights which still stands as an unethical act. Speaking as someone who both admires Eich as a technologist but was disappointed by the message Mozilla was conveying by his appointment as CEO, I really don't care that much if he's a religious fanatic. It's not only his right to believe these things, it also doesn't really matter. His achievements can very well stand on their own, and likewise acknowledging the achievements of a person does not imply endorsing all of their beliefs. Beyond the initial ethics violation, Mr Eich has done nothing wrong that I can see. The fault lies solely with the Mozilla board for appointing him to a position that consists of little else but projecting the public image of the foundation.

joelrunyon 13y ago
I just wanted to say I appreciated a well thought out & reasoned comment in a discussion filled with people yelling "bigot", "homophobe" at a person they don't know personally. There's often several lenses to see things through. People are complicated, messy things.

nollidge 13y ago

Note that he did not apologize for his actions, or say that his actions were wrong. "Words are wind."