Comments on: Chilling Effect http://ceruleansanctum.com/2009/01/chilling-effect.html Looking for the 1st century Church in 21st century America Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:23:35 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dan Edelen http://ceruleansanctum.com/2009/01/chilling-effect.html#comment-43411 Dan Edelen Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:50:52 +0000 http://ceruleansanctum.com/?p=1116#comment-43411 Bene D, The Volokh Conspiracy, a respected legal site on the Web, has fielded reports of harm. I suggest you check there. That's where I first heard of this. Notice my title for the post: "Chilling Effect." No one has to be bashed in the head with a brick or have their car vandalized to be a victim. The chilling effect shuts people down. It may not show as obvious harm because it harms in a much more subtle way. By it's very nature, a chilling effect is tough to diagnose in the short term, too. The results of it take time to grow. My purpose in posting this was to alert Christians so that they would be ready. It is one thing to suffer for the faith, and another to suffer for the faith with the support of the faithful. No Christian in the early church suffered alone. Today, many Christians do. That's why I am warning people that we should be ready for the fallout of this and future "outings." For instance, if Christians as a whole do not know about this, then it because much harder to plead one's case before them when one loses a job through this kind of targeting. If people do know about it, then rallying to the aid of the one who lost the job may be more of a reflex. Bene D,

The Volokh Conspiracy, a respected legal site on the Web, has fielded reports of harm. I suggest you check there. That’s where I first heard of this.

Notice my title for the post: “Chilling Effect.” No one has to be bashed in the head with a brick or have their car vandalized to be a victim. The chilling effect shuts people down. It may not show as obvious harm because it harms in a much more subtle way. By it’s very nature, a chilling effect is tough to diagnose in the short term, too. The results of it take time to grow.

My purpose in posting this was to alert Christians so that they would be ready. It is one thing to suffer for the faith, and another to suffer for the faith with the support of the faithful. No Christian in the early church suffered alone. Today, many Christians do. That’s why I am warning people that we should be ready for the fallout of this and future “outings.”

For instance, if Christians as a whole do not know about this, then it because much harder to plead one’s case before them when one loses a job through this kind of targeting. If people do know about it, then rallying to the aid of the one who lost the job may be more of a reflex.

]]> By: Bene D http://ceruleansanctum.com/2009/01/chilling-effect.html#comment-43410 Bene D Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:21:08 +0000 http://ceruleansanctum.com/?p=1116#comment-43410 Dan, you have not named one Christian harmed. Nor do you name anyone else harmed. I think what IMonk said about this gives far better perspective. "If Prop 8 supporters are Christians, and they are †˜outed they should rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer for Christ, and should love their enemies. True?" Dan, you have not named one Christian harmed.

Nor do you name anyone else harmed.

I think what IMonk said about this gives far better perspective.

“If Prop 8 supporters are Christians, and they are †˜outed they should rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer for Christ, and should love their enemies. True?”

]]> By: Dan Edelen http://ceruleansanctum.com/2009/01/chilling-effect.html#comment-43384 Dan Edelen Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:14:58 +0000 http://ceruleansanctum.com/?p=1116#comment-43384 Calwatch, Regardless of whether the actual exact addresses are provided, it's darned close enough so that one can narrow down the address with just one additional resource. Calwatch,

Regardless of whether the actual exact addresses are provided, it’s darned close enough so that one can narrow down the address with just one additional resource.

]]> By: calwatch http://ceruleansanctum.com/2009/01/chilling-effect.html#comment-43383 calwatch Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:32:51 +0000 http://ceruleansanctum.com/?p=1116#comment-43383 From a technical standpoint, it doesn't appear they have access to the addresses, only zip+4 information, which goes down to the block level (and usually requires access to a database of several thousand dollars to transmogrify zip+4's into street locations, since Google Maps does not geocode zip+4's). Zip+4s go down to the street level, and a few checks from the downloadable database on the Secretary of State's web site show that they did not bother to convert the contributions with just regular zip codes into the map. The solution in the future for the address coding is pretty simple: stop publishing zip+4 data, much like addresses are not posted online. Zip+4 data goes down generally to the block and side of the street level, which usually narrows down the target to just a handful of homes. From a technical standpoint, it doesn’t appear they have access to the addresses, only zip+4 information, which goes down to the block level (and usually requires access to a database of several thousand dollars to transmogrify zip+4’s into street locations, since Google Maps does not geocode zip+4’s). Zip+4s go down to the street level, and a few checks from the downloadable database on the Secretary of State’s web site show that they did not bother to convert the contributions with just regular zip codes into the map. The solution in the future for the address coding is pretty simple: stop publishing zip+4 data, much like addresses are not posted online. Zip+4 data goes down generally to the block and side of the street level, which usually narrows down the target to just a handful of homes.

]]>