First, that's your opinion. Millions of people would beg to differ. However, that's not even the point.

Yep, sorry if it seemed like I was trying to speak for anybody else. Like I said above, I'm probably running against the grain here.

Second, no one can prevent anyone else from having a belief. So, that's not even an issue.

Agree there also.

Third, we're talking, I assume, about s/WOTB. The turtle tax does not prevent anyone from expressing an opinion. His own refusal to include "I like turtles" in his posts silenced that poster.

It doesn't prevent per se, but it certainly discourages some people from doing so. A lot of those people often end up giving up and going elsewhere, for better or worse, contributing to the development of echo chambers.

Fourth, what about the opinion of the mods and of the other posters of this sub? Why should they be subordinate to the opinion of a bigot wants to leave turds everywhere, but doesn't want to type "I like turtles?" If expressing his odious opinions anonymously to a new group of people doesn't mean enough to him to type "I like turtles," why does that trump the opinions of the mods and most of us about what behavior is beneficial to this sub?

I don't think allowing bigoted speech necessarily equates to subordinating non-bigoted speech, or more specifically, the speech of other people in this forum.

Fifth it wasn't even only his odious beliefs, which are dickish in themselves, but showing up here from the start and making one in-your-face bigoted post after another, that had nothing to do with the thread topic or anything else said on the thread. He did not behave as someone joining an internet community in good faith behaves.

Here, I agree that some kind of punitive action is warranted, given that it's basically akin to destruction of virtual property. Like I said above, I think forum scrolling or just trolling for trolling's sake crosses the line.

Sixth, there is an important distinction between government and private action. Government action can indeed actually prevent people from expressing an opinion anywhere in the nation, unless they're willing to go to prison. This is only one sub on saidit and saidit is only one discussion board among how many? And, beyond that, there's other ways to express oneself on the internet apart from discussion boards, like blogging. And then an entire world apart from the internet where he can express his opinions that Jews suck, without even adding that he likes turtles. So no opinion is being silenced, or even flagged.

For sure, and I'm not here to tell everybody or anybody how to run their stuff. I am suggesting though that we have the option to show a little more patience and tolerance, even to those that might not necessarily deserve it or whatever. And doing so can sometimes turn into opportunities for growth and reconciliation down the line.