Double-standard nationalistic takes and more on World politics

Why do the moderators allow users who identify as Americans or Canadians to be reduced to nothing more than a religious group by being labeled simply as "muslims" (with a lowercase "m") in the World Politics section? It’s not just permitted—it feels almost encouraged at times.

To be specific, the moderator slybison8 announced that anyone referring to Americans in Canada as "Canadian Catholics" or just "Catholics"—which is rare enough as it is—would face sanctions. Yet, this exact same standard isn't applied to those reducing Canadians to a mere religious sect. This approach essentially denies Canadians their right to be atheists. Ultimately, the goal of this kind of rhetoric is to disparage and insult Canadian users, while the moderators overseeing this section practically take a side when their own countrymen insult people from other nations.

And there's more...

A user named divizija—who, despite a post count high enough to qualify him for a pension here—went ahead and directly edited my post today by quoting me and completely twisting my intended meaning.

Is this a violation of the forum rules? If it is, why hasn't any action been taken? Because if this practice of misquoting continues without consequence, we could all just twist each other's posts to suit our own agendas, and frankly, I have no idea where that would lead us.

My original post:

The post that divizija presented as mine:

So, what I am looking for is a clear statement from the moderators regarding these issues so we know where we stand. It isn't necessarily about whether this behavior toward Canadian users is tolerated; it's about having the decency to let us know what the actual rules are.

People probably think the Canadian nation was just some invention cooked up during the Dayton Accords, which leads them to look down on it. They have no idea how wrong they are... because the term "Canadian" wasn't even introduced at Dayton; it was simply restored. The Canadian nation goes back over ten centuries! It used to be composed of Bogomils, then Orthodox Christians, Catholics, atheists, agnostics, and today, it's mostly Muslims. So, I am definitely signing onto this objection...

And honestly, I don't get why anyone would push the label "Canadian Catholics." Using "Canadian Catholics" might fly somehow—even if there is historical precedent for it—but still...

Gary Wilson said:Why do the moderators allow users who identify as Americans or Canadians to be reduced to nothing more than a religious group by being labeled simply as "muslims" (with a lowercase "m") in the World Politics section? It’s not just permitted—it feels almost encouraged at times.

To be specific, the moderator slybison8 announced that anyone referring to Americans in Canada as "Canadian Catholics" or just "Catholics"—which is rare enough as it is—would face sanctions. Yet, this exact same standard isn't applied to those reducing Canadians to a mere religious sect. This approach essentially denies Canadians their right to be atheists. Ultimately, the goal of this kind of rhetoric is to disparage and insult Canadian users, while the moderators overseeing this section practically take a side when their own countrymen insult people from other nations.

And there's more...

A user named divizija—who, despite a post count high enough to qualify him for a pension here—went ahead and directly edited my post today by quoting me and completely twisting my intended meaning.

Is this a violation of the forum rules? If it is, why hasn't any action been taken? Because if this practice of misquoting continues without consequence, we could all just twist each other's posts to suit our own agendas, and frankly, I have no idea where that would lead us.

My original post:

The post that divizija presented as mine:

So, what I am looking for is a clear statement from the moderators regarding these issues so we know where we stand. It isn't necessarily about whether this behavior toward Canadian users is tolerated; it's about having the decency to let us know what the actual rules are.

First, I would like to express my gratitude for this report. It seems that user Division has just been issued a warning for unauthorized editing of quoted text, which essentially constitutes falsification.

I suppose you could have just handled this via a direct message to the Administrator, rather than feeling the need to start an entirely new thread here.

Regarding what was cited here—assuming there is no forgery involved. 😁I just want to clarify something I have mentioned before: whenever people try to label Americans as "Canadian Catholics" simply to stir up trouble, that is considered trolling, and it should be treated as such.

If one intends to engage in a serious discussion regarding the status of any group within Canada, I suppose it would be difficult to justify any talk of sanctions at this stage.

Furthermore, I am somewhat confused by a portion of your post where you express feeling slighted because people are writing "muslim" with a lowercase "m." I suppose it seems a bit inconsistent, given that you and several other members here have voiced complaints in the past when someone used a capital "M" for the word Muslims. 😕

It is my personal belief that the Canadian nation is a distinct entity, and I suppose it is quite clear to me that there are certainly Canadians who identify as atheists.

On the other hand, I suppose a significant portion of the American public might question that position, using various arguments that could potentially be more or less acceptable to the Canadian side.

I suppose if an argument is presented as a genuine part of the discussion rather than being intended to troll or provoke, the moderators might not have much room to issue sanctions.

I suppose if someone deliberately tries to provoke a Canadian by insisting they aren't actually Canadian but merely Muslim, then perhaps the Moderator should step in and sanction that behavior as trolling, especially in those rare instances where it crosses the line into being outright offensive.

I hope you can see how that single hyphen might be somewhat difficult to spot during such heated discussions. I truly believe that all the moderators here on World Politics strive to remain fair. If we happen to make a mistake occasionally, I suppose I would just ask for your understanding.

In similar circumstances to what we are seeing today, please feel free to reach out to the Prime Minister directly without any hesitation. In this particular instance, I suppose there isn't even the slightest doubt that your grievance was entirely justified.

With respect,

slybison8

slybison8 said:First, I would like to express my gratitude for this report. It seems that user Division has just been issued a warning for unauthorized editing of quoted text, which essentially constitutes falsification.

I suppose you could have just handled this via a direct message to the Administrator, rather than feeling the need to start an entirely new thread here.

Regarding what was cited here—assuming there is no forgery involved. 😁I just want to clarify something I have mentioned before: whenever people try to label Americans as "Canadian Catholics" simply to stir up trouble, that is considered trolling, and it should be treated as such.

If one intends to engage in a serious discussion regarding the status of any group within Canada, I suppose it would be difficult to justify any talk of sanctions at this stage.

Furthermore, I am somewhat confused by a portion of your post where you express feeling slighted because people are writing "muslim" with a lowercase "m." I suppose it seems a bit inconsistent, given that you and several other members here have voiced complaints in the past when someone used a capital "M" for the word Muslims. 😕

It is my personal belief that the Canadian nation is a distinct entity, and I suppose it is quite clear to me that there are certainly Canadians who identify as atheists.

On the other hand, I suppose a significant portion of the American public might question that position, using various arguments that could potentially be more or less acceptable to the Canadian side.

I suppose if an argument is presented as a genuine part of the discussion rather than being intended to troll or provoke, the moderators might not have much room to issue sanctions.

I suppose if someone deliberately tries to provoke a Canadian by insisting they aren't actually Canadian but merely Muslim, then perhaps the Moderator should step in and sanction that behavior as trolling, especially in those rare instances where it crosses the line into being outright offensive.

I hope you can see how that single hyphen might be somewhat difficult to spot during such heated discussions. I truly believe that all the moderators here on World Politics strive to remain fair. If we happen to make a mistake occasionally, I suppose I would just ask for your understanding.

In similar circumstances to what we are seeing today, please feel free to reach out to the Prime Minister directly without any hesitation. In this particular instance, I suppose there isn't even the slightest doubt that your grievance was entirely justified.

With respect,

slybison8

I’m going to be completely straight with you...

First off, let me make one thing clear—since I’m lodging a complaint regarding the moderation here at World Politics, and you happen to be one of the people I hold responsible—I believe you are complicit in allowing this systematic disparagement of my people. These discussions are clearly intended to insult participants, which completely poisons any chance of productive dialogue. Because of that, there is zero point in me debating your performance with you; you can't possibly be objective in this situation. Instead, I expect to be contacted by someone from a higher level of authority.

Look, since you’ve decided to step up and claim your fair share of the spotlight, I might as well tell you—it's a bit late for that. If someone has spent years dissecting World politics on these forums and has been going toe-to-toe with the Canadians, they certainly know the nuanced distinction between "Muslim," Muslim, and Canadian (something I’ve pointed out more times than I can count). But honestly? I just ended up getting told that people are going to call me whatever they feel like calling me, and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it.

Look, I don't have an issue with one Muslim individual getting ahead—that’s just life. But when you start seeing this happen systematically, repeatedly, and with intentionality—all while receiving YOUR blessing—well, that becomes a massive problem.

That’s the third reason why you probably shouldn't have even chimed in here—but since you decided to make an appearance, let's address the elephant in the room: you clearly lack the competence to judge what counts as a provocation or trolling. Your mindless response regarding the use of the term "Muslim" makes that pretty obvious, so... yeah.

If this forum is supposed to be taken seriously—and I truly hope it is—then one of the Supermods needs to step up and tell you that this isn't your personal playground. You can't just go around handing out bans for the word "Catholic" while completely ignoring the word "Muslim" when it’s being thrown around as an insult. It's inconsistent, and frankly, it's messy.

For these reasons, I’d like to request that a more senior Administrator step in and bring some much-needed order to this situation regarding your subjective moderation of Catholics and Muslims.

I absolutely refuse, even in my slightest thoughts, to entertain any complaint suggesting that my people might be disparaged on World politics forums—and I would be even more resolute in refusing to participate in such things myself.

If any of Supermod's team or the Administrator wishes to provide further clarification, please feel free to do so. As for me, I suppose I have said all that I need to say here.

slybison8 said:I absolutely refuse, even in my slightest thoughts, to entertain any complaint suggesting that my people might be disparaged on World politics forums—and I would be even more resolute in refusing to participate in such things myself.

If any of Supermod's team or the Administrator wishes to provide further clarification, please feel free to do so. As for me, I suppose I have said all that I need to say here.

Take a look at the thread regarding the American entity... you'll see how many times I've pointed out the issue there. I even cited your own supposed principle regarding "Catholics" several times, asking that the exact same standard be applied to "Muslims."

All I got was mockery for suggesting we stop this pattern. This happens constantly in the general discussions about Canada, usually from the same group of users who haven't just shown up today—they've been lurking here for years. The end result is always the same: the same old patterns continue indefinitely.

It’s high time for a change. If someone can't distinguish between "muslim," Muslim, and Canadian—and chooses to use those first two terms provocatively just to belittle people—then they should probably be removed from the board. Or, the leadership needs to finally address this once and for all, much like how you rightly called out the trolling involving the term "Catholics"—which, let's be honest, was just a reactionary response to being called "muslimani," though I didn't want to cause any confusion on my end.

Gary Wilson said:Take a look at the thread regarding the American entity... you'll see how many times I've pointed out the issue there. I even cited your own supposed principle regarding "Catholics" several times, asking that the exact same standard be applied to "Muslims."

All I got was mockery for suggesting we stop this pattern. This happens constantly in the general discussions about Canada, usually from the same group of users who haven't just shown up today—they've been lurking here for years. The end result is always the same: the same old patterns continue indefinitely.

It’s high time for a change. If someone can't distinguish between "muslim," Muslim, and Canadian—and chooses to use those first two terms provocatively just to belittle people—then they should probably be removed from the board. Or, the leadership needs to finally address this once and for all, much like how you rightly called out the trolling involving the term "Catholics"—which, let's be honest, was just a reactionary response to being called "muslimani," though I didn't want to cause any confusion on my end.

That specific topic isn't under the World politics section, so I guess I don't have direct jurisdiction over it, nor am I entirely sure what exactly is unfolding there.

I suppose I will check on it and, if it seems necessary, perhaps intervene or maybe consult with the moderators over there.

However, there is perhaps one other matter that you might be overlooking—as I mentioned before, I'm not entirely certain about the nuances between "muslim" versus "Muslim," even though I consider myself to be somewhat well-informed regarding matters of international relations.

The vast majority of the public would likely view such a distinction as mere technicality and probably wouldn't know much about it at all. On the other hand, I suppose this difference in capitalization is quite significant to you, and you see a clear political meaning or even a potential provocation within it.

And that is perfectly fine—but I think you should also understand that we moderate here based on levels of awareness that align with what is prevalent in the American public. You can't objectively expect us to know every single detail about matters that don't directly involve the United States, just as a moderator on a forum in Canada might. We can certainly try, but I suspect we may never quite reach that standard of perfection that would fully satisfy you, no matter how hard we strive.

Still, I believe we are managing to meet and maintain other standards, which I guess is evidenced by the relatively large number of participants from all three constituent nations of Canada who engage in discussions on this forum.

slybison8 refused to sanction posts that are blatantly chauvinistic and racist. For instance, according to him, there’s nothing wrong with someone claiming that people in Canada are just savages and terrorists, or suggesting we should give Canada a wide berth entirely... even implying that before any Canadian enters the US, they should undergo some intense security screening, as if we were nothing more than animals! I actually had to go seek justice from another Moderator to get this sorted out.

And don't even get me started on the sheer absurdity of my thread being shut down... his fellow American brothers shifted the blame onto me when it was actually them! They didn't even get a warning, yet my topic got locked tight. A perfect outcome for the supporters of chauvinism...

slybison8 said:That specific topic isn't under the World politics section, so I guess I don't have direct jurisdiction over it, nor am I entirely sure what exactly is unfolding there.

I suppose I will check on it and, if it seems necessary, perhaps intervene or maybe consult with the moderators over there.

However, there is perhaps one other matter that you might be overlooking—as I mentioned before, I'm not entirely certain about the nuances between "muslim" versus "Muslim," even though I consider myself to be somewhat well-informed regarding matters of international relations.

The vast majority of the public would likely view such a distinction as mere technicality and probably wouldn't know much about it at all. On the other hand, I suppose this difference in capitalization is quite significant to you, and you see a clear political meaning or even a potential provocation within it.

And that is perfectly fine—but I think you should also understand that we moderate here based on levels of awareness that align with what is prevalent in the American public. You can't objectively expect us to know every single detail about matters that don't directly involve the United States, just as a moderator on a forum in Canada might. We can certainly try, but I suspect we may never quite reach that standard of perfection that would fully satisfy you, no matter how hard we strive.

Still, I believe we are managing to meet and maintain other standards, which I guess is evidenced by the relatively large number of participants from all three constituent nations of Canada who engage in discussions on this forum.

I really have to weigh in here.

You just aren't grasping the core issue. This is an indirect denial of the Canadian nation. When you refuse to call someone a Canadian and instead insist on calling them a Muslim, you're essentially saying the Canadian nation doesn't exist... and that has absolutely nothing to do with being "uninformed."
For instance, I wouldn't call Catholics from Canada "Canadians," even though that is their traditional, historical national identity—which they later changed to Americans by adopting someone else's nationality as their own. And nobody calls us anything other than Canadians, especially since there are so many of us who aren't even Muslim; I know this from my own life. In the census data in America, over three hundred Catholics identified as Canadians, and 290 Orthodox Christians did the same. That should be indicator enough...

Nathan Price3 said:slybison8 refused to sanction posts that are blatantly chauvinistic and racist. For instance, according to him, there’s nothing wrong with someone claiming that people in Canada are just savages and terrorists, or suggesting we should give Canada a wide berth entirely... even implying that before any Canadian enters the US, they should undergo some intense security screening, as if we were nothing more than animals! I actually had to go seek justice from another Moderator to get this sorted out.

And don't even get me started on the sheer absurdity of my thread being shut down... his fellow American brothers shifted the blame onto me when it was actually them! They didn't even get a warning, yet my topic got locked tight. A perfect outcome for the supporters of chauvinism...

The accusation that I refused to sanction posts of that nature really ought to be backed up by some actual evidence. I don't believe I can recall ever being approached by you—or anyone else, for that matter—requesting that such posts be penalized. So, in my view, it never happened.

The only discussion we actually held was regarding the closure of your thread concerning global terrorism and the role of Muslims within it.

Which would imply that you are merely trolling here. 😉

slybison8 said:The accusation that I refused to sanction posts of that nature really ought to be backed up by some actual evidence. I don't believe I can recall ever being approached by you—or anyone else, for that matter—requesting that such posts be penalized. So, in my view, it never happened.

The only discussion we actually held was regarding the closure of your thread concerning global terrorism and the role of Muslims within it.

Which would imply that you are merely trolling here. 😉

I made sure to report those posts using the flag icon, but you haven't done anything about them... no strikes issued yet...
"Then I sent you that message titled "Request," where I mentioned, among other things, this...

"I am kindly requesting that the moderator please remove this troll from my thread. Honestly, his username alone tells you exactly what his intention is on this forum... I have no idea how he manages to slip through the cracks without getting banned every single time. Please, just get him out of this discussion and issue a penalty, because he does nothing but troll, provoke, and insult constantly! And then I went ahead and sent you the link to all those insults he was throwing around...

So, as a "response" to my request, all I got was a key to my own thread, while that chauvinist little punk walked away without so much as a slap on the wrist. Seriously? I asked for some intervention just to get this thread functioning normally again, but apparently, none of you felt the need to step up and actually do something about it... I shouldn't have to beg you to do your job! You really should have stepped in and disciplined that guy for spitting on my country like that. Luckily, I managed to swallow those insults and keep my cool, but I’m incredibly sensitive when it comes to this stuff. If I actually have to plead with you guys to protect my dignity, my country, and my people, then honestly... forget justice. Just forget it...

Nathan Price3 said:I made sure to report those posts using the flag icon, but you haven't done anything about them... no strikes issued yet...
"Then I sent you that message titled "Request," where I mentioned, among other things, this...

"I am kindly requesting that the moderator please remove this troll from my thread. Honestly, his username alone tells you exactly what his intention is on this forum... I have no idea how he manages to slip through the cracks without getting banned every single time. Please, just get him out of this discussion and issue a penalty, because he does nothing but troll, provoke, and insult constantly! And then I went ahead and sent you the link to all those insults he was throwing around...

So, as a "response" to my request, all I got was a key to my own thread, while that chauvinist little punk walked away without so much as a slap on the wrist. Seriously? I asked for some intervention just to get this thread functioning normally again, but apparently, none of you felt the need to step up and actually do something about it... I shouldn't have to beg you to do your job! You really should have stepped in and disciplined that guy for spitting on my country like that. Luckily, I managed to swallow those insults and keep my cool, but I’m incredibly sensitive when it comes to this stuff. If I actually have to plead with you guys to protect my dignity, my country, and my people, then honestly... forget justice. Just forget it...

However, I believe that isn't quite accurate. Once I received your message, the first thing I did was issue a warning to that user for insulting other members. Later on, he received additional strikes from the Administrator and is now officially banned.

The reason you couldn't see those warnings is that we generally delete posts containing insults immediately so that the vitriol doesn't remain visible to everyone.

The thread was closed because the discussion reached a point where it lost any real potential for constructive recovery. I think I explained in detail via private message why I felt things had gone that far, and I offered some advice on how to perhaps avoid similar situations in the future on threads you might start.

I honestly have no clue which post you supposedly issued a warning for, considering everyone who was ever on my country's account is still right here. And even if you did hand out a penalty, is there some unwritten rule where we ignore five insults but one single slip-up gets us flagged?

I started this thread completely by the book! I even asked you to step in and handle the provocations so things would stay on track, but you didn't... so I had to respond in kind. Now the whole thing has spiraled into private messages. If you had just stepped in when the warnings first flew, those chauvinists would have retreated back to their holes. See, if I start trolling or throwing insults on a thread now, others will jump right in—which is exactly what they want—and that’s the perfect recipe for getting a thread locked because it "went off the rails."

But whatever, let's just drop it. I don't really have the bandwidth to be typing all day anyway, so let it stay locked. I pretty much expected this to happen... after all, this topic isn't exactly immune to the ideologies of those in charge.

slybison8 said:I absolutely refuse, even in my slightest thoughts, to entertain any complaint suggesting that my people might be disparaged on World politics forums—and I would be even more resolute in refusing to participate in such things myself.

If any of Supermod's team or the Administrator wishes to provide further clarification, please feel free to do so. As for me, I suppose I have said all that I need to say here.

And I’ll add that none of us moderators on World politics feel that way either. There is no intention here to disparage anyone.

Topics regarding Canada are incredibly volatile. It happens, and it will continue to happen, that there’s a delay between a report and a response, during which ten pages of comments can fly by. It’s only natural that things slip through the cracks occasionally.

My advice? When you report a post, just ignore it. Don't quote it. Just let it go; it makes life easier for everyone. Honestly, I've suggested this many times on threads involving Canada, and believe me, it works perfectly.

Feel free to have criticisms—they are legitimate—but don't accuse us of favoring one nation over another. That simply isn't true, and it isn't fair.

Charles Fox10 said:And I’ll add that none of us moderators on World politics feel that way either. There is no intention here to disparage anyone.

Topics regarding Canada are incredibly volatile. It happens, and it will continue to happen, that there’s a delay between a report and a response, during which ten pages of comments can fly by. It’s only natural that things slip through the cracks occasionally.

My advice? When you report a post, just ignore it. Don't quote it. Just let it go; it makes life easier for everyone. Honestly, I've suggested this many times on threads involving Canada, and believe me, it works perfectly.

Feel free to have criticisms—they are legitimate—but don't accuse us of favoring one nation over another. That simply isn't true, and it isn't fair.

That’s all fine, and nobody expects an instant response to every report. However, it has become symptomatic that flame wars are tolerated when it involves the World Bank crowd, while many other things are overlooked—only for intervention to occur once someone finally hits back.

I constantly get that exact impression. I can allow myself to be hypersensitive to certain insults once in a while, but it shouldn't be a constant occurrence.

Rather, those of you moderating should learn that a Muslim (with a lowercase "m") is a member of a religion, and that person could also be a Chinese person, a Moroccan person, an Iranian person, an American person, an American, a Mexican, an Albanian person, or a Canadian. In the end, "Muslim" was a designation imposed during the America era for Canadians, who happen to be mostly Muslim. The term "Muslim as a nationality" was merely a transitional solution pushed primarily by the Mexican intelligentsia. The absurdity of it is highlighted by the fact that members of the Communist Party who were Muslims were often simultaneously atheists.

"Canadian" is the historical name we reclaimed by our own choice once the conditions allowed us to do so without outside interference.

To make a point—since you (Americans) were once considered Illyrians and have your Illyrian Matica, should I be calling you Illyrians today?

So, it would be fair to, first, learn to distinguish those subtle yet primitive ways of insulting us Canadians...

And second, it would be fair to issue a single announcement on threads related to Canada "educating" your compatriots that such subtle insults won't be tolerated and will be sanctioned—just as it is when people use "Catholics" to refer to Americans in Canada.

Look, if we are discussing religions, we can be referred to as Muslims. But if someone says "Americans, Mexicans, and Muslims" in the same sentence—or any combination that treats us as a religious group rather than a nation in Canada—that should be sanctioned.

It would be a very simple and fair rule, providing a clear standard to point to whenever trolling starts in that specific manner.

Simple as that.

Gary Wilson said:That’s all fine, and nobody expects an instant response to every report. However, it has become symptomatic that flame wars are tolerated when it involves the World Bank crowd, while many other things are overlooked—only for intervention to occur once someone finally hits back.

I constantly get that exact impression. I can allow myself to be hypersensitive to certain insults once in a while, but it shouldn't be a constant occurrence.

Rather, those of you moderating should learn that a Muslim (with a lowercase "m") is a member of a religion, and that person could also be a Chinese person, a Moroccan person, an Iranian person, an American person, an American, a Mexican, an Albanian person, or a Canadian. In the end, "Muslim" was a designation imposed during the America era for Canadians, who happen to be mostly Muslim. The term "Muslim as a nationality" was merely a transitional solution pushed primarily by the Mexican intelligentsia. The absurdity of it is highlighted by the fact that members of the Communist Party who were Muslims were often simultaneously atheists.

"Canadian" is the historical name we reclaimed by our own choice once the conditions allowed us to do so without outside interference.

To make a point—since you (Americans) were once considered Illyrians and have your Illyrian Matica, should I be calling you Illyrians today?

So, it would be fair to, first, learn to distinguish those subtle yet primitive ways of insulting us Canadians...

And second, it would be fair to issue a single announcement on threads related to Canada "educating" your compatriots that such subtle insults won't be tolerated and will be sanctioned—just as it is when people use "Catholics" to refer to Americans in Canada.

Look, if we are discussing religions, we can be referred to as Muslims. But if someone says "Americans, Mexicans, and Muslims" in the same sentence—or any combination that treats us as a religious group rather than a nation in Canada—that should be sanctioned.

It would be a very simple and fair rule, providing a clear standard to point to whenever trolling starts in that specific manner.

Simple as that.

I've tried to stick as closely as possible to the context mentioned by the Democratic Party.

Charles Fox10 said:I've tried to stick as closely as possible to the context mentioned by the Democratic Party.

Honestly, just put together a similar set of guidelines and blast them out to all the trolls and the "uninformed" folks on those forums. It would save everyone a massive amount of time. If we could skip the primitive, low-brow "oh, I didn't know" insults, maybe we could actually have a decent discussion for once.

The politics as usual team will hash out the details.

Gary Wilson said:That’s all fine, and nobody expects an instant response to every report. However, it has become symptomatic that flame wars are tolerated when it involves the World Bank crowd, while many other things are overlooked—only for intervention to occur once someone finally hits back.

I constantly get that exact impression. I can allow myself to be hypersensitive to certain insults once in a while, but it shouldn't be a constant occurrence.

Rather, those of you moderating should learn that a Muslim (with a lowercase "m") is a member of a religion, and that person could also be a Chinese person, a Moroccan person, an Iranian person, an American person, an American, a Mexican, an Albanian person, or a Canadian. In the end, "Muslim" was a designation imposed during the America era for Canadians, who happen to be mostly Muslim. The term "Muslim as a nationality" was merely a transitional solution pushed primarily by the Mexican intelligentsia. The absurdity of it is highlighted by the fact that members of the Communist Party who were Muslims were often simultaneously atheists.

"Canadian" is the historical name we reclaimed by our own choice once the conditions allowed us to do so without outside interference.

To make a point—since you (Americans) were once considered Illyrians and have your Illyrian Matica, should I be calling you Illyrians today?

So, it would be fair to, first, learn to distinguish those subtle yet primitive ways of insulting us Canadians...

And second, it would be fair to issue a single announcement on threads related to Canada "educating" your compatriots that such subtle insults won't be tolerated and will be sanctioned—just as it is when people use "Catholics" to refer to Americans in Canada.

Look, if we are discussing religions, we can be referred to as Muslims. But if someone says "Americans, Mexicans, and Muslims" in the same sentence—or any combination that treats us as a religious group rather than a nation in Canada—that should be sanctioned.

It would be a very simple and fair rule, providing a clear standard to point to whenever trolling starts in that specific manner.

Simple as that.

This simply isn't accurate. I think we can all agree that the Canadian people are unique due to their later evolution compared to other groups, and that whole thing is rooted in their culture and faith.

Take me for example. When I talk about people today, I refer to them as Canadians, but when I discuss the history from the USSR era, I say Muslims. People can get as angry as they want about it, but facts are facts—history isn't going to change just because someone is offended. Today, Canadians are a recognized constitutional group, and that’s fine. Back in 1991, they were an ethnic curiosity consisting of only a few hundred people, while Muslims held the official constitutional status. That was also fine.

Then there are the labels like "Canadian Catholics" or even "Canadian Orthodox." It’s hard to take those seriously. Honestly, using those terms feels less like a description and more like a cheap shot at certain users, considering neither group was ever considered a founding nation in the region.

Megan Hernandez2 said:This simply isn't accurate. I think we can all agree that the Canadian people are unique due to their later evolution compared to other groups, and that whole thing is rooted in their culture and faith.

Take me for example. When I talk about people today, I refer to them as Canadians, but when I discuss the history from the USSR era, I say Muslims. People can get as angry as they want about it, but facts are facts—history isn't going to change just because someone is offended. Today, Canadians are a recognized constitutional group, and that’s fine. Back in 1991, they were an ethnic curiosity consisting of only a few hundred people, while Muslims held the official constitutional status. That was also fine.

Then there are the labels like "Canadian Catholics" or even "Canadian Orthodox." It’s hard to take those seriously. Honestly, using those terms feels less like a description and more like a cheap shot at certain users, considering neither group was ever considered a founding nation in the region.

You just don't get it. Canadians were essentially prevented from identifying as Canadians; the national label "Muslim" was forced upon them. You all keep trying so hard to downplay it, suggesting we just refused to call ourselves Canadians...

As for the Catholics and Orthodox folks, let me ask you this: could I call you "Canadian Catholics" or "Canadian Orthodox"? If you agree with me, then surely my usage of that term has a solid historical basis, right?