My miserable $0.02 on the WisCon/Moon fracas

Most of you who are into SF and don't live in a cave have probably taken note of this by now: Elizabeth Moon recently authored an essay on her LJ page that started out strong but included some intemperate remarks towards Muslims at the end. Ultimately, this resulted in WisCon withdrawing their GoH invite (which led to all sorts of well-reasoned, logical comments akin to "all your attendees are godless commies anyway" showing up on the page announcing the decision) and a long-term argument on rec.arts.sf.written and elsewhere that's been getting more and more voluminous with each passing day. Further details are available on netmouse's page if you're so inclined.

Where I stand on all of this is probably not going to please anyone except me, so screw it; I might as well write it out in a form that's better reasoned than the gobbledygook I wrote elsewhere that passed for my first few tries.

A controversy like this in the fannish community is messy - especially in the hyper-charged political atmosphere of 2010 where people run around demonizing the President as a Muslim on a daily basis with no real proof of that belief. Even so, what Moon wrote - although unpleasant - certainly isn't the worst behavior a pro has engaged in in print; historical examples like John W. Campbell's promotion of various forms of pseudo-scientific quackery and James P. Hogan's embrace of Holocaust denial come to mind. Campbell's quirks didn't stop him from editing Astounding/Analog for decades, and Hogan's noxious beliefs didn't stop him from being a best-selling SF author or ending up as a GoH at Capricon a few years back, either. So while Moon's remarks might not be pleasant, they're hardly the worst sentiments I've ever read from a pro. 

Likewise, although WisCon has the right to rescind their GoH offer, it might not have been the best way to deal with this controversy. To some, the decision might smack of censorship (which it isn't; Moon's essay is still there for anyone to read), and if they were looking to avoid controversy or a potential screaming match at a panel or two, it's not going to accomplish that, either. It probably would've been better for all concerned to actually have Moon still attend the con since that would have forced her to actually defend her position, but that's not the route they took. More's the pity; something might have actually been resolved that way.        

Or not. These are interesting times (in the Chinese sense of the word "interesting", unfortunately) and my guess is that they're going to get worse. I just hope it doesn't spill into fandom as well.