<p>"we're sick and tired of these unblocking votes!" </p><p>"our moral values are deteriorating!" </p><p>jesus, hear me out first, okay?  </p><p>i've been contemplating to make this vote for a while now since the word in question has entered by active vocabulary; instead of a long-winded explanation, let's just get straight to the point: </p><p>a quick glance over the mediawiki:emoticons page will reveal that there is a logic, a trend behind what types of words we do not allow. one category are words that are derogatory or insulting to minorities, and the second is a wide array of sexually themed words. "bastard" falls in neither of those. originally a term to denote illegitimate children, i very much doubt its meaning will cause offense to anyone in either this wiki's demographic, or even anyone <i>at all, </i>as society's attitude towards children of unmarried couples has shifted greatly since its inception. the result is a word that carries little to no potential to cause problems per se. </p><p>of course, given our personal attack policy, this word will not be allowed as a direct insult to other members of the community. it can, instead, be used as a blanket term for ranting purposes (e.g. "those bastards in the examination office") or in ways that do not carry the connotation of an insult to other people (e.g. "you magnificent bastard ", "i should stop being such a lazy bastard and get to work", "poor bastard"). </p><p>thank you for your time.  </p><p>a.) unblock: 21 </p><p>b.) keep blocked: 6 </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Consensus">Consensus</span></h2> <p>Unblock. </p>