[12] The Detrimental Effects Of The Culture Of The SFL Community

It is clear from the above analysis that the culture of the SFL community is detrimental to both the theory and its members.

It is detrimental to the theory in that it fosters misunderstandings of the theory, which undermines attempts of newcomers to understand the theory in a consistent way. This, in turn, undermines the ability of the community to develop the theory in a scientifically rigorous way. In short, the culture of the SFL community encourages intelligent people to act unintelligently. 

It is detrimental to community members in that it fosters the type of virulent hostility that is typical of fundamentalist religious organisations. In this way, the culture of the SFL community encourages otherwise decent, honest people to support, actively or passively, toxic behaviour like the following:

Jim Martin Publicly Vilifying a Deceased Colleague As A Plagiarist At A Symposium Convened To Honour Her
David Rose Publicly Vilifyng The Same Deceased Colleague
David Rose Publicly Vilifying A Colleague Whose Mother Had Just Died Tragically
Yaegan Doran Publicly Vilifying The Same Colleague As Racist
Mick O'Donnell Publicly Vilifying The Same Colleague As Misogynist

David Rose Likening A Disfigured Cancer Survivor To The Elephant Man

∞

A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.

— John Stuart Mill

Bullies may be the perpetrators of evil, but it is the evil of passivity of all those who know what is happening and never intervene that perpetuates such abuse. 

 — Philip Zimbardo The Lucifer Effect