I love how you use the impersonal "they". Who would that actually be? The actual users of the site? No, they voted it up. The founders of the site? No, Jeff Atwood in this very discussion said that he thought it was on topic.
No, the "they" in question seem to be the people who hang out on meta, and who spend a serious fraction of their time agreeing on and enforcing rules against everyone else.
Perhaps if "they" stopped to ask whether they should be acting in a way that is not wanted by users, at least one founder, and which drives away contributers, then they might act differently.
Seriously, when you're applying a FAQ and come to the opposite conclusion from the people who wrote it, something is wrong.
No, the "they" in question seem to be the people who hang out on meta, and who spend a serious fraction of their time agreeing on and enforcing rules against everyone else.
Perhaps if "they" stopped to ask whether they should be acting in a way that is not wanted by users, at least one founder, and which drives away contributers, then they might act differently.
Seriously, when you're applying a FAQ and come to the opposite conclusion from the people who wrote it, something is wrong.