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- Jul 15, 2008
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I have been asked to post this discussion thread focused on whether or not we wish to have political discussions here, and if so, what the ground rules will be. There have been some preliminary discussions with board management by @King Stannis that if we can get our collective shit together, such discussions may be permitted again. We just have to stop acting like 6 year olds.
The threads were shut down for a combination of two reasons:
1) people repeatedly whining to moderators and/or Ben about other posters. I personally cannot fathom running to daddy just because someone called me a douchebag, but some of you apparently can.
2) Trolling/name calling by some posters that were dragging threads down.
There are two non-negotiable criteria for a political subforum to exist:
3) The forum must be a closed, invite-only forum. That will make banning someone from that forum much easier, and give us a chance to protect ourselves from trolls. New people could be added based on consensus.
4) There will be one moderator -- and everyone who participates on the forum must agree to take any issues to him only, and no running to Ben or to anyone else under any circumstances. @jking948 has been approached and has agreed to do it. He's a very even-tempered and open-minded guy willing to listen to everyone. If people have concerned about how the forum will be moderated -- and I do as well -- this is the thread to get this stuff out in the open and discuss it.
People can be very passionate about their political/social beliefs, and there's a reason people say that politics and religion shouldn't be discussed at family gatherings. But people should exercise at least some restraint, and others need to develop thicker skins. And all have to agree that whining to the site ownership if something about the new forum upsets them is something you agree not to do if you participate.
We need to know who is willing to buy into this, and comments/questions/concerns. So...have at it. Needless to say, acting like a douche in this thread probably isn't a good idea.
ETA: I know that because of Ben's recent edict, there have been requests to ban people who are still trying to discuss politics. I'd ask that we all let that go, and instead focus on this thread and the terms under which such threads may be permitted again.
I am very well aware of the concern by some that the threads were deliberately sabotaged by people who think any defense of Trump is unacceptable. Again, this is the thread to hash all that stuff out, and to figure out the parameters of a new forum. I personally am not interested in a subforum where "denormalization" is accepted, so I'd ask for a bit of faith from other board conservatives that I wouldn't go along with that either.
Let's just see what happens in this thread, and try to have a friendly discussion about what we all really want, on all sides of the political spectrum. It would probably be most helpful if there was as little finger pointing as possible, and we instead discuss the framework and whether each of us as individuals is willing to abide by it.
The threads were shut down for a combination of two reasons:
1) people repeatedly whining to moderators and/or Ben about other posters. I personally cannot fathom running to daddy just because someone called me a douchebag, but some of you apparently can.
2) Trolling/name calling by some posters that were dragging threads down.
There are two non-negotiable criteria for a political subforum to exist:
3) The forum must be a closed, invite-only forum. That will make banning someone from that forum much easier, and give us a chance to protect ourselves from trolls. New people could be added based on consensus.
4) There will be one moderator -- and everyone who participates on the forum must agree to take any issues to him only, and no running to Ben or to anyone else under any circumstances. @jking948 has been approached and has agreed to do it. He's a very even-tempered and open-minded guy willing to listen to everyone. If people have concerned about how the forum will be moderated -- and I do as well -- this is the thread to get this stuff out in the open and discuss it.
People can be very passionate about their political/social beliefs, and there's a reason people say that politics and religion shouldn't be discussed at family gatherings. But people should exercise at least some restraint, and others need to develop thicker skins. And all have to agree that whining to the site ownership if something about the new forum upsets them is something you agree not to do if you participate.
We need to know who is willing to buy into this, and comments/questions/concerns. So...have at it. Needless to say, acting like a douche in this thread probably isn't a good idea.
ETA: I know that because of Ben's recent edict, there have been requests to ban people who are still trying to discuss politics. I'd ask that we all let that go, and instead focus on this thread and the terms under which such threads may be permitted again.
I am very well aware of the concern by some that the threads were deliberately sabotaged by people who think any defense of Trump is unacceptable. Again, this is the thread to hash all that stuff out, and to figure out the parameters of a new forum. I personally am not interested in a subforum where "denormalization" is accepted, so I'd ask for a bit of faith from other board conservatives that I wouldn't go along with that either.
Let's just see what happens in this thread, and try to have a friendly discussion about what we all really want, on all sides of the political spectrum. It would probably be most helpful if there was as little finger pointing as possible, and we instead discuss the framework and whether each of us as individuals is willing to abide by it.
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