Open letter to Jeff...anything but casual

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I have seen some forums with a special place for politics and religion. It could be a place for that kind of stuff, where you know going in that things there are all about opinions, and things are likely to get dicey. This could keep the Casual Conversation thread a little more, well, casual.
 
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90% of the time though...the poster doesn't really know that the subject is going to be controversial...flame just happens...depends on how other people see it.

Most posts are good intentioned...it just spawns sometimes.
 
I'm just taking it all in... [:D]

My inclination is to drop the CC forum, but I'm still considering other options.

You would not believe how much time I spent dealing with this last skirmish. The emails, posts, demands for so-and-so to be banned, phone calls, etc., easily took 10 hours out of my week.

And over what? People twisting the situation to fit their personal agenda. Go back to the fundamental issue: A few people complained that Micha's post was a little too preachy and evangelical. I happened to agree, so I made a post to that effect. In there I said.

Religion is a very personal thing, and sharing one's beliefs in an international, public forum can be tricky business. None of the members who wrote are against religion or Christmas or free speech, they're just asking that it be a little less intense.

Now, that seemed pretty polite and gentle to me. How then did I become the Politically Correct Wimp (an email comment), who was prohibiting the use of "The C word" (many posts) and squashing free speech (more posts)

Here's why: 1 - It's easy (and fun for some apparently) to argue incessantly just for the sake of arguing. 2 - Some people believe they have some responsibility to trumpet their personal beliefs as long and loud as possible without regard to any one else's perspective.

Here's the message that came across from our a few of our members; "We're entitled to be in-your-face about Christmas, our religion, Jesus, and anything else we want, and we'll argue that point and spin any opposing comments as long as we want."

It's a free country, and anyone is entitled to believe whatever they want. However, in a civilized society, we temper our behavior to be consistent with how other people feel about and respond to our beliefs. We can have some very interesting and even heated discussions within those boundaries, but it takes just the tiniest bit of respect for other point's of view, and some basic debate skills.

Honestly, I enjoy the Casual Conversation forum. It has really allowed us to get to know each other. But unless I get some warm feeling that we can have polite, spirited debate while maintaining a respectful environment, it's going away.
 
And these spirited debates don't just happen in this forum. I just finished one (I hope) in the Penturning forum. [;)] It can happen anytime anyone takes exception to something that was posted anywhere. The trick is to remember not to take it personally... even if it was meant that way. I harbor no ill will or feelings towards any who disagree w/me on anything. 1) Life is too short for such pettyness, 2) I'm too old to let it bother me and 3) It's impossible to go through life w/o disagreements. I disagree w/my best friend as often as we agree, but we don't part ways and pick up ours toys and go home b/c of it. It's just part of the life experience. Life... mine's great! How's yours? [:D]
 
Jeff,

Your decision will be respected (atleast by me).

I really hope you won't get rid of CC though. I know it is causing a lot of work and problems but it is a small price to pay (easy for me to say) for a great forum. I dare say this forum won't be the same without CC...and that change (if ever) will NOT be for the better.
 
Jeff,
I am sorry to hear that you thinking about dropping the casual conversation forum. The same thing is happening to the Christmas tree. Some places of business are changing the name to Holiday tree to keep 15% of the people happy when 85% of the people call it a Christmas tree. I don't understand why they bend to the few. Most members want the casual conversation forum. The world is not perfect and IAP will never be perfect, does not matter how hard you try. You should just try to keep the majority of members happy and the few members that are not happy will just have to learn to live with it or choose to not come into the Casual Conversation Forum...Thank you for doing a good job on this board....
 
Jim, if a 10 year old is smart and talented enough to create pens and learn to work with power tools, then i would think they would be responsible enough to listen to a parent who tells them they may not look in the casual conversation thread. It's also easy to tell when someone has looked at the posts since they don't appear purple anymore.

I really don't see it as anything over/underage, but more personal attacks that should be taking place anywhere, even on an adult oriented site. I also got a good laugh out of "Here's the message that came across from our a few of our members; "We're entitled to be in-your-face about Christmas, our religion, Jesus, and anything else we want, and we'll argue that point and spin any opposing comments as long as we want."" Seems that is about the norm on every board I have come across.

Seems as though if we can avoid religious and political posts that everyone and anyone can get along, regardless of what you believe or want to argue.
 
Not so sure about that Mikey....there are some here who would take offence for using black palm wood on a slimline and argue that it should have been purpleheart. [B)][:(]
 
I figure if you don't like what's in this forum just ignore it. I am too much of an adult to pick a fight with anyone in a semi-public forum like this, but if others want to fight then I ignore it. Move on to some other thread! CC is probably my favorite part of this site, I enjoy having conversations about everyday stuff with people in so many different parts of the country and the world. I "vote" to keep it and not ban anyone from posting, just ignore their comments if they bother you that bad.

Jeff, I have to admire you if you spent more than 10 seconds worrying about this, much less 10 hours. I listen to my students and their problems for hours but I would have deleted, ignored, and/or hung up on all these folks pestering you. [8D]
 
Well said Ray, I have to agree with you. I can ignore them, or I can read them and usually get a chuckle or two out of the way people feel about things. I am a firm believer in letting everyone believe as they want, but do not believe in someone trying to push their beliefs on others.
 
It seems to me there are only 3 choices. One solution is a statement to the effect that there shall be no messages relating to religion, politics, race, or sex, and there shall be no offensive or abusive language, and that all messages containing such content will be deleted. End of problem.

The other choice is to leave it like it is and ignore the complaints.

The 3rd is to close the doors on everybody.

Either way, some will be mad, and some will be glad. You will never please everybody.
 
Ya but I'll bet that right about now Jeff is wondering why the heck he ever started this joint to begin with. I doubt very much if any of this is what he and Scott imagined when they dreamt up the IAP.

Wayne

Originally posted by tinker
<br />Closing the door on all will make more mad than glad I bet.
BTW: Merry Christmas to all and a profitable New Year.
Click to expand...
 
OK, I think the best approach for now is to prohibit discussions in this forum of religion, politics, and sex. Griz mentioned that's how they keep the peace at his lodge, and suggested we try it here. So, there you go. Forum stays, the unavoidable conflicts go. I'll post some additional rules (actually some clarification and plain English interpretation of the Terms of Service) next week.

Thanks all for your thoughts and continued support.
 
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