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Jim Rosenow
09-22-2012, 08:25 AM
This is a cut-and-paste that an aministrator posted on another forum I frequent. I found it cogent, well-reasoned, and stated better than I am capable of, so I pass it along FWIW.... Not interested in debating it, but present it as food for thought.

JR

"Recent posts and a request from several members to bring politics back into the main forums of XXXXXXX has had me taking a historical look about how we ended up with the policies we have today. This also brought to light the fallout we are still living with from a time when XXXXXXXX was a little more like the Wild West than a community of folks with mutual respect for each other.

Although XXXXXXXX is not a democracy, I have always felt it was my duty (and in everyone’s best interest) to try to understand and implement the wants and wishes of the membership to the best of my ability. Because of that I take every request or challenge from supporting members very seriously. In the past we have polled the membership regarding politics in the forums and the response from those who have invested in this community has been nearly unanimous that discussing politics is not why they come here – and further that it would keep them from coming here. “I see it and hear it everywhere, everyday, I don’t want to see it and hear it here too”, is a pretty good summary of the responses.

However, it’s not just that. I mentioned fallout above. I still hear people say frequently they do not post because they are afraid they will be attacked. Many people read the site for years before they feel comfortable making a post. Worse, is that time has not yet healed the notion by many that XXXXXXX is a bunch of arrogant a-holes who will run you out on a rail if you don’t agree with them.

I think we have come a long way from those days, but the image is still there and I hear it way too often. I certainly don’t want to do anything that might be a step backwards in this regard. When someone does a Google search for XXXXXXX (we are usually #1 on the search ranking) I don’t think the first thing they want to read about is people beating each other up about politics, or they would have gone somewhere else.

The problem with discussions of politics, religion, etc, is that even amongst the closest of friends with whom we agree, there is always a point where things deteriorate. In my experience here, very rarely if ever has then been a political discussion that remained on the proverbial high road for more than about ten posts. We are simply unable to police ourselves and contain our vehemence when it comes to these topics, which are very emotional for some people.

For me, it also underlines something I have observed over the last few years; that the American conversation has become one of “us and them”, rather than one about “us”. It is in the interest of the politicians to divide us so we can be easily counted. The news, no matter which source or slant, is only feeding this trend to further find ways to separate us into “flocks”. It is in this way that we are becoming more like sheep – white sheep in one pen, gray sheep in another, etc. The various parties each claim to be the champions of the middle class, free spirits, and the American dream, yet they all insist on categorizing and pigeonholing us with their “platform”.

While the above may seem (and may be!) a bit of a digression, I hoped it might shed a little light on why I want XXXXXXXXXX to be a community that is beyond that kind of small and divisive thinking.

I greatly appreciate the many supportive PM’s and emails, and posts. However, I also appreciate being challenged and I appreciate different ideas and opinions – even if they are sometimes hard to hear. Challenging long standing traditions like this one is important here – as it is everywhere else in life.

I have been complimented by many forum operators and webmasters about how well this forum is run. My response is always the same; “When you get really great people together like we have who take ownership in the community, it pretty much runs itself”, and that is exactly how I feel.

Thank you all"

Bill Greenwood
09-22-2012, 06:41 PM
I'd be embarrassed to put my name to such a bunch of vapid nonsense and one sided view of an important issue.
What kind of educated forum should be run that has it's objectives set to the lowest denominator; ie that of a person who is too timid to post because someone may not agree with him or even make fun of him?
Maybe that's why this long quote is given as anonymous with the author hidden.

So, if I don't agree with the post above, what is the best response? Should I go whining to the moderator to censor some idea because it doesn't fit my personal prejudice, and close a topic?

Or should I offer another view, and point out that one difference, in theory at least, is that our country was founded on basic principles of unfettered speech and free press.
That is so obvious in the recent events overseas where those who take offense to a silly video turn to riots and violence.
Our system is that one is free to write whatever and others are free to agree or not, or even ignore what was said.
There are legal limits that offer some restraint on writing or saying something that is factually false. If I say that someone failed out of college and he actually graduated from Yale, and I don't retract the statement, then laws of libel and slander may apply. Even more, there is the court of public opinion, how ridiculous does Trump look now after claiming all that "birther" nonsense?

And as a prelude to our biggest elections, we have a series of debates coming up where both sides are free to make their case, true or not, and let the public sort through and decide how much credulence, if any, to give to either side. And that is how it should be.

Jim Rosenow
09-23-2012, 07:46 AM
The author of the was not credited because although the posting was in the public domain, I did not ask specific permission of the author to re-post. I would have felt uncomfortable identifying the forum for that reason. Thanks to all who take the time to read and consider.

JR