Politics, Abortion and Religion

[MDdan]

What is your opinion of threads dedicated to these topics?

[krusty the klown]

Fine for those who want to participate.

Sometimes they do end up in flaming matches which can bring out the worst in people. It's difficult sometimes to really express yourself on the web & often something that was not meant offensively can appear so... there's no body language & it's harder to get the 'tone' right without an actual audible tone!!!

The best example of this is when something is said (typed) that is sarcastic... several times I've seen peeps get the wrong end of the stick (myself included ) and get offended, when something was not at all offensive.

Whilst these topics do have more potential to get out of hand, I don't think they should be automatically locked: provided they stay on track & do not degenerate, it can be very interesting to hear other's point of view, especially participating in a forum than has such a diverse membership. It can be an eye-opener

I guess these sort of topics must give the mods a bit more work to do... after all, they're topics that can evoke very strong emotions in folk!!!

[Graham]

Debate, sensible considered and polite debate, is a great thing, indeed the basis of our democracies.
At Krusty says the problems come from misunderstandings and, to some extent, language differences, but rarely from actual insult.
Wart said in another thread, and Krusty picked up on it, there is a great difficulty in these threads knowing just how "tounge in cheek" or sarcastic a comment is, the only thing we can do is add an appropriate smiley.



G

[KAknight]

I think that threads like these are more prone to sparking flame-wars, but I have full confidence in our moderators.

To be perfectly honest, I miss the days when we had deep, thought provoking, and yes sometimes heated debates. As long as everyone can make their point without being disrespectful to the opinions of the other members, I don't think any of the mods or admins have a problem allowing the discussion of "sensitive" issues, as long as it's done intelligently. It is important though, for the more established members to set the tone for the debate and to try to provide subtle corrections when thing look like they could take a turn for the worse.

[MDdan]

Fingers:
I'm afraid I don't remember those, I was too busy trying to fry my K6/2 back then.

But I do appreciate real debate, in fact it's one of my great frustrations that most people I run into have no desire to debate/discuss/argue anything. I appreciate the stimulus to think about and rethink my opinions on things.

Yep, even heated debate can be a great thing, some of my closest friends have been the ones I've disagreed with the most.

[TonTo]

I love debates like this.....


If you want, i'll prove god does not exist..... or that he does..... wichever side looks like they need the most help at the moment.


I'm just scared about going a lil to far....(i tend to sometimes... ) and seriously offending someone or possibly being banned form the forums...... i got burnt like that in another forum

I think we are going thru a transition phase and once stable, it'll work out the way Fingers says.

What's the raison d'etre for this Forum? Open, intelligent, diverse expression of opinions and thoughts. If we adhere to these guidelines, there is no topic under the sun that can't be discussed here.

Eventually, we'll get there. Respect for others opinions will get respect for yours.

[MDdan]

Originally posted by TonTo
I love debates like this.....


If you want, i'll prove god does not exist..... or that he does..... wichever side looks like they need the most help at the moment.

How about proving that you don't exist? I hope you're not too good at it, it would be a shame to loose you Tonto.

I enjoy real debate not only for the debate sake, but because I think that truth does matter. I believe that there is such a thing as "true" truth, that everything is not subjective.

I also believe in constantly mucking with my computer...so here I am.

[MDdan]

Hehe, I'm suprised no one has voted for "Please make them go away." I almost voted for it.

Now back to posting in all the threads I'm weary of.