What exactly is the politics/religion rule?

[Olive]

That's because you don't see the resultant emails.

:\ I'm sure people think that's what happens to them. But people are dumb.

 

[reanjr]

As a practical matter, I don't think the rule is a hard and fast thing. In general, we aren't supposed to bring up politics. However, what qualifies as "politics", and what gets moderator action are somewhat fuzzy. And that is as it should be. It isn't like there's a clear definition of "politics" in teh real world.

I think discourse over whether something falls under politics or not is a political discussion, and so the point can't be argued without breaking the rule.

Hah! You can't disagree now!

...I'm sleepy...

 

[Truth Seeker]

Did somebody request the creation of a weather forum??

He said avoid, not create...

 

[diaglo]

Diaglo, in regards to your situation, I'd e-mail the mod in question to clear it up; it's not as helpful to air it in general on the forums, than it is to take it directly to us and get the 411 on why we perform a given action.

i did.

i got a reply 4 or so hours later.

the reply mentioned why my post was moderated. which was not the topic of my email. nor the question i asked. nor was i even arguing that my post wasn't in need of moderation.

i'm not gonna get into the whole. did not. did too.

i'll just take it as the mod and i don't have similar politics. (s)he can't understand what upset me.

in the thread the person whose post got me inflamed, did apologize later on.

 

[Umbran]

Hah! You can't disagree now!

Self-referential logic is fun, but I'll have to burst your bubble - Having a disagreement and voicing the disagreement are not the same thing. Unless/until Morrus allows me to deploy the IP-tracking orbital mind-control lasers, the board rules don't apply to the inside of poster's skulls

 

[nothing to see here]

The funny things is -- the few studies that have tried to quanitfy the impact of high engagement communication forums...like internet message boards...phone-in radio shows...or even letters to the editor, have found their impact as a persuasive tool to be negligible. The only people who bother to read an openly political or religious posts are those engaged enough to already have a rather firmly set opinion...therefore openly political or religious contributions to open-source high engagement forums are not only bound to offend, or incite...they're basically worthless as well (there are exceptions, but in each case they require a concentrated degree of organization the likes of which we'd be fortunate to never see on these boards).

In general, when you post political, you're either preaching to the converted...or just infuriating those who are inclined to disagree...you're not likely to shift a single opinion in doing so...

...makes you wonder why people bother.

 

[Darkness]

I improved some of my political viewpoints by reading the Werewolf: The Apocalypse boards, of all places. In their time, they had the best debates (RPG and non-RPG) of all White Wolf boards.

I didn't post to political threads there, though - I just read them.

 

[Dinkeldog]

what is involved with the mods not removing the politics?

are they only removing ones they disagree with?

I should just point out here that were this the case, then nearly everything would be removed, as the politics of the various moderators varies wildly. There are places where one could have seen this blatantly, but not so much lately. So, if we were just removing things we disagreed with, ultimately everything more controversial than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have been removed.

 

[Umbran]

...therefore openly political or religious contributions to open-source high engagement forums are not only bound to offend, or incite...they're basically worthless as well...

Worthless? I dunno. I think that really depends upon what you find to be of value.

If your goal is to try to convince a significant number of other people, then perhaps such discussion is of little value.

If your goal is to brush up your rhetorical skills, or to get an idea examined from more than one point of view, or to vent some frustrations, then perhaps they have worth.

Which is moot, because just as you don't shop for toys in a shoe store, you don't go looking for arguments here. There are other boards to shop for such goods.

 

[Xen155]

I should just point out here that were this the case, then nearly everything would be removed, as the politics of the various moderators varies wildly. There are places where one could have seen this blatantly, but not so much lately. So, if we were just removing things we disagreed with, ultimately everything more controversial than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have been removed.

mmmmmm..... peanut butter and jelly....