Rule Thread 4.0 SuperLite

[ShockSlayer]

No. Politics is a very touchy subject, and people are at each others' throats already over far more petty subjects. (PS3 vs. Wii vs. 360 for example...)

As much as I'd love to have real discussion here, that's closer to the edge than we should go.

If you allowed politics, you would have to allow reledigeous(SP) discussion.

Politics lead to religeon every time.

SS

[daguuy]

Kind of a late response, but since I'm looking for a good intelligent discussion, I'd be a hypocrit not to debate this

No. Politics is a very touchy subject, and people are at each others' throats already over far more petty subjects. (PS3 vs. Wii vs. 360 for example...)

As much as I'd love to have real discussion here, that's closer to the edge than we should go.

Got any examples of any of that? I've seen touchy discussions on other forums all the time and they're the most interesting ones because they're the stuff most people have real opinions about.

[SpongeBuell]

Some thread got derailed once, and was later split and locked. This can be found here: http://benheck.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=471. Later, like someone suggested, a politics thread was started. Those that have been here for a while remember that it wasn't pretty. It ended up getting deleted, I believe by Ben. Before that happened, this thread was also made http://benheck.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=490 (linked to give you an idea of how it ended up)

After Ben deleted the thread, he posted this: http://benheck.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=493

Yeah, when I saw that politics topic thing there I thought "Oh great" You know, I know lots of people (in real-life) from the left and right but it never usually gets in the way of friendship. (Well, unless people are WAY apart.)

But it seems online it can be vicious. Shielded by user names and avatars it can turn into a horrendous flame-war where there's no real victims, and at the same time, everyone's a victim.

Here's something to consider: No matter how many Clinton haters there were in the 90's, no matter how many Bush bashers there are now, still all-in-all this country is pretty much split down the middle. So any person, or site, that bashes on either side is alienating 50% of their audience automatically. I don't want to do this, and I especially don't think people in the forums should either as they are a representation of my site, which is paid for by my money, not yours.

So, let's make a new rule with the forums where we abide by the old adage "If you want to keep friends, don't discuss religion or politics." Any post or topic of that sort will be removed.

While we're on the subject, I would appreciate the language in the forums to remain at a PG level. I am actually pretty profane in real life but if you'll note I never use even mild profanity in my articles. Let's keep the forums the same way. An "ass" or "damn" maybe, but that's about it.

Alright, it's late and I'm tired. I could probably set up some more Moderators Wednesday if you get your requests to me by that afternoon. Thanks for your attention!

Keep in mind, this was before mini mods

[CronoTriggerfan]

I agree with Ben and Spongey. As a politically aware and very opinionated individual, I've contemplated at times why we don't have debates of that matter here, but it's quite clear to see that it would tear our community apart. Trust me, I've seen it happen before; people align themselves politically and then all hell breaks loose. I say keep Benheck the way it is and leave the political discussions for real life.

CTFan