Politics -- a message from your admin

[Red]

As the political season advances, more and more political threads are popping up here and, while I like that you want to talk to your fellow board memebers about your political interests or concerns, what concerns the mods and admin is that these threads hardly ever end up civilly. We don't want to mod your arguments. It's tiresome for all of us and it only adds to already tense feelings on the board. This is a Farscape community, not a political one. If you're interested in talking about/posting things you know are going to be inflammatory here, I'm going to ask you to take it somewhere else. People want to come in here to talk about things that interest them, or about their cat, or about their coworkers, they don't want to have a sick feeling of tension and anxiety when they click on the link to this forum.

I don't want to ban politics, but none of us want to mod endless, circular, beligerant arguments about why Bush is an idiot or why Kerry is a liar and why anyone who believes or doesn't believe a or b is a mindless sheep. Nothing, absolutely nothing is accomplished in threads like that except to make people feel unwelcome or angry.

I don't want to ban politics, but if it can't stay civil, then I will because it is absolutely counterproductive to the purpose of this board, and we all have much better things to do with our time here. There are other forums for political discussion on the net.

[Harveylives]

Actually, Red I want to thank you and the other mods for your hospitality. I know I have taken part in the past on some political issues. I've decided it's in my best interest to leave as the political season kicks into gear. I wish everyone here the best and it's been fun and interesting while it lasted. Take care everyone.

[BlackThorn]

Bye, Harveylives. Sorry to see you go, but you gotta do what's best for you. Good luck, and I hope to eventually see you around again.

[Third EYe]

I've decided it's in my best interest to leave as the political season kicks into gear. I wish everyone here the best and it's been fun and interesting while it lasted. Take care everyone.

I know I missed something here. What was it?

[Jeff O'Connor]

Actually, Red I want to thank you and the other mods for your hospitality. I know I have taken part in the past on some political issues. I've decided it's in my best interest to leave as the political season kicks into gear. I wish everyone here the best and it's been fun and interesting while it lasted. Take care everyone.

Whoa, that's... oh well, gotta follow your heart, maybe it's for the best... hope to see you back after political season...

[harveywhispers]

I echo the sentiment hl, as I have typically enjoyed your posts. Should you choose to come back to us in the future, you can rest assured that you will be welcome.

==

As to the main message of this thread, I fully agree that none of us deserves to be on edge when scanning the forums.

[LadyCrais]

Interesting. When I last logged in I saw a discussion as to whether politics or personal lives should have a sub-forum, with politics seemingly the prevailing opinion. I haven't looked at any posts since then, so I haven't a clue what provoked this current turn of events. I do, however, think it sad that so many people prefer to discuss their cats or cars or what have you when they go OT rather than the current events that are shaping the future of this country and a decision that must be made in the next six months. Because if you can't discuss that with people you've been cyber-friends with for a year or more, and if you're unwilling to divulge your private life in a forum that can be read, literally, by anyone in the world, then there's little if anything left (aside from Farscape) to be said beyond the trivial, IMHO.

[Kathleen]

I've found that politics and anything politically based is a dicey situation. I respect the admin's decision to try and curb some of the ... shall we say?.. enthusiasm in one of the more recent political topics. I read that thread, and "tension" was a mild way to state the mood. I realize that everyone is going to have their opinion on this candidate or that platform or which tie looked more ridiculous in the latest round of interviews. That being said, how does such a vocal group of people manage to *discuss* the current political situation without it degenerating into such hatefulness that I witnessed in the other thread? (I refer to the Rush Limbaugh thread for those that don't know which one I'm talking about.) I have my views and my opinions, naturally, but I find that if I get angry or don't agree with what I've read in someone else's post, I need to step back and possibly away from the thread (and sometimes the board) in order to gather my thoughts into a cohesive manner that is neither insulting or demeaning to the other person. It's often very difficult to do that, so quite a bit of the time, I don't say anything at all so as not to piss off more people. I still have my thoughts, and I am quite vocal with them, but I choose to yell them at my monitor rather than yell them verbally on the board. :shrug: Just one more person's view.

[zap]

I agree with Lady Crais, adn I think there should be a political sub-forum.

[DRD2001]

I do, however, think it sad that so many people prefer to discuss their cats or cars or what have you when they go OT rather than the current events that are shaping the future of this country and a decision that must be made in the next six months.
:g2f: I am so annoyed by this statement LC. This is an OT forum, which means Off Topic. Anything not Farscape is OT. Just because people are not discussing what you want to discuss, you shouldn't look down upon them.

I have tried very hard to keep my political rhetoric to myself lately because I have yet to meet a person here who is likely to change their opinions based upon anything I have to say about politics. The people here who dance around banned topics and constantly post the same political rhetoric over and over again, are not doing some sort of civic service to this board. In my opinion, they are making themselves look bad instead. And quite often, I see them post this stuff because "If Mr. X posted this biased article, then I can post that biased article."

Quite frankly, I come here to relax, to be entertained and to see what everybody else is up to. I like the cats threads. I like the cars threads. And I like those trivial, irreverent, what have you threads too. These are the threads which help me get to know my fellow Scapers better.
[/rant]

[Third EYe]

I agree with LadyCrais.

[buggabboo]

I agree with Lady Crais, adn I think there should be a political sub-forum.


the biggest problem i have with that is that we still have to mod it.

and frankly...not a good time.

just sayin'.

[grinner]

Again... I am against all this fracturing of forums. just saying.

[Johnsgirl727]

I agree with Lady Crais, adn I think there should be a political sub-forum.
I also agree that this is an excellent idea.

[Red]

I think there should be a political sub-forum.
Well, that's one possibility but again, who mods it, I surely have things I'd rather do than mod people's endless circular arguments, and what's to keep it from degenerating into a hate-filled morass?

[Jeff O'Connor]

I don't quite think it would work because I often view things a bit too utopian for my own good, and I know there are countless reasons against this. My first thought was just to make politics an all-together banned subject. Then I thought about it and I understand that just about anyone who reads my post would disagree - it's such a huge thing and in so many ways can it be brought up here and there, rather innocently, then explode into something that would, by those rules, get two to five people warned not to do it again within a matter of minutes. I realize that would be an impossibility; just throwing my first two cents in.

[zap]

Well, that's one possibility but again, who mods it, I surely have things I'd rather do than mod people's endless circular arguments, and what's to keep it from degenerating into a hate-filled morass?

Obviously only we as individuals can keep it from becoming a "hate-filled morass"

[stellar]

Morass?

[BaseLine]

I think the word is related to swamp.

edit:
Yes, I was right! :woohoo:


\Mo*rass"\, n. [OE. marras, mareis (perh. through D.
moeras), fr. F. marais, prob. from L. mare sea, in LL., any
body of water; but perh. influenced by some German word. See
{Mere} a lake, and cf. {Marsh}.]
A tract of soft, wet ground; a marsh; a fen.

{Morass ore}. (Min.) See {Bog ore}, under {Bog}.

[LadyCrais]

:g2f: I am so annoyed by this statement LC. This is an OT forum, which means Off Topic. Anything not Farscape is OT. Just because people are not discussing what you want to discuss, you shouldn't look down upon them.


Sorry, didn't mean for it to sound as condescending as that. I don't actually look down on the other threads. I know people are having fun in the games threads and personal threads and so on and think they should continue to. What I was trying to say was more along the lines of how much it hacks me off when those who participate exclusively in the "fun" threads complain about the political threads and continually ask for them to be banned. It leaves me with the impression that they have no interest in being informed or thinking about the things that are affecting the nation/world. Most of the people in the "serious" threads actually participate in both. Those of us who tend to be "serious" rather than "fun" participants certainly have never asked for "fun" to be banned.

Hopefully this makes it clear that its the complainers I'm complaining about, not the threads themselves. But just as I don't enter those threads that don't interest me, I would expect them to not enter threads that don't interest them. I think they should be able to co-exist. Would it be easier if they were different subforums? Perhaps. I know that I always hit New Posts to find out what's been going on board-wide. But I only read maybe 10-15 threads a day out of 5-10 pages of posts.

I also do understand the problem that there are a handful of people who don't seem to be capable of voicing their opinions without making personal insults. It's a problem, but that's pretty much part and parcel with these kinds of discussions. Of course I've seen that kind of degeneration in behavior in people discussing, oh say, a television show (not on this forum). It was absolutely rife at the X-Files forum I read for the last couple of years of that show. So to some extent there are always going to be people whose bent is that direction.

And this is probably a bit of a bone to pick, but technically I don't consider the Limbaugh thread to be a political thread. It's more a current events thread that has little to do with the election season or candidates beyond how those events might influence your vote in the future. And unlike other more issue oriented threads, this subject matter is going to outrage most people for the same reasons, completely irrespective of political affiliation. As always, IMHO.

[jayelsee]

Quite frankly, I come here to relax, to be entertained and to see what everybody else is up to.......A-frelling-men! I came here because of Farscape. I stay here for Farscape. If I want to get into "political discussions" I can do it a lot of other places.

[Sunderflame]

Gee, just reading this thread is depressing. I'll miss HL, alot I alway's enjoyed his posts too.
Now I know why it feel's like their is a death among us all. JMH0.
It's a shame we have to tip toe around so many issues. I also agree with LC.
I realize the mod's have an arduous task.
I choose to stay out of the political arena due to various opinions of all of us here and out of respect for other's feelings.
But I do miss our open discussions that we once were permitted to have. I alway's thought we respected each others views, perhaps some of us are more passionate about some things best left unsaid.

[LiLOrion]

"Morass" - I think the word is related to swamp.


When I first read it, I thought it had something to do with J.Lo :roflmao:

[Jul]

It's a shame we have to tip toe around so many issues. I also agree with LC.
I realize the mod's have an arduous task.
I choose to stay out of the political arena due to various opinions of all of us here and out of respect for other's feelings.
But I do miss our open discussions that we once were permitted to have. I alway's thought we respected each others views, perhaps some of us are more passionate about some things best left unsaid.

There aren't that many issues that you have to tip toe around. We've only had two banned topics on this website- the war and abortion. Unfortunately, what we admins and mods are seeing is a ramp up in the number of political threads that get nasty with people's feelings getting hurt. It's understandable that in this election year and the fact that the US is at war people would want to discuss political issues.

If everybody would remain civil and discuss the issues rather than having continuing circular, provocative discussions where the threads escalate and become upsetting to the people involved in the threads we wouldn't be having this conversation. But, they're not, so we have to have this discussion and warning.

So, we're giving everybody a warning from now. Don't make us ban politics in the OT forums, and if the only reason you're here is to discuss politics, I have a listing of some very nice places I can refer you where you can talk politics with others that want to talk politics to your hearts content. Hell, you can take Leppard up on his offer and start up a message board specifically geared to where the Farscape community can talk US politics to their hearts content...

We're all here for Farscape, and we're a community based around that. let's all try to remember that while we play in the OT forums, 'k?

[Sunderflame]

Fair enough.
Forgive me if I ruffled any feathers? I'm unaware of all the prior political discussions' in the forum. Just thinking about past discussions that turned sour. I didn't realize other's were jumping ship, my apologies.. :(

[RustySlinky]

When participating in political threads, one thing that people sometimes do is that they proofread their writing afterwards and minimize the uses of the pronouns "I" and "You".

(In the previous sentence, I eliminated the word "I" and substituted the word "people".)

Phrases that convey absolutes, like the words "always" and "never" might cause trouble.

The final sentences in a posting deserve scrutiny because "holier than thou" attitudes tend to slip-in when people passionately drive home their final points.

[trubador]

Well, I've made my thoughts known on this issue a number of times in the past.

This is the ONLY board (of any kind) that I visit on a regular basis, let alone the fact that it's also the only one that I actively participate in. I came here 18 months ago for two things (and only two things): Farscape and Friendship. I did not come here to regularly witness or be subjected to mud-slinging regarding hot button socio-political issues. I've tried to stay out of those particular threads as much as possible, but as I've stated before... there are times when one feels the need to respond to repeated and unchallenged attacks (whether those attacks are directed personally to me, or to others, or whether they're directed at positions on issues one holds dear).

Saving something as "important" as Farscape is fine. But, in the grand scheme of things, there are more important things in this world that need saving (for me... say, the innocent and vunerable affected in a hot topic that's been banned from here.... and it's a good thing that that topic has been banned, because it didn't belong here).

I've noticed MANY former members of FMD who have left here disgusted with the tone and direction a portion of this forum has taken since it's inception (and intention) as "SAVE Farscape" in Sept of '02. And this tone has on occasion bled itself into the non-OT areas as well.

I'll still continue to do my part in any campaign to help save Farscape by taking part in, and raising or sending in $ (like we've all done in the past) for projects, to brainstorm and construct strategy and ideas. I'm still going to the Burbank Con in November. I'm still hoping for a potential Farscape feature film.

But, whether to remain a part of this community is a completely different story. I don't need the added grief and conflict. I'm here because of Farscape, and (because of that) the friendships that got created in here. But I'm not going to continue to subject myself (nor witness friends getting subjected) to hot-topic horking :hork: and the demeaning of character :flamethro.

Although I am currently remaining here at FMD, I will say that I have seriously considered quite a few times in recent months as to whether it may be time for me to move on. Gotta be honest here, peeps.

[DRD2001]

Thanks for the clarification LC. I don't always read every thread here, and it seems like I've missed out on some of the posts to which you were referring.

But as to the boards tone, many of us have been doing this for a year and a half. Perhaps burnout is frazzling a lot of people. I go through spells when I just stay away, for no particular reason.