watch what you say

[rmw8855]

Good points..ya know what else..it is soooo easy to misunderstand each other,starring at at a screen! thanks,pinetree

I agree totally. Without body language and tone it can be extremely hard to discern intent. That is one of the reasons for this rule

If you think you are being flamed, choose *not* to be offended, but instead take a break, and communicate, rather than escalating or accusing others.

 

[map4]

Good points..ya know what else..it is soooo easy to misunderstand each other,starring at at a screen! thanks,pinetree

Exactly. Anything that is written can be misunderstood unless you ask the one doing the writing what is meant.

 

[jiminpa]

It was my intention not to post on this board again, but I tried to lurk on this thread, and now it's bugging me.

I will try to be really careful in what I say here, which is precisely my point. What I said was misconstrued, but my wording made that too easy, (my fault there). After the appropriate warning, I edited the post as required. Nowhere was a clarification asked for before the report button was hit. Then it just became a game of how many times the report button can be clicked in one thread, and posts were deleted, as well as greater action taken, I, (and apparently others in the thread), believe that it was because the one reporting had the weaker position and wanted to eliminate an "opponent."

If we are not free to discuss the action of the moderators, then the moderators are free to operate in the cover of darkness, and abuse their authority at will.

This has happened here in the past and a lot of formerly active members have left over it. Erwin tried to correct that and shortly thereafter sold the board. I don't know if that situation had anything to do with it or not. I do know the symptoms of the past abuses, and I am starting to see them again.

While there are those who can masterfully argue weak beliefs with genuine conviction, most adherents to those beliefs will sooner or later resort to bullying or censorship. All it takes to accomplish the censorship part is one moderator with the same position and mindset. Then the bullying can be accomplished with the threat of censorship. That is the problem and objective of rule by the offended.

I don't see any resolution if this board again becomes overmoderated, or worse, censored in favor of certain opinions, than to vote with our feet. I hope that it will not come to that.

If I crossed a line somewhere in this post, how about giving me the chance to resolve it instead of nuking my posts?

 

[Faulty]

It has nothing to do with political correctness, it has to do with the rules, especially the one marked in red.



The best way to avoid breaking this rule is to NEVER address the poster (other than in fellowship) and always respond to the post itself. Personal attacks, insults, or ridicule will almost always get reported.

It's interesting that with everything going on in this forum that you didn't mark this in red:

If you think you are being flamed, choose *not* to be offended, but instead take a break, and communicate, rather than escalating or accusing others.

That probably just as much at issue here, if not more, than the one you marked.

 

[rmw8855]

It was my intention not to post on this board again, but I tried to lurk on this thread, and now it's bugging me.

I will try to be really careful in what I say here, which is precisely my point. What I said was misconstrued, but my wording made that too easy, (my fault there). After the appropriate warning, I edited the post as required. Nowhere was a clarification asked for before the report button was hit. Then it just became a game of how many times the report button can be clicked in one thread, and posts were deleted, as well as greater action taken, I, (and apparently others in the thread), believe that it was because the one reporting had the weaker position and wanted to eliminate an "opponent."

If we are not free to discuss the action of the moderators, then the moderators are free to operate in the cover of darkness, and abuse their authority at will.

This has happened here in the past and a lot of formerly active members have left over it. Erwin tried to correct that and shortly thereafter sold the board. I don't know if that situation had anything to do with it or not. I do know the symptoms of the past abuses, and I am starting to see them again.

While there are those who can masterfully argue weak beliefs with genuine conviction, most adherents to those beliefs will sooner or later resort to bullying or censorship. All it takes to accomplish the censorship part is one moderator with the same position and mindset. Then the bullying can be accomplished with the threat of censorship. That is the problem and objective of rule by the offended.

I don't see any resolution if this board again becomes overmoderated, or worse, censored in favor of certain opinions, than to vote with our feet. I hope that it will not come to that.

If I crossed a line somewhere in this post, how about giving me the chance to resolve it instead of nuking my posts?

There are a couple of safeguards in place to prevent or in worse case control the moderator abuse your are concerned about.

1) Concensus - The moderator team of this forum consists of all different denominations / beliefs - WOF & Non-WOF. To be honest I haven't looked that closely at their icons. Every report must have a concensus of at least 3 moderators in order to avoid any unilateral decisions.

2) Appeals - Warnings carry no points; they are just documentation of a problem & don't count towards a ban. Infractions are usually worth 1 point each (sometimes 2 points under special circumstances). Since infractions count towards possible ban (4 = 1 month site wide ban, 8 = permanent ban), you have the right to appeal the decision if you feel it was unfair.

 

[rmw8855]

It's interesting that with everything going on in this forum that you didn't mark this in red:
[/color]

That probably just as much at issue here, if not more, than the one you marked.

I agree it is important too. However, it is very hard to not be insulted when someone calls you an idiot or a heretic.

In my case, I rarely hit the report button (I would say never, but never say never ) when I am participating in a thread. If the thread starts getting too abusive, I generally either ignore those posts or walk away entirely.

 

[SharonL]

I don't see the mods acting out of partiallity or biased opinions. They have a very hard job to do because you will never please everyone.

This board has taught me not to be offended so easily. I use to coil back in retreat when something was said against me, but now I just smile and go on - that is life. We can't walk through life with a report button to push everytime someone says something we don't like. Why can't we do that here.

I really never see any threads that deserve the report button - if you have something to say back - just say it in a nice way and move on, reporting is not necessary unless you see flat out wrong teaching, but just something that rubs a person wrong or does not agree with a person's point of view is needless reporting.