The FORD Lounge

[Ray Cecil]

I don't mean for this to get into a discussion about religion or politics, and if it seems like it's going to go that way I'm happy to have this post deleted or whatever seems right. But I wanted to comment on the discussion about discussing religion and politics going on in the Big Blue's Transformation thread an I didn't want to continue to hijack that thread.

I personally have no problem with the policy to not discuss religion or politics here. It might be interesting discussing those topics with some of the people here, but it also might be a mess. And I have other venues where I can discuss those topics, so I don't need to discuss them here.

But I did want to mention a bulletin board I used to be on and what they did. It was a board set up and run by a print magazine I subscribe to, Pointing Dog Journal (PDJ). So obviously it was primarily about pointing dogs and bird hunting. I say "was" because the magazine shut the bulletin board down about a year ago. I don't know why they did, but activity on the board had really died away, to the point of probably less than 20 posts per week total. So they may have just decided that it wasn't worth the effort.

People asked periodically why it had died down. Some suspected that the added requirement that members of the board be current subscribers to the magazine. That had been put in place partly to keep out phishers (there were a lot fewer posts from new members that were advertising male enhancement products after that). But it definitely excluded a lot of the former members, so I'm sure it was a factor.

Others suggested that the drop in activity was from the overly conservative administration that kicked people out "too readily" (in some people's opinions anyway) for rousing rabble.

So maybe what they did didn't work. But in a lot of ways it did.

Like this bulletin board, PDJ board had separate forums for different types of topics. Unlike this board, the PDJ board didn't have a "root" forum. You had to click into a sub-forum to see or create any threads. In a way I think that was better, because it helped focus things better. If you wanted to talk about training dogs, or field trialing, or hunting, or whatever, you went to the applicable forum. There was a "general discussion" forum, but generally (groan!) people didn't post there if it fit into a different forum.

They did eventually create a "politics" forum (which I avoided) to keep political discussions out of the "general discussion" forum, but religion was still fair game under general discussion. And there were quite a few religious threads. People posting in them included "mainstream" Protestants, "evangelicals", Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Native American traditions, atheists and probably more that I'm not remembering now. Surprisingly, none of the religious discussions got nasty. People were very open with their beliefs, and frequently said that they disagreed with what someone else had said. But somehow the disagreement never got disagreeable. And it wasn't because everyone was always so pleasant! There were some NASTY discussions about dog training (the only thing two dog trainers will agree on is that the third one is wrong!). A lot of the evictions came out of those disagreements. And the political discussions were bad enough that, as I mentioned, they got moved to a different sub-forum where people didn't have to see them if they didn't want to.

So anyway, I don't have any point here. Like I said above, I'm fine keeping religion and politics off this board.

Last post.

Censorship is un-American and tyrannical.

Im not here to "stir the pot", never was.

The simple fact that Im "not allowed" to do something is repulsive to me. I spent a lot of time looking the other way, but I have to stand for what I believe in.

Give me Liberty...or sign me out.

[Nothing Special]

I don't mean for this to get into a discussion about religion or politics, and if it seems like it's going to go that way I'm happy to have this post deleted or whatever seems right. But I wanted to comment on the discussion about discussing religion and politics going on in the Big Blue's Transformation thread an I didn't want to continue to hijack that thread.

I personally have no problem with the policy to not discuss religion or politics here. It might be interesting discussing those topics with some of the people here, but it also might be a mess. And I have other venues where I can discuss those topics, so I don't need to discuss them here.

But I did want to mention a bulletin board I used to be on and what they did. It was a board set up and run by a print magazine I subscribe to, Pointing Dog Journal (PDJ). So obviously it was primarily about pointing dogs and bird hunting. I say "was" because the magazine shut the bulletin board down about a year ago. I don't know why they did, but activity on the board had really died away, to the point of probably less than 20 posts per week total. So they may have just decided that it wasn't worth the effort.

People asked periodically why it had died down. Some suspected that the added requirement that members of the board be current subscribers to the magazine. That had been put in place partly to keep out phishers (there were a lot fewer posts from new members that were advertising male enhancement products after that). But it definitely excluded a lot of the former members, so I'm sure it was a factor.

Others suggested that the drop in activity was from the overly conservative administration that kicked people out "too readily" (in some people's opinions anyway) for rousing rabble.

So maybe what they did didn't work. But in a lot of ways it did.

Like this bulletin board, PDJ board had separate forums for different types of topics. Unlike this board, the PDJ board didn't have a "root" forum. You had to click into a sub-forum to see or create any threads. In a way I think that was better, because it helped focus things better. If you wanted to talk about training dogs, or field trialing, or hunting, or whatever, you went to the applicable forum. There was a "general discussion" forum, but generally (groan!) people didn't post there if it fit into a different forum.

They did eventually create a "politics" forum (which I avoided) to keep political discussions out of the "general discussion" forum, but religion was still fair game under general discussion. And there were quite a few religious threads. People posting in them included "mainstream" Protestants, "evangelicals", Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Native American traditions, atheists and probably more that I'm not remembering now. Surprisingly, none of the religious discussions got nasty. People were very open with their beliefs, and frequently said that they disagreed with what someone else had said. But somehow the disagreement never got disagreeable. And it wasn't because everyone was always so pleasant! There were some NASTY discussions about dog training (the only thing two dog trainers will agree on is that the third one is wrong!). A lot of the evictions came out of those disagreements. And the political discussions were bad enough that, as I mentioned, they got moved to a different sub-forum where people didn't have to see them if they didn't want to.

So anyway, I don't have any point here. Like I said above, I'm fine keeping religion and politics off this board.

One thing I don't like about Nabble is how you can't automatically go to the first new post since you last visited a thread, only to the last post. And when the last post is the first on a new page you often miss the second-to-last post. In this case, the second-to-last post was mine. So go back a page and look, or don't. I don't really care if people choose not to read it, it's not like it's important or anything. I just kinda don't want it lost.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Last post.

Censorship is un-American and tyrannical.

Im not here to "stir the pot", never was.

The simple fact that Im "not allowed" to do something is repulsive to me. I spent a lot of time looking the other way, but I have to stand for what I believe in.

Give me Liberty...or sign me out.

Gadsen is fine but it doesn't belong here...

I have nothing but positive things about you Ray, but if it ruffles your feathers, so be it.

Good luck!

[old55pete]

Last post.

Censorship is un-American and tyrannical.

Im not here to "stir the pot", never was.

The simple fact that Im "not allowed" to do something is repulsive to me. I spent a lot of time looking the other way, but I have to stand for what I believe in.

Give me Liberty...or sign me out.

Good luck in life Ray. I have always enjoyed our interactions.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I don't mean for this to get into a discussion about religion or politics, and if it seems like it's going to go that way I'm happy to have this post deleted or whatever seems right. But I wanted to comment on the discussion about discussing religion and politics going on in the Big Blue's Transformation thread an I didn't want to continue to hijack that thread.

I personally have no problem with the policy to not discuss religion or politics here. It might be interesting discussing those topics with some of the people here, but it also might be a mess. And I have other venues where I can discuss those topics, so I don't need to discuss them here.

But I did want to mention a bulletin board I used to be on and what they did. It was a board set up and run by a print magazine I subscribe to, Pointing Dog Journal (PDJ). So obviously it was primarily about pointing dogs and bird hunting. I say "was" because the magazine shut the bulletin board down about a year ago. I don't know why they did, but activity on the board had really died away, to the point of probably less than 20 posts per week total. So they may have just decided that it wasn't worth the effort.

People asked periodically why it had died down. Some suspected that the added requirement that members of the board be current subscribers to the magazine. That had been put in place partly to keep out phishers (there were a lot fewer posts from new members that were advertising male enhancement products after that). But it definitely excluded a lot of the former members, so I'm sure it was a factor.

Others suggested that the drop in activity was from the overly conservative administration that kicked people out "too readily" (in some people's opinions anyway) for rousing rabble.

So maybe what they did didn't work. But in a lot of ways it did.

Like this bulletin board, PDJ board had separate forums for different types of topics. Unlike this board, the PDJ board didn't have a "root" forum. You had to click into a sub-forum to see or create any threads. In a way I think that was better, because it helped focus things better. If you wanted to talk about training dogs, or field trialing, or hunting, or whatever, you went to the applicable forum. There was a "general discussion" forum, but generally (groan!) people didn't post there if it fit into a different forum.

They did eventually create a "politics" forum (which I avoided) to keep political discussions out of the "general discussion" forum, but religion was still fair game under general discussion. And there were quite a few religious threads. People posting in them included "mainstream" Protestants, "evangelicals", Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Native American traditions, atheists and probably more that I'm not remembering now. Surprisingly, none of the religious discussions got nasty. People were very open with their beliefs, and frequently said that they disagreed with what someone else had said. But somehow the disagreement never got disagreeable. And it wasn't because everyone was always so pleasant! There were some NASTY discussions about dog training (the only thing two dog trainers will agree on is that the third one is wrong!). A lot of the evictions came out of those disagreements. And the political discussions were bad enough that, as I mentioned, they got moved to a different sub-forum where people didn't have to see them if they didn't want to.

So anyway, I don't have any point here. Like I said above, I'm fine keeping religion and politics off this board.

Bob, I apologize if I have offended anyone.

I try to play by the rules and don't want to insult anyone.

I haven't noticed any censorship here on this forum, and I am definitely the one pushing boundaries.

If you are asking me to leave, I definitely respect that, and will (for the good of this forum)

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

I don't mean for this to get into a discussion about religion or politics, and if it seems like it's going to go that way I'm happy to have this post deleted or whatever seems right. But I wanted to comment on the discussion about discussing religion and politics going on in the Big Blue's Transformation thread an I didn't want to continue to hijack that thread.

I personally have no problem with the policy to not discuss religion or politics here. It might be interesting discussing those topics with some of the people here, but it also might be a mess. And I have other venues where I can discuss those topics, so I don't need to discuss them here.

But I did want to mention a bulletin board I used to be on and what they did. It was a board set up and run by a print magazine I subscribe to, Pointing Dog Journal (PDJ). So obviously it was primarily about pointing dogs and bird hunting. I say "was" because the magazine shut the bulletin board down about a year ago. I don't know why they did, but activity on the board had really died away, to the point of probably less than 20 posts per week total. So they may have just decided that it wasn't worth the effort.

People asked periodically why it had died down. Some suspected that the added requirement that members of the board be current subscribers to the magazine. That had been put in place partly to keep out phishers (there were a lot fewer posts from new members that were advertising male enhancement products after that). But it definitely excluded a lot of the former members, so I'm sure it was a factor.

Others suggested that the drop in activity was from the overly conservative administration that kicked people out "too readily" (in some people's opinions anyway) for rousing rabble.

So maybe what they did didn't work. But in a lot of ways it did.

Like this bulletin board, PDJ board had separate forums for different types of topics. Unlike this board, the PDJ board didn't have a "root" forum. You had to click into a sub-forum to see or create any threads. In a way I think that was better, because it helped focus things better. If you wanted to talk about training dogs, or field trialing, or hunting, or whatever, you went to the applicable forum. There was a "general discussion" forum, but generally (groan!) people didn't post there if it fit into a different forum.

They did eventually create a "politics" forum (which I avoided) to keep political discussions out of the "general discussion" forum, but religion was still fair game under general discussion. And there were quite a few religious threads. People posting in them included "mainstream" Protestants, "evangelicals", Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Native American traditions, atheists and probably more that I'm not remembering now. Surprisingly, none of the religious discussions got nasty. People were very open with their beliefs, and frequently said that they disagreed with what someone else had said. But somehow the disagreement never got disagreeable. And it wasn't because everyone was always so pleasant! There were some NASTY discussions about dog training (the only thing two dog trainers will agree on is that the third one is wrong!). A lot of the evictions came out of those disagreements. And the political discussions were bad enough that, as I mentioned, they got moved to a different sub-forum where people didn't have to see them if they didn't want to.

So anyway, I don't have any point here. Like I said above, I'm fine keeping religion and politics off this board.

I'm sorry if my post seemed about religion or politics.

It was specifically about rejecting all because of a past traumatic experience.

Nothing more, nothing less..

If this is offensive, or troubling to you, please address me directly And I will do my best to resolve your problem.

[1986F150Six]

I'm sorry if my post seemed about religion or politics.

It was specifically about rejecting all because of a past traumatic experience.

Nothing more, nothing less..

If this is offensive, or troubling to you, please address me directly And I will do my best to resolve your problem.

In my opinion, no one is asking that anyone leave the forum!

[Nothing Special]

I'm sorry if my post seemed about religion or politics.

It was specifically about rejecting all because of a past traumatic experience.

Nothing more, nothing less..

If this is offensive, or troubling to you, please address me directly And I will do my best to resolve your problem.

Jim, sorry, no, nothing personal intended in anything I said. I never even saw a post from you that I thought was political or religious in nature. I did see a post where you said you were going to go back and edit an earlier post, so it may be that I just missed it. But I'm certainly not asking that you or anybody else leave.

I'm not advocating for absolutely rigid, zero tolerance enforcement of the current policy of no political or religious discussions. I'm also not advocating opening this board up to political and religious discussion. All I meant to do was say how another board I was on handled the general topic.

edit to add:

.... If this is offensive, or troubling to you, please address me directly And I will do my best to resolve your problem.

And likewise. I'm glad you did bring this up directly so I could address it directly.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Jim, sorry, no, nothing personal intended in anything I said. I never even saw a post from you that I thought was political or religious in nature. I did see a post where you said you were going to go back and edit an earlier post, so it may be that I just missed it. But I'm certainly not asking that you or anybody else leave.

I'm not advocating for absolutely rigid, zero tolerance enforcement of the current policy of no political or religious discussions. I'm also not advocating opening this board up to political and religious discussion. All I meant to do was say how another board I was on handled the general topic.

edit to add:

.... If this is offensive, or troubling to you, please address me directly And I will do my best to resolve your problem.

And likewise. I'm glad you did bring this up directly so I could address it directly.

Bob, I thank you.

I had no intention of invoking religion.

I was merely making a comparison to my longstanding distaste with a certain hypocrisy.

I really appreciate that this forum shies away from politics and religion.

IMHO, that is what separates it from most of the rest.

If someone's nose gets out of joint because of that, I'm sympathetic, but not moved.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I really appreciate that this forum shies away from politics and religion.

IMHO, that is what separates it from most of the rest.

If someone's nose gets out of joint because of that, I'm sympathetic, but not moved.

Jim - Well said. I've heard from a lot of people who appreciate this forum for its demeanor, and that has to include the lack of politics and religion.

And you are spot-on with the sympathy w/o being moved. I'm sorry that Ray has left. But that doesn't mean I think we should discuss either politics or religion.

Bob - I appreciate your input. It is helpful to know how others handled things. But the problem I'm seeing is that down here in The States there's a huge gulf between people regarding politics. Some won't talk to others if they voted "the other way". In fact, I've seen people leave their church home because of political difference.

How did they know what the other person believed? Facebook! People get on and tout their own "truths" and someone else takes issue with them and now they've started a war of words. I've watched it happen between my own friends.

Yes, I'm on Facebook. And while I don't have any say over what other people post on there I do have a say in what I see. So I've unfollowed bunches and bunches of people because they get into political discussions. If the person is really close to me and hasn't done it before I might give them the benefit of the doubt. But the vast majority of people are G.O.N.E. from my Facebook feed the very first time they start into politics. And you know what? I've heard others complain about what's being said on Facebook and I say "I've not seen any of that."

So I want to keep this forum w/o discussions of politics or religion. I believe it will keep us friends for a much longer time.