Politics/Religion..yes or no?

[Jax]

We've seen lately here how civilly *cough* people can discuss politics, so we moderators decided to ask you..should we make politics and religion taboo topics here? Both are very personal things & discussions get out of hand quickly; many forums and e-mail lists have banned them as topics for that very reason.

For the record, spare us the *freedom of speech* lectures..this is a message board paid for by TEoF/SymX, and as such the rules we choose to put in place (as well as the ones initiated by Mark, who runs UM) are the ones you must follow if you want to participate here. For the record, I consult with Mike Romeo on my moderating style here, and he is fully supportive. However, we have no desire to be hardass dictators, so we're going to let you decide on this one.

Bear in mind, regardless of the results of the poll, we will still demand respect be shown in any and every discussion, or we will moderate the threads as we see fit.

This poll will remain open for one week.

 

[Harp Heaven]

Lady:
As previously stated, the politics discussion would not have gotten as eated as it was without the participation of Bobby. He single-handedly stood for 80% of the insults and derogatory remarks in the GW thread. I believe that if he is banned, then we make another attempt at discussing politics.- If that fails, then I`m all for banning it. Just my 0.50 cents.

 

[Demonspell]

No...I try to avoid participating in threads about politics, but I do not think they should be made off limits...

 

[ProgMetalFan]

Perhaps an Off-Topic addition to the Symphony X board would remedy the problem. Or perhaps people could find a political discussion board to discuss politics.

 

[The Yngster]

This is a forum for Symphony X, I don't see how we get so much discussion about politics. I agree with ProgMetalFan that there should be a separate forum for it.

 

[Kyra]

I voted no... I don't see why politics, religion, or anything else can't be discussed in a civilized manner. We're pretty much all adults here, or close enough to adults that we shouldn't have to resort to petty insults and name calling.

Instead of locking down threads that start to get out of hand or banning entire topics altogether, I suggest that the offenders should be the ones who are banned. If someone crosses the line, perhaps they could be warned once or twice, and then they're out the door.

 

[Yngvai X]

Yeah, I agree a seperate forum for non music disscussion would be benefit, just as we have a seperate music section so musicians dont have to clutter up the main forum with stuff only musicians understand . I know the Blind Guardian forum has several sub forums for non music discussion and it works well.

 

[BastrdDrmr]

Originally posted by Kyra
I voted no... I don't see why politics, religion, or anything else can't be discussed in a civilized manner. We're pretty much all adults here, or close enough to adults that we shouldn't have to resort to petty insults and name calling.

But it's so easy to do on the internet when someone can't win their argument!

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

I'm not in favor of banning anything, regardless of whether I agree or disagree, or whether I like or even respect someone or not; banning is akin to censorship, and this is still the USA, despite what some liberals seemingly prefer...

 

[ProgMetalFan]

Originally posted by markgugs
I'm not in favor of banning anything, regardless of whether I agree or disagree, or whether I like or even respect someone or not; banning is akin to censorship, and this is still the USA, despite what some liberals seemingly prefer...

This is the USA?

I thought this was an international community.

 

[FLechdrop]

Originally posted by ProgMetalFan
Perhaps an Off-Topic addition to the Symphony X board would remedy the problem.

Right. My point.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Originally posted by ProgMetalFan
This is the USA?

I thought this was an international community.

Point taken, though from where I'm sitting, it's the USA. Since, you know, I live here and all.

And unless some of our international "community" brethren have adopted some dumb-ass policies, censorship shouldn't be accepted by them either. Oh wait, too late.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Also, for the record, and aimed at Lady...

I wasn't meaning to start up a whole freedom of speech thing, I just wanted to point out that IMO, banning = censorship, and like I've stated, that shouldn't be acceptable anywhere, USA or not, SymX forum or not.

 

[MetalAges]

I would LIKE to say no but I voted yes, only because these topics can never seem to be discussed with cool heads and kind manners. People often times like to think their own opinions should be everyone elses. That Bobby guy pushed a lot of buttons with people (made people pissed) but then again a lot of the other comments got heated and uncalled for as well. Lord knows I would love to tell more people about God, Christianity, etc (those that know me know I am a "happy to talk about it" Christian (www.metalsanctuary.com ;P ) but even doing that causes people to blow up sometimes. Anyways, as much as I'd love to see it NOT off limits, I don't think it can be done in a nice way.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Deron, so you'd rather see these topics banned?

I can say this. If I *knew* a forum was populated with people so close-minded as to outlaw topics that didn't pertain specifically to the band (or whatever), I'd begin visiting less and less until I could care less about being there. That's why I specifically brought up the correlation to censorship. I'm not threatening that I won't visit anymore (and really, who would care if I didn't ), I'm just saying that it goes against everything I believe in.

For example, you can post to your heart's content about god, Christianity, faith, etc. and I will in all likelihood disagree about 100%, but I'll either keep my commentary brief or not at all. I can always pass the thread by.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Originally posted by ProgMetalFan
Perhaps an Off-Topic addition to the Symphony X board would remedy the problem. Or perhaps people could find a political discussion board to discuss politics.

Fuck Yeah! i've been saying this for a long time. I beleive that the best solution for this kind of discussions is to make an off-topic forum here on the SyX board (like the one the Opeth guys have) it's really interesting to talk about other things beside Syx don't you guys think? anyway if the people here are cool and don't insult each other in each one of the arguments that appear on the board, I beleive the best solution would be an Off-topic forum.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Pharaoh]

Such as the "Musicians" Forum which is seperate from the main SymX Forum. This would be the best way to approach it. IMO there are many, many places on the Web to go to discuss religion and / or politics. But if it is imperative to get into this on the band's Forum, it could be offered in a separate Forum. It's a volitile time in the world and people do want to talk about it, so I suppose it would be disrespectful to ban it. Just isolate the discussions.

But where do you, as Moderators draw the line to ban any certain people for inappropriate behavior? That would be a tough one. Inevitably religious and political discussions will get nasty. Personally I would never get into this on a Forum. So, I'm a wuss! Too much can be misinterpreted in text, even with the gallery of smileys at hand!!

 

[SyX-Fan]

Yeah.. off-topic forum would be nice, Nightwish has one as well on their official board. (Just joined today )

And about this banning = Censorship... = BS. If someone keep throwing petty insults around, just for the pleasure and fun of it, to get other people angry, to mess up a message board.. etc etc etc, I don't really see it as censorship. Would be the same if someone in the real world decided to get in his car and go for a drive down a nice crowded road, because he thought it would be fun.. "But I'm a good driver normally, I know what to do..I just do this for the thrill of it.. It's a free world!" he doesn't show that he is a good driver, but the fact that he doesn't give a damn about others than his ego-centric self.

Hope that made sense......

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Agreed with both of you.

But where do you, as Moderators draw the line to ban any certain people for inappropriate behavior? That would be a tough one. Inevitably religious and political discussions will get nasty. Personally I would never get into this on a Forum. So, I'm a wuss! Too much can be misinterpreted in text, even with the gallery of smileys at hand!!

Well personally I don't find that so tough (i'm a moderator in another forum, not this one obviously ) I beleive that if the person in question is taking the quality out of the forum and insulting people, I would ban his ass out of the forum.

 

[Jax]

For the record, there is a general Chat Forum here on UM (UM Chat Forum) where you are all more than welcome to post all the political pissing and moaning you like. Because the bottom line is, regardless of the results of this poll, this forum will be moderated as to remain something the band can be proud of, not ashamed of..it appears that some folks expect free reign here, and that's simply not going to happen. The Chat forum is just that, general chat, & is not linked to any band..so when it comes to topics like these that never remain civil, feel free to take them over there. As an added bonus, there are even more people over there to argue with..consider that your "off topic board" and have fun.