Thread closing and reasons for it
I started a thread recently about firearms in the US. It was closed by the moderator I believes controls the forum.
I must admit that it was valid to close as there was no sense in continuing because of the lack of civility. I will be a man and state that I was sucked into the base ignorance often exhibited on this particular forum. For that and the other posters who show a decorum that should be present in these debates I apologize. However, I have seen the and easily identified how and why these threads fall apart. I have been coming to this forum for years and pay a subscription fee to the main site.
It is only recently that I have been posting as I have read many threads and did not bother to participate for one reason or another.
There are problems that I would hope the "owner" or the person designated as such would take into account.
I have seen threads started and fall apart, people expressing an opinion banned and people that have been confrontational and always vocal in their opinion still staying around.
I have seen moderators expressing opinions on threads and editing posts to suit their point of view and ignoring more egregious posts always it seems initiated by the same member.
On the guns thread, there is an easily identified poster and moderator that have been constantly instigating a form of politicization of threads and causing issues and bickering. Always, the same poster is at the very heart of these confrontations and the same moderator chooses to ignore him, but, will edit, sanitize posts, or, will ban completely a poster who is responding in kind.
why is one person banned for using the easily identified # as a form of camouflaging words that are inappropriate for the forum and accepted by the moderator for the vast number of posters as being fine to use but once again, the moderator chooses to ban or edit others that use the exact same identical sign or substitute for a letter.
Where I am live and through life experience I see that the divide is pretty easily identified.
Those of us with a liberal viewpoint or should I be forced to use the word progressive as a substitute, are the one's that are banned or will have their opinion edited by one moderator while a consecrative point of view is allowed.
Europeans are more open minded in my opinion and to identify one as being liberal or conservative is often harder to identify. Not everything in Europe is black and white. People have open minds and the politics of people is harder to identify.
On this particular forum I have found it much easier to see that in the US there is a clear divide and there is a starkly defined and vitriolic hatred exhibited by certain confrontational groups and in the case of these forums one or two that I will not name but will conclude that it is obvious to most of the members.
Threads should not be forced to close and an even hand in the moderating should be used. Moderators who choose to insert their opinion into a thread should automatically loose their right to moderate the thread. They are expressing an opinion and will edit or ban when they choose. Always someone they disagree with.