Webmaster
03-17-2002, 11:24 AM
Well - I guess we had some interesting discussion that got out of hand the other day which led to the Mods temp banning everyone involved.
Given the circumstances, it was probably the most prudent move. Discussing politics isnt an instantly bannable offence, but I feel that a ban over the weekend did a good job of cooling everyones jets and prevented more threads from popping up due to the aftermath.
Reviewing the thread and the posts made to miscues thread about the ban, I just want to make a few statements and then we can get on with life.
I dont think Butterfingers intentionally meant to start a flame war by making his post. I truelly think he wanted to instigate a high brow converstaion about someones views.
That said, he should also know that this isnt the place for that. We dont instantly delete every thread with a political slant, but given aarmans past statements I dont see how one could see this going down a pleasent path. His views are very contradictory to a majority of the board and the "gang up on arman" factor is high.
That said - its clear arman has some anti-semitic views among other things. While we frown upon behavior that is prejustice against anothers race, sex, or religion - we are not the thought police. I guarentee that there are other members on this board who dont like blacks, hispanics, asians, or muslims. It is not our job to root these people out and stab them with pitchforks. No matter how distasteful we find thier views, we are not in the business of instructing people what to think and how to act.
That said, we will not ban people because of personal views. We will ban people if they inappropriately express those views on the forum.
An example - User A is a member of the KKK. He doesnt broadcast this fact, doesnt get involved in flame wars, and keeps his discusson on topic. User A stays. User B is a member of the KKK, he has a "south will rise" image in his sig complete with a white hood. User B is banned.
Pretty simple, eh? You can think what you want, but you will not be allowed to discuss inappropriate topics on our forum.
I recommend that if you have such a topic you must discuss with one of our users, that you email or PM them directly. If they have thier Email and PM turned off -then obviously they dont want to talk about it.
Further more, if you just have to discuss politics and religion, goto www.google.com and being your search - I promise there are ALOT of sites out there where you can discuss these topics all day long.
Finally, since alot of people have a beef with aarman and his sig - I removed the german from it. My german is uber rusty and since I dont know what it says, its gone. This will apply to anyones sig - if I cant read it - we may delete it. His "Insert dancing hitler here" thing I left. That sentence by itself doesnt violate the rules. Heck, there used to be a film from a news reel where they take a few frames and move it back and forth to create "the hitler jig" to parody the great fuhrer. However - using quotes or images in your sig that violate the rules will lead to a ban - that goes for everyone.
So - I am lifting all the bans today - consider up till now just a cooling off period. Obviously there were people who were more guilty than others - but our mods actions treated everyone equal.
If you have problems with this, feel free to email me - some things are better said in private. Of course comments on the board are welcome.
Given the circumstances, it was probably the most prudent move. Discussing politics isnt an instantly bannable offence, but I feel that a ban over the weekend did a good job of cooling everyones jets and prevented more threads from popping up due to the aftermath.
Reviewing the thread and the posts made to miscues thread about the ban, I just want to make a few statements and then we can get on with life.
I dont think Butterfingers intentionally meant to start a flame war by making his post. I truelly think he wanted to instigate a high brow converstaion about someones views.
That said, he should also know that this isnt the place for that. We dont instantly delete every thread with a political slant, but given aarmans past statements I dont see how one could see this going down a pleasent path. His views are very contradictory to a majority of the board and the "gang up on arman" factor is high.
That said - its clear arman has some anti-semitic views among other things. While we frown upon behavior that is prejustice against anothers race, sex, or religion - we are not the thought police. I guarentee that there are other members on this board who dont like blacks, hispanics, asians, or muslims. It is not our job to root these people out and stab them with pitchforks. No matter how distasteful we find thier views, we are not in the business of instructing people what to think and how to act.
That said, we will not ban people because of personal views. We will ban people if they inappropriately express those views on the forum.
An example - User A is a member of the KKK. He doesnt broadcast this fact, doesnt get involved in flame wars, and keeps his discusson on topic. User A stays. User B is a member of the KKK, he has a "south will rise" image in his sig complete with a white hood. User B is banned.
Pretty simple, eh? You can think what you want, but you will not be allowed to discuss inappropriate topics on our forum.
I recommend that if you have such a topic you must discuss with one of our users, that you email or PM them directly. If they have thier Email and PM turned off -then obviously they dont want to talk about it.
Further more, if you just have to discuss politics and religion, goto www.google.com and being your search - I promise there are ALOT of sites out there where you can discuss these topics all day long.
Finally, since alot of people have a beef with aarman and his sig - I removed the german from it. My german is uber rusty and since I dont know what it says, its gone. This will apply to anyones sig - if I cant read it - we may delete it. His "Insert dancing hitler here" thing I left. That sentence by itself doesnt violate the rules. Heck, there used to be a film from a news reel where they take a few frames and move it back and forth to create "the hitler jig" to parody the great fuhrer. However - using quotes or images in your sig that violate the rules will lead to a ban - that goes for everyone.
So - I am lifting all the bans today - consider up till now just a cooling off period. Obviously there were people who were more guilty than others - but our mods actions treated everyone equal.
If you have problems with this, feel free to email me - some things are better said in private. Of course comments on the board are welcome.