Political Threads? Add value or create noise.

[Hammerhead]

Originally Posted by bazookajoe

...IMO it's the threads that start out overtly political that don't contribute to the camaraderie of the jungle or create thoughtful discussion.

Fair 'nuff, however please note I said "bad taste". I think we go down a slippery PC slope when we lose our own ability to know when something is in bad taste, because we're relying on someone else to make the decision for us, rather than exercising our ability to control oursvles to determine if we should become involved in the thread or not.

Just my two cents.

[AAlmeter]

Originally Posted by Hammerhead

Fair 'nuff, however please note I said "bad taste". I think we go down a slippery PC slope when we lose our own ability to know when something is in bad taste, because we're relying on someone else to make the decision for us, rather than exercising our ability to control oursvles to determine if we should become involved in the thread or not.

Just my two cents.

Eh, we've got mods to do that for us

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by AAlmeter

Eh, we've got mods to do that for us

Somebody has to be the last line of defense before anarchy.

[Kayak_Rat]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Somebody has to be the last line of defense before anarchy.

Judging by our mods......thats is a scary thought.

[RETSF]

Originally Posted by macjoe53

I read the political threads about tobacco legislation and think it would be a diservice to CS members to delete that forum.

I have read and participated in some of the "political" threads that have been posted in the "Everything but..." forum and find them informing and interesting. Do they sometime degenerate into name calling and get members banned? Yes.

However, there have been several threads that have dealt with more philosphical political questions (Socialism of America & Che Guevara, for example) that went on for quite awhile, gave many members the opportunity to voice their opinions and points of view, and actually presented the opportunity for members to learn things they didn't know or realize. It also gave us the opportunity to learn more about our fellow CS members.

That being said, it is up to each individual to take advantage of those opportunities.

In my opinion, which is certainly worth no more or less than any other member, I think political discussions should not be banned. A forum for these discussions would be appropriate because then members could choose whether to read the threads or not before accidentally opening one.

We talk about everything under the sun in the jungle, why ban a common everyday and a very important subject. There is no need to censor/ban a particular subject such as politics, whats next banning threads concerning football, basketball, how to make a humidor and so on - because another may not like those subjects? Were all adults and should be able to decide what threads we want or don't want to be envolved in. Simply said; "Don't participate in a thread which is of no intrest to you". My

[Darrell]

Politics have a habit of ruining friendships. Political debate is not needed at CS. It's NO good for the jungle.

[pnoon]

macjoe53, this is not meant as a reply to you personally but to comment on your statements for all members.

Originally Posted by macjoe53

In my opinion, which is certainly worth no more or less than any other member, I think political discussions should not be banned.

They aren't banned. But those threads that turn ugly (and nearly all of them do), will be closed and/or deleted.

Originally Posted by macjoe53

A forum for these discussions would be appropriate

That will not happen. The site owner has said this repeatedly.

This is first, and foremost, a cigar board. Those that are passionate about politics can join a board whose main emphasis is politics. Those that are at odds with the rules and guidelines set forth by the site owner and moderator team are free to abide by them or not participate at CS. The moderators work to maintain a sense of camraderie and family and try hard to be fair in doing so. If it is not to your liking, there are many online communities out there.

[stig]

I never discuss politics or religion with friends and I find that I keep friends longer this way.

[muziq]

Originally Posted by pnoon

This is first, and foremost, a cigar board. Those that are passionate about politics can join a board whose main emphasis is politics.

Amen, sister.

[guy g]

Originally Posted by taltos

Some (and I will include myself) are so set in their political beliefs that there is no listening to the opposing side. These threads just turn into sources of strife and if they are to remain, should have their own forum.

It would be a full time job to monitor a political forum to keep up with the friendly decorum that has been a trademark of CS. Does pnoon have that much time on his hands??
(ps, this could have already been mentioned, I skimmed thru the thread pretty fast)

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by icehog3

I agree with Adam about not banning political threads....it is all about respecting each other and each others' opinions. If we could all do that all the time, whether agreeing or disagreeing, we would have little problem.

Where the need to close up a thread comes is when people get disrespectful, and attack the messenger or becoming personally insulting/assaultive. If we just let that continue, the board goes up for grabs. I think we should let them go on unless they get out of hand, and the mods usually put a good deal of thought and discssion into closing threads before that actually happens.

And I won't close this thread even though Adam insulted Bea Arthur.

I think they should be treated just like the avatar’s that are NSFW. If the avatars are offensive, turn off the avatars.

If political threads are offensive, don't read them.

Seeing people's political views is interesting, but seeing how people behave (or misbehave) when faced with something they agree or disagree with, can be educational.

It can give us a look into the level of a person’s maturity and can give us an idea of their grasp on very basic fundamental interaction skills that most learn before leaving elementary school.

Ken

[gvarsity]

I have seen quite a few posts about the "banning" of political threads. I have seen very little support for actually banning the political threads.

The question was "Political Threads? Good or bad for CS?" or as the thread title stated " Political Threads? Add value or create noise." A very solid majority think they create noise and are bad for CS.

But like reasonable adults (with a potentially carcinogenic hobby) we allow things that are within reason "bad" for us. Why are political threads held in such low regard? With rights and freedoms come responsibility and respect. IMHO there are members that aggressively exercise their rights and freedoms in how they post in political threads but eschew the corresponding respect and responsibility.

IMHO this creates and atmosphere many of us choose to avoid. Not out of fear or pink tutu predilections but out of preference for pleasant discourse which can be had in pretty much any other thread on club stogie. A bit of a waste really because in these times civil political discussion is both wanted and needed but that seems to be beyond our current capabilities..

[Andyman]

They seem to good a good job of weeding out the asshats..

[TMoneYNYY]

To answer the question in full, yes, I do like political threads... I just don't like it when people take things too far and ruin the atmosphere.

[TideRoll]

Originally Posted by icehog3

I agree with Adam about not banning political threads....it is all about respecting each other and each others' opinions. If we could all do that all the time, whether agreeing or disagreeing, we would have little problem.

Where the need to close up a thread comes is when people get disrespectful, and attack the messenger or becoming personally insulting/assaultive. If we just let that continue, the board goes up for grabs. I think we should let them go on unless they get out of hand, and the mods usually put a good deal of thought and discssion into closing threads before that actually happens.

And I won't close this thread even though Adam insulted Bea Arthur.

I'm with the Cold Pig on this one. Although, I do think that Bea Arthur is a shameless slut. Slut, slut, slut. Ha!