Banned Topics

[MDSH]

Dear Moderators and All,

If a religious or political topic is banned that is in itself a religions and political statement.

If, for instance, a Christian or Jew posts passages from the Bible, and said passages are banned, then atheists and Muslims might rejoice!

If we ban those that support soldiers then pacifists are pleased, to name another example.

The cure for offensive speech is more speech, letting everyone compete in the marketplace of ideas, weighing the merits of any claim.

That is actually a mature and civilized way of doing things. Since all of us are political and religious beings (because we have souls), banning topics reduces us to animalistic consumers.

We are all adults that deal with people of differing perspectives every day in our lives. I see no need for banning any subject.

[sargevining]

The owner of the site may do what he pleases with the site, and he can build any kind of Community he wishes. Those who feel maligned will leave, they will take those bad feelings with them, and they will communicate those feelings in conversations around campfires in the years to come. He is, I beleive, aware that this will happen.

[Floridahanger]

MDSH, I agree to your context, but remember this is a hammock forum for talk and sharing ideas centered around hammocks.

I love the fact that with all the folks that are members from all over the world and different backgrounds, we can keep focus on hammocks and have little else to complicate that focus and stay on track. For the most part, the mods, with help from some of the elders of HF keep this tradition going.

The current situation we can only try and help with a little influence on the subject. I will not say what side I'm on only because I want to keep this hammock related and not about me. I will say that at group hangs we discuss some subjects with all due respect to each item and person and I like how civil we remain.

See ya around the fire.

[chefkeith]

It's odd that the other thread just vanished.

[MDSH]

My entire signature was removed, name and all, which perfectly illustrates my point.

Never did I abuse the privilege of being here with any comment in posts beyond my signature, which is who I am.

I respect and dearly love everyone here, who helped me recover from a serious injury by getting me back out there.

Though I am a minister I did not preach. I never preached. Show me where I preached or judged in any way.

I only existed as a religious person.

It's my existence that has been erased by a questionable rule and entirely de-humanizing process.

[Fancy Ramen]

Not really odd that the other thread vanished. Personally I don't care what you put on your signature, but let's talk about hammock stuff here. The whole point of hammock forums is to talk about hammock camping and whatnot. While nobody is ever going to tell you that it is wrong to be proud of your religion, the fact that we are spending our time as people of a community of people with an interest in hammocks, talking about another topic is a waste of time on this site. There are plenty of people out there that would be more than happy to discuss religion with you until you are blue in the face, but this isn't the right place to have religious discussions, this is a place to talk about everything hammock related. If you don't like the rules of the forum, address the issue in the correct manner, which is by contacting the people that run the site, not by starting a rant post. (...Senses the trolls waking )

[cricky101]

My entire signature was removed, name and all, which perfectly illustrates my point.

Never did I abuse the privilege of being here with any comment in posts beyond my signature, which is who I am.

I respect and dearly love everyone here, who helped me recover from a serious injury by getting me back out there.

Though I am a minister I did not preach. I never preached. Show me where I preached or judged in any way.

I only existed as a religious person.

It's my existence that has been erased by a questionable rule and entirely de-humanizing process.

And for a completely unsolicited experience, from someone who has had signatures turned off since I joined, absolutely nothing about hammock forums for me has changed. It's unfortunate people feel their identities have been ripped away because signatures are being changed, but post content seems to remain consistently on-topic and relevant to hammock camping.

[TallPaul]

MDSH - I'll just say if this forum was as you would have it, I would not have stuck around in the first place, so we wouldn't ever have had a chance to sit around a fire someday and chat.

[sargevining]

And for a completely unsolicited experience, from someone who has had signatures turned off since I joined, absolutely nothing about hammock forums for me has changed. It's unfortunate people feel their identities have been ripped away because signatures are being changed, but post content seems to remain consistently on-topic and relevant to hammock camping.

And post content is all that should matter. Mike has made some significant contributions to this community, as have others of Faith, to include some very well respected vendors here who make no excuses for their Faith and feature it on thier website.

Post content and contribution to the community is what should matter here, not who a person is or what he believes in.

[Kamper Kurt]

What else is banned????
-Auto-repair
-Parasailing
-Video games
-Cosmetology
-etc. etc.
There are probably thousands of topics that don't belong here. Opening this forum up to discuss them would be a terrible idea and just cause clutter. I can go other places to discuss those things and I come here for hammocks. It seems fairly straight forward.