Your Choice, your Vote

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

jnk wrote: Discussing the pros and cons of censorship/banning IS a political/religious discussion, isn't it?

And it seems to me that for any binding decisions to be made about what was political or religious, there would have to be an official appointment of a religious/political censor/potentate, wouldn't there be?

Some "political" posts/threads are actually sleep-related. Even though I am not political myself, those posts don't so much bother me, since where else would those subjects be discussed as freely as here? I seem to recall Johnny himself making one or two posts that some could consider as reflecting a certain "political" view on business. His right.

On the other hand, I admit that I find general (non-sleep) political threads here to be especially irritating. Just not as irritating as it would be to me if they were banned from being here.

Political people have OSA. Religious people have OSA. Atheists have OSA. I would hope that all of them are welcome here as long as they aren't disruptive. After all, it seems to me it doesn't hurt for newbies coming to this forum to see that it is filled with a bunch of regular people, not just CPAP activists and CPAP evangelists. If a newbie sees that political zealots and political neutrals alike are tolerated here, maybe the newbie will figure he or she will be welcome here too.

Although I consider myself a very religious person, I prefer having those discussions face-to-face so I can have some idea whether the other person(s) actually welcome(s) the discussion. I do not consider this forum to be the place for that sort of thing--it would feel out of place. A forum called CPAPtalk seems to me more like a place where people might go to talk about sleep-related problems, not so much religious ones or political ones, unless those problems are related to sleep somehow.

But hey, that's just how I see it.

+1

[WearyOne]

Some people on here have gotten really nasty when posting in relation to these two issues, so I just stopped commenting on or even reading those types of threads. I certainly don't think they should be banned, but marked OT like everything else that's off-topic.

[deltadave]

And for any binding decisions to be made about what was political or religious, there would have to be an official appointment of a religious/political censor/potentate, wouldn't there be?

A censor/potentate (CP)?

In order for this Noble Experiment to work (namely, never see the offensive posts), you would need tons of moderators (I mean, you could call them CPs, but they would be, for all practical purposes, moderators).

That said, an excellent template was offered in:

Forum Suggestion - Topic Sections

OTOH, perhaps it might be a more efficient plan to ban noob posts that include any/all the words "Hey, I've got a great idea!"

[deltadave]

Some of what other people wrote was nasty and less than appropriate...

I know, and I have to admit, I am appalled at such behavior!

Especially during Lent, no less!

[Mary Z]

Thank goodness we can learn from past behavior that postings from certain posters should always be labled "Off Topic". SInce they refuse to do so I can at least ignore their posts,or place them on the foe list since I have learned that these posters never have anything valuable to contribute to the discussion of sleep apnea.

[Maxie]

I really don't care. It would be helpful if people who write about other than CPAP and Sleep Apnea put OT in their posts. The beauty of the forum is that I only read what I want to read. The forum provides a great service and I like what I get from it. I don't read every post because some don't apply to me...same for religion and politics.

[ChicagoGranny]

If you allow some political content now, how out of hand will it get later this year with this exceptional election year?

I am very much looking forward to how CPAPers feel about the candidates!

Why do you think it will get out of hand? These things are always confined to a few threads.

For the life of me I just don't understand why people who object to those topics can't just stay out of those threads and mind their own damn business.

This forum seems to have been around about eight years and has 60,000 members. I don't see how the hell Gazhacks thinks he can come in here new and start making changes.

[Samaniego]

Good for me to learn CPAP and politics. Religion OK too. Learning English and will get citizenship. Want to vote and be knowedge full. Rough talk about politics OK. No one gets hurt on forum. Good to discuss here. Can decide for self no one else override. Politics has big cause to medical care.

[jnk]

As I understand it, the unstated rule here is that for every political post one makes in a CPAP forum, one is required to make at least two CPAP posts somewhere in a political forum as penance.

[BlackSpinner]

AS I understand it, the unstated rule here is that for every political post one makes in a CPAP forum, one is required to make at least two CPAP posts somewhere in a political forum as penance.

No no, you have make 5 posts here to help someone with a non political thread, a high spam button count and troll hunting credentials.

[xenablue]

If you allow some political content now, how out of hand will it get later this year with this exceptional election year?

I am very much looking forward to how CPAPers feel about the candidates!

Why do you think it will get out of hand? These things are always confined to a few threads.

For the life of me I just don't understand why people who object to those topics can't just stay out of those threads and mind their own damn business.

This forum seems to have been around about eight years and has 60,000 members. I don't see how the hell Gazhacks thinks he can come in here new and start making changes.

Oh, I've seen threads on religion and/or politics get way out of hand with people threatening others, open abuse etc. etc., to the point where moderator/owners have stepped in and closed the thread. Some people can become very rude behind the wall of anonymity and don't hold back when it comes to expressing their opinion... then there are those people who simply WANT to rile everyone and start a huge fight amongst posters.

Cheers,
xena

[ChicagoGranny]

If you allow some political content now, how out of hand will it get later this year with this exceptional election year?

I am very much looking forward to how CPAPers feel about the candidates!

Why do you think it will get out of hand? These things are always confined to a few threads.

For the life of me I just don't understand why people who object to those topics can't just stay out of those threads and mind their own damn business.

This forum seems to have been around about eight years and has 60,000 members. I don't see how the hell Gazhacks thinks he can come in here new and start making changes.

to the point where moderator/owners have stepped in and closed the thread.

Thank you, that proves my point. "The moderators closed the thread" - but they had the good sense not to ban political discussions from the forum.

I've seen threads on religion and/or politics get way out of hand with people threatening others, open abuse etc. etc.,

So you read these and you want the ban because you can't control yourself from reading them!

I guess you want youporn dot com banned because you can't control yourself and spend hours watching?

[LSAT]

ChicagoGranny quote..."This forum seems to have been around about eight years and has 60,000 members. I don't see how the hell Gazhacks thinks he can come in here new and start making changes."


Maybe we should start a poll to see if Gazhacks should be banned.

[jnk]

I believe this excerpt from a post from Johnny bears repeating:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20895&p=179739#p179739

My approach to moderating cpaptalk is well known. Here's the basic rational:

Beware the person who wishes to legislate the morality and the behavior of his neighbor. Respect the person who accepts as responsibility, duty and sacred privilege the task of successfully moderating his own behavior. People who can do this are rare beacons of light. It is easy to point the finger "elsewhere" and imagine a utopia will result. It is hard to do the work and take responsibility to make your first utopia internal. Paraphrasing Ghandi - be the change you wish to see in the world.

There are no rules, no distant moderator, no respected member of the community that can legislate or moderate away our own foul dispositions. If this were not true, one of the many forms of government our forefathers have tried would have worked. For another example of the rhetoric used by people who advocate such a position, read literature from those favoring prohibition before its enactment. These people believed sincerely in their cause, they had good intentions and were good people but their actions were doomed to failure from the start.

How does all of that lofty philosophy play out in real life? In the most basic terms,
I'm trading value for value. I provide the domain, the hosting, the software and the moderation of CPAPtalk in accordance with my set of beliefs regarding human nature and business. You may use it free of charge, you may find a better board or you may start your own.

There will be no additional moderators on CPAPtalk. The core values of this board will continue to govern it. Love your neighbor and be a neighbor others can love.

Johnny

[ChicagoGranny]

I believe this excerpt from a post from Johnny bears repeating:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20895&p=179739#p179739

My approach to moderating cpaptalk is well known. Here's the basic rational:

Beware the person who wishes to legislate the morality and the behavior of his neighbor. Respect the person who accepts as responsibility, duty and sacred privilege the task of successfully moderating his own behavior. People who can do this are rare beacons of light. It is easy to point the finger "elsewhere" and imagine a utopia will result. It is hard to do the work and take responsibility to make your first utopia internal. Paraphrasing Ghandi - be the change you wish to see in the world.

There are no rules, no distant moderator, no respected member of the community that can legislate or moderate away our own foul dispositions. If this were not true, one of the many forms of government our forefathers have tried would have worked. For another example of the rhetoric used by people who advocate such a position, read literature from those favoring prohibition before its enactment. These people believed sincerely in their cause, they had good intentions and were good people but their actions were doomed to failure from the start.

How does all of that lofty philosophy play out in real life? In the most basic terms,
I'm trading value for value. I provide the domain, the hosting, the software and the moderation of CPAPtalk in accordance with my set of beliefs regarding human nature and business. You may use it free of charge, you may find a better board or you may start your own.

There will be no additional moderators on CPAPtalk. The core values of this board will continue to govern it. Love your neighbor and be a neighbor others can love.

Johnny

Thank you. I saw references to Johnny before and appreciated that he maintains this forum. I now like Johnny very much!