Suggestion Should we ban religious / LGBT / political threads?

[MadMageKefka]

This started as a status message, but it sparked some interesting discussion, so at the advice of someone on my status, I made a thread to see what everyone else thinks.

Now, its not my place to decide the rules of this site, nor am I the kind of person to usually censor what people talk about. However, I am seeing more and more of these threads every day, and its getting out of hand. They always, without fail, devolve into bigotry and arguing. With this being a video game website, and these sorts of threads causing so much drama, maybe it would be for the best?

An example I would like to give is the thread from the other day about the Afghanistan bombing. After several pages it devolved into several people saying how gays should be executed. The thread was deleted shortly after. My question is, why aren't those people being punished and having their comments deleted? Why was the entire thread removed? Some of that conversation was legit discussion. I have a feeling the staff here is tired of the crap too (please correct me if I am wrong).

So what do you all think? I don't wanna censor people really, but at the same time I think it would make the site a more friendly, enjoyable experience for everyone. Maybe another option would be to create a separate forum for this stuff, so at least it doesn't appear on the front page? Please, let me know how you all feel too.

EDIT: At this point, after discussing this for so many hours, my opinion on the matter is that outright banning this sort of thing is not the answer. I do, however, feel that off-topic discussions of this nature don't belong on the front page of a gaming / hacking forum. A lot of people are tired of seeing it and it just plain makes us looks bad as a community when 4 out of the 10 topics on the front page are off-topic shit shows of bigotry and hate. This is obviously not too often the case, but it does seem to be happening more frequently.

 

[mikefor20]

No, I just assumed you were talking about me because you quoted my post. By the way, you're derailing this thread...

I am derailing? I just said ban these topics. How am I derailing? I got accused of hate for stating an opinion. I then defended myself and restated my opinion, trying to stay on track. How is that not on track? Ban religion,politics and LGBT stuff. Its a video game board for Christ sake!

 

[Sheimi]

I think banning is a good and bad idea.

 

[ihaveahax]

I am derailing? I just said ban these topics. How am I derailing? I got accused of hate for stating an opinion. I then defended myself and restated my opinion, trying to stay on track. How is that not on track? Ban religion,politics and LGBT stuff. Its a video game board for Christ sake!

hmm, did you read Isaac's post? it is a video game site sure, but that's not a reason to ban other topics.

It's a community focused on gaming yes, but it's not uncommon for people to speak about other things within said community. Discussing other topics with the members of the community is good for personal growth and is fun.
There's no furry dating going on here or whatever, if you're not interested in a topic then just don't read it.

 

[s157]

I am derailing? I just said ban these topics. How am I derailing? I got accused of hate for stating an opinion. I then defended myself and restated my opinion, trying to stay on track. How is that not on track? Ban religion,politics and LGBT stuff. Its a video game board for Christ sake!

You aren't derailing the thread, but if that's your foundation of the argument you should be advocating the removal of the off-topic/books, movies, tv, and music/EOF boards. They exist for a reason, and I'd like to think that reason is that some people are genuinely interested in the opinion of the others on this board in regards to non-video game topics.

 

[ComeTurismO]

Yes, completely agree it shouldn't be here at all--but I understand that this forum should have the opportunity to discuss other things. The topics brings out the worst of people here; and then it leads to putting them down in other threads or posts. Kudos to the staff who respond and take the initiative to stand up against issues and take immediate action to stop things. Anyway, I suggest action should be more immediate and it can make people learn that certain behaviors are not O.K.

 

[Issac]

He's not derailing, he is stating his opinion. He is being rather rude about it though, but not too extreme. Mostly tactless, and considering he think spacing and punctuation is a waste of time, I get the slight feeling of Aspergers.

 

[VinsCool]

Not banning, but moving these discussions to blogs would be a good idea.

 

[ComeTurismO]

Honestly I think its crazy that people who are raised very religiously think that gay people are evil. I was raised religious and still am, but I NEVER once thought that people could be that hateful. Parents and people like that give people who believe certain faiths really bad press.

Exactly, completely agree with you. Sure, religious books denounce these types of things--but we have to keep up with time and realize it's how people are born and it's even a sin to put people down for who they are!

 

[mikefor20]

hmm, did you read Isaac's post? it is a video game site sure, but that's not a reason to ban other topics.

It is a reason to ban other topics. Your politics are derailing the site. Diluting GBATemp. Issac might just be wrong. No offense,big fan. But we need a ban At least on the main page. It should NEVER be in recent topics. It is a waste of time. Also for the most part it's private. Keep it to yourself. The alternative is do whatever you want but allow people to express their thoughts against your opinion with the same level of "freedom" you think you deserve. It goes both ways They deserve it too. Discussions are two-sided. You don't seem to want a discussion you just want to be validated. And that's not what this board is for. If you can't handle opposing ideas, criticisms and could possibly be devastated by a post then don't do it. Talk about gaming. This isn't the Springer show.

 

[Stephano]

Exactly, completely agree with you. Sure, religious books denounce these types of things--but we have to keep up with time and realize it's how people are born and it's even a sin to put people down for who they are!

Well for me, I view certain acts like this wrong. BUT, just because I do not agree with someone, DOES NOT mean I like/love them any less. Everyone does things that people don't agree with. Welcome to Earth! But I can look passed things like this because who am I to judge right? If I think something is terrible, odds are I'm just as bad or worse

 

[ComeTurismO]

Well for me, I view certain acts like this wrong. BUT, just because I do not agree with someone, DOES NOT mean I like/love them any less. Everyone does things that people don't agree with. Welcome to Earth! But I can look passed things like this because who am I to judge right? If I think something is terrible, odds are I'm just as bad or worse

And that's perfectly fine; expressing your opinion but putting people down for it is just not OK.

 

[JoostinOnline]

I think at the very least there should be a dedicated forum for it. That way it wouldn't muck up the Off Topic section.

People who don't like those discussions could easily avoid them, and people who enjoy being angry all the time would have a place to hang out.

 

[ihaveahax]

It is a reason to ban other topics. Your politics are derailing the site. Diluting GBATemp. Issac might just be wrong. No offense,big fan. But we need a ban At least on the main page. It should NEVER be in recent topics. It is a waste of time. Also for the most part it's private. Keep it to yourself. The alternative is do whatever you want but allow people to express their thoughts against your opinion with the same level of "freedom" you think you deserve. It goes both ways They deserve it too. Discussions are two-sided. You don't seem to want a discussion you just want to be validated. And that's not what this board is for. If you can't handle opposing ideas, criticisms and could possibly be devastated by a post then don't do it. Talk about gaming. This isn't the Springer show.

if it is a reason I suppose every site should start removing all off-topic boards, but that's never going to happen and I think is more detrimental to the site (would many people stay much if there were no way to discuss other things? probably not)

also, if you don't like seeing threads about politics/etc, but you view them anyway and complain about what's going on inside them, well that is kind of your problem. you know you don't have to read the threads.

and yes I do agree "free speech" (for lack of a better term) works both ways. isn't that what we're doing now?

 

[mikefor20]

He's not derailing, he is stating his opinion. He is being rather rude about it though, but not too extreme. Mostly tactless, and considering he think spacing and punctuation is a waste of time, I get the slight feeling of Aspergers.

Remember when you point a finger you have 3 pointed right back at you. And the punctuation and spacing is laziness. I will admit to being guilty of that. I am typing on cell phone. Plus I think obsessing over someone's spacing shows that you might have some kind of disorder...

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I think at the very least there should be a dedicated forum for it. That way it wouldn't muck up the Off Topic section.

People who don't like those discussions could easily avoid them, and people who enjoy being angry all the time would have a place to hang out.

if you google it there are TONS of forums for it...

 

[DinohScene]

I think at the very least there should be a dedicated forum for it. That way it wouldn't muck up the Off Topic section.

People who don't like those discussions could easily avoid them, and people who enjoy being angry all the time would have a place to hang out.

Subforum under GOTC.
Wouldn't be such a bad idea but it would need to be heavily moderated for sure.

 

[Stephano]

And that's perfectly fine; expressing your opinion but putting people down for it is just not OK.

Absolutely! I guess that's why we shouldn't have threads like this. People can be so immature and threads like that only make those people visible for everyone to see.

 

[JoostinOnline]

if you google it there are TONS of forums for it...

Forum as in dedicated section of GBAtemp. Also called a sub-forum.

Subforum under GOTC.
Wouldn't be such a bad idea but it would need to be heavily moderated for sure.

The topics are already being heavily moderated. This adds a little organization with no downside. I'm not opposed to banning them, but I doubt such a drastic change will happen anytime soon.

 

[ComeTurismO]

Absolutely! I guess that's why we shouldn't have threads like this. People can be so immature and threads like that only make those people visible for everyone to see.

Exactly; even though this is the internet; people are inconsiderate of the fact that someone can get affected by another person's words if it attacks their culture, religion, race, or whatever. Those things are probably what they aren't really about and it's just misinterpreted. Everything has its flaws; nothing is perfect--but all trees have bad apples. And good apples.

 

[Issac]

Remember when you point a finger you have 3 pointed right back at you. And the punctuation and spacing is laziness. I will admit to being guilty of that. I am typing on cell phone. Plus I think obsessing over someone's spacing shows that you might have some kind of disorder...

I'm not pointing any fingers. I was actually defending your right to speak your opinion. The way you type and the way you percent your opinions reminds me of Aspergers - and I thought that might be a reason your posts are repeating themselves, lacking any kind of tact and taking your own opinion as blatant fact. I know several Aspies, and recognized the patterns.
If you're not, I'm sorry I made that guess.

Besides you're on an all attack mode, how about chilling a bit?

 

[mikefor20]

if it is a reason I suppose every site should start removing all off-topic boards, but that's never going to happen and I think is more detrimental to the site (would many people stay much if there were no way to discuss other things? probably not)

also, if you don't like seeing threads about politics/etc, but you view them anyway and complain about what's going on inside them, well that is kind of your problem. you know you don't have to read the threads.

and yes I do agree "free speech" (for lack of a better term) works both ways. isn't that what we're doing now?

Especially like the "I think is more detrimental to the site (would many people stay much if there were no way to discuss other things? probably not" Tell me, would being off topic benefit the endevor of reverse engineering and hacking the 3ds? No. Would being off topic,especially controversial ones like religion and gay rights chase some people off? Yes. Don't worry you'll still have the rest of the web. Keep the gaming site on topic. Stop talking about your obsession and make the temp about gaming.