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.

 

[endoverend]

Yea, its possible I could have worded the title a little better. Maybe controversial topics? Maybe that's too vague.... I really couldn't think of a better way to phrase it. I also wasn't strictly for banning the threads completely, but that was the idea behind the original status post that spawned this thread, so I went with it. The idea of the thread was more to see how the rest of the community felt about it, and it appears a lot of us aren't happy with the current situation. I see your point of people getting offended at potentially moving this sort of content to the blog section, but I think that would be a hard argument to make if we included ALL controversial off-topics, as opposed to targeting specific ones.

BTW, if you have a suggestion for a better title, I'm all ears. If its good I'll request it to be changed.

But then the problem becomes "what's controversial?" Defining that in itself can become partisan pretty quickly.

 

[mikefor20]

Just talk about games. See how much energy went in to these threads? This is a gaming site. We are all a bunch of weirdos. Keep it sane. There are children coming here.

 

[Stephano]

He knows nothing. I have no learning disability. He made several assumptions about me through the course of the thread. He probably has issues that make him focus on things like punctuation, maybe hes upset because of something he read and that triggered his OCD? It's all speculation. The OP asked a yes or no question. Any well thought out answer would be fairly black and white. Does the op have Asperger? Ridiculous. You are not normal, any of you. Normal is a bullshit concept invented by the media to sell makeup and pills. Its there to make you hate your life and body so you consume. Your need to be front and center and have all your ideas seen indicates that you desire to be normal. Why? You are not normal. Never were. Nobody is. Put away your insecurities and talk about gaming. It's why we're here.

Well I woundn't really say I'm insecure. I'm quite happy with myself. (Except my wrists are a little small, it kind of bugs me)
As for this normal stuff. You're right no one is normal. We are all unique, but just because I want to act normal doesn't mean I'm being controlled by the media. If we are to going to be honest, today's media has been pushing for things that were not "normal" several years ago. And this desire to act normal? Yes I want to be normal, but I'd rather be able to "function" in society. It was REALLY hard for me growing up because of Aspbergers.
You mention wanting your ideas to be seen. People like to be heard. We are social creatures after all.

Wow I'm so lost in this post I don't know what to say

 

[MadMageKefka]

But then the problem becomes "what's controversial?" Defining that in itself can become partisan pretty quickly.

Maybe it just seems too common sense to me? Anything about gender / sex / politics / religion / race. Things like "do you enjoy this soft drink?" are clearly not controversial.

 

[linuxares]

Ironically enough this thread is about "censorship" isnt that politics related?

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Well i mean a option to hide "Sensitive" content i guess, but then we end up like youtube huh? Yeah true this is more of a gaming forum, but off topic thread exist so is a matter of opinion. I see plenty of this stuff here and i just ignore it, you NEVER see me post anything there cause i choose not to. People sometimes just can't help themself but be that way, I can ignore things. Banning is just a way of enforcing specific things that by popular demand or more high tier power deem unfit for the environment. People should learn to endure the kind of stuff that show up here or ignore it. Though i do admit that it does attract attention way more than even actual game discussions do and even more troll problems, is a matter of people lacking means of how to deal with it or just proper cope with it.

I dunno if it needs to be banned, just properly handled among mature individuals. Is part of life and people deal with it and people should be open to discuss it, this place does provide a reasonable environment for people to discuss all matters of topic that wasn't just about video games, which I find a pretty okay thing to have, while more sites handle them rather indifferently or even worst.

 

[endoverend]

Maybe it just seems too common sense to me? Anything about gender / sex / politics / religion / race. Things like "do you enjoy this soft drink?" are clearly not controversial.

You'd be surprised. We have had more passionate discussions about the health benefits of milk than politics.

 

[MadMageKefka]

Ironically enough this thread is about "censorship" isnt that politics related?

That's already been suggested, and no. This is more about whether or not this stuff is a problem here, and if yes, what to do about it. Censor or don't censor are not the only 2 options I gave.

 

[Stephano]

Ironically enough this thread is about "censorship" isnt that politics related?

I guess it would depend on whether or not you consider a fundamental right like freedom Of speech political.

 

[linuxares]

You'd be surprised. We have had more passionate discussions about the health benefits of milk than politics.

Of course, it's freaking milk! Milk is 100 times more intresting than politics.

 

[MadMageKefka]

You'd be surprised. We have had more passionate discussions about the health benefits of milk than politics.

Personally, I don't find health info to be controversial. People aren't killing each other over milk. I'd say that thread falls into the "unavoidable cancer" people are talking about. Some people will fight over ANYTHING. That's just unavoidable.

 

[Stephano]

Personally, I don't find health info to be controversial. People aren't killing each other over milk. I'd say that thread falls into the "unavoidable cancer" people are talking about. Some people will fight over ANYTHING. That's just unavoidable.

People shouldn't be fighting at all though. It's just childish.
Although I am impressed by the fact that people will die to defend their belief on the health benifits of milk

 

[gamesquest1]

Personally, I don't find health info to be controversial. People aren't killing each other over milk. I'd say that thread falls into the "unavoidable cancer" people are talking about. Some people will fight over ANYTHING. That's just unavoidable.

did you not see the milk thread

 

[MadMageKefka]

did you not see the milk thread

I did not. Do kinda wish I did now, though. lol. My point remains the same, however.

 

[VinsCool]

You'd be surprised. We have had more passionate discussions about the health benefits of milk than politics.

It only was controversial because OP was a huge pro vegan

 

[The Catboy]

You'd be surprised. We have had more passionate discussions about the health benefits of milk than politics.

Milk thread2016

On topic and not directed at you, the notion of "controversial" is subjective. For me personally, I am more than willing and open to talk about sex, gender, sexuality, etc. I find the idea of hiding these is what creates the "taboo" and "controversial" mindset. Which often one the biggest roots to the controversy.
Not everyone agrees and everyone has their own take on the issues, but it's why we can't use vague terms like, "controversial topics."

 

[gamesquest1]

I did not. Do kinda wish I did now, though. lol. My point remains the same, however.

enjoy....or not, because milk is bad for you!!!!!
https://gbatemp.net/threads/milk-is-bad-for-you.414719/

 

[MadMageKefka]

Milk thread2016

On topic and not directed at you, the notion of "controversial" is subjective. For me personally, I am more than willing and open to talk about sex, gender, sexuality, etc. I find the idea of hiding these is what creates the "taboo" and "controversial" mindset. Which often one the biggest roots to the controversy.
Not everyone agrees and everyone has their own take on the issues, but it's why we can't use vague terms like, "controversial topics."

I would consider discussion about gender, sex, etc, to fall into this category, regardless if you personally feel comfortable with it. It has a high likelihood of stirring up shitstorms.

 

[The Catboy]

I would consider discussion about gender, sex, etc, to fall into this category, regardless if you personally feel comfortable with it. It has a high likelihood of stirring up shitstorms.

But that is still subjective as not all communities feel the same.

 

[dpad_5678]

We cant discriminate. Either we ban all of this stuff or none of it. Its not fair to only ban some controversial topics.

Can't see how LGBT is controversial but okay. But if it comes down to banning all or none, I say ban all of it.