Rule enforcement in the PPR forum.

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Many members have brought up concerns about the state of the Politics, Philosophy, and Religion forum (also known as the PPR).

Since before I was ever a member at WP, this forum has been granted some level of immunity from the site rules--most especially the rule about no personal insults. Only very infrequently have the moderators interfered in this section of the site. There are good reasons for this and some members feel very strongly that we should continue with this "hands off" approach.

However, many other members would like to see a more civil, intellectual atmosphere in this forum and believe that the best way to go about this would be to have less tolerance for violations of the rules in the context of PPR discussions.

This thread is an invitation to share your ideas and opinions on the past, the present, and the future direction of the PPR. If you would like to make your opinion known without having to defend it publicly, please PM a moderator with your concerns or suggestions. I would like to hear from as many members as possible, most especially the shy members. Even if you've just been lurking, your opinion matters.

For purposes of the poll, please choose one option, even if neither option is your ideal. You can clarify or present alternative views in your reply to this thread. Please understand that a majority vote will not guarantee a particular outcome--we are merely gathering opinions and ideas.

If I might ask... What is considered inappropriate? Am I a trespasser in this aspect?

I don't think you are.

The site rules can be found here: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt12459.html.

This is the part that I think has been allowed to slide in the PPR forum:

Oh, okay. Well then I am for slapping people on the hands with rulers.

I used to go to parochial school.

As did I. But they were very lenient.

As long as peeps don't get to out of hand, I say leave it like it is.

Because I might be one of the more frequent violators, I say keep it as it is.

It is my impression that the PPR forum is doing better now than other times.

You? it doesn't seem so
well, I haven't read them all, so I can't say for sure

I haven't been there lately. I also thought had improved in terms of personal abuse. I could be wrong about that.

I think you get problems when you get new people here who think attacking the person, rather than the argument, is ok. Having been here a while I tend to know who the verbally abusive people are and I don't respond to their posts. Maybe just keep an eye on new people? a polite reminder or something? I'm not keen on overmoderation, I think it has been a problem here in the past.

Well, I am usually rather level headed and respectful, however, if somebody annoys me somehow or if I get a twisted mood in me then I can be a little aggressive. I dunno, I really went at snake for a while after he attacked me for the billionth time.

If you try and apply rules strictly, you'll exclude lots of people from contributing due to the wide range of communication styles and abilities present here. Leave things as they are.

Anyway, a little incivility can be fun!

It has been for sure. Things are just fine now. It's unfortunate that a bunch of control-obsessed do-gooders want to change that.

Leave it as it is. These are very controversial topics with a lot of people giving honest views. If it starts to get over-moderated, nothing will exist in it!

That's really rotten to imply. The complaints I have received have been from people who feel intimidated to post or who feel unfairly targeted. I haven't had one message from a power-hungry monster.

I think "overmoderation" is a meaningless buzz word designed to instill fear in the rest of the members and bend them to your will. Seems a bit control-obsessed to resort to those kinds of tactics. If you describe your concerns in a less sensational manner, I'll understand them better.

Besides that, talk of "overmoderation" skews the poll results. It wasn't one of the suggestions. We're talking about potentially warning/redirecting people who say things like "You are a stupid lunatic," and holding them to a higher standard of behavior, not raiding your homes at gunpoint.

Enforce the rule of WP law properly.