closed politics thread???

[phen]

hmm

i was really happy that the thread below was going on without flaming or shouting whatsoever. why did you close it? i don't like censorship. that's like playing a strange world without arguments, without any differences of opinion.

i like these forums, but the politics about religious and maybe political threads are wrong in my opinion. everybody should argue in a construtive, not-offensive way - without censorship - always!

while i'm neither left nor right, i dont like censorship!

[PatrickMay16]

Whoa! Calm down, man.
They closed it because it looked likely for it to turn into yet another fight. And this is "ubuntu forums", not "politics forums".
And you know what happens when there's fightin'.

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[pmj]

This is the "community chat" though. I believe we should be able to discuss pretty much anything as long as we're being civil about it.

That said, starting a new thread to complain about the locking of another thread isn't the smartest thing to do.

[az]

That raised my eyebrow too.

I PMed both parties involved, because I do not remember the exact wording of the religious content (that was deemed offensive) but I do not remember it coming close to offensive.

It is clear that the forums discuss non-ubuntu topics. To say that all hell would have broken loose as soon as a conservative would have chimed into that thread is wrong (one already had) This community is above that. With very few exceptions, always has been.

If you lock a thread early, you look like a nazi.

If you lock a thread late, your doing your job.

If you steer the conversation away from it becoming destructive, you are moderating.

That's all I have to say about that.

[az]

They closed it because it looked likely for it to turn into yet another fight. And this is "ubuntu forums", not "politics forums".
And you know what happens when there's fightin'.
]

Fighting is permitted by the code of conduct. Seriously. Just as long as the dissagreement stays away from getting offensive. I would pick a better word than "fighting" but that pretty much sums it up.

Forums are all about different opinions getting together.

[Lord Illidan]

Aye, what's better than a little fighting to cool things off?
Though I don't follow politics myself, I don't see why it was locked if nothing bad was happening.

[KiwiNZ]

All the political threads I have seen to date end the same way ,they end up needing to be closed.
I agree with the closing of the referred to thread and the timing.

It saved a lot of flaming and name calling that would have occured.

[az]

All the political threads I have seen to date end the same way ,they end up needing to be closed.
I agree with the closing of the referred to thread and the timing.

It saved a lot of flaming and name calling that would have occured.

The problem is that since the thread did not violate the code of conduct, nor the Policies and expectations (http://ubuntuforums.org/faq.php?faq=...q_new_faq_item) it is wrong to close it.

Either ammend the rules prohibiting anything you feel will lead to threads needing to be closed or let the threads get there themselves. This is a forum and a forum is for communication. Such selective hinderance of discussion is probably censorship.


"Please remember that these forums are inclusive of ALL people, and we strive to maintain accessibility to everyone."

If that is true, then "to strive" should mean to work hard at keeping all threads open as opposed to closing them as fast as you can.

[agger]

Well, I dunno; I like the discussions on these forums and usually think the moderators are doing a good job. I have also been very tired and rather incredulous at some of the flamewars, so moderating and closing of threads is definitely necessary.

But we can also become too careful. After having read the political poll thread, I think it showed no signs whatsoever of flaming - all the answers were civil, making a short statement of each one's political beliefs.

If some conservative were to enter, all it would have taken to keep the thread good was that s/he'd make a similar statement to the effect that s/he supports Bush and the GOP and the war and refrain from bashing the "liberals" - and, of course, that other persons refrained from bashing him/her.

It's correct that the thread might easily have deteriorated, but when it was closed it showed no sign whatsoever of doing so.

I believe threads shouldn't be closed before its obvious they are headed in a bad direction.

[BWF89]

I read the therad and there was absolutely no flaming or rule breaking at all. No reason for it to be locked.