https://www.ozervnews.com

Native pepper, our South Pacific Islander daughter in law joined our family with a Bible in her hand, she met our atheist son at university, this has never been a problem, we are all entitled to our own beliefs, her Dad was a Pastor, her very religious family have visited often even stayed with us, very happy friendly family.

I think in hindsight T1 this poll might have been a mistake, things seem to have escalated as a result, whether this is good or bad will remain to be seen.

I have loved the informal, fun approach of the forum up 'till recently, also the willingness of many to offer helpful informative advice is most appreciated. However there now seems to be a high horse competition and a number of soapboxes - such a shame.

I have taken the approach of if I don't like it, or I'm not interested then I stop reading/following that topic.
Perhaps that's why most of what has caused so much controversy has passed me by.
Instead of getting up in arms about someone or something, I prefer to let people have whatever views turn them on.
I prefer to be able to laugh than get disturbed - often I have to laugh at myself as well...

It is my hope that those who can't stop themselves getting upset over others views just move on and let the forum go back to it's fun past.

Cheers,

Well said Sir. My sentiments also..

The poll was set up in an attempt to find out just how the majority of the membership felt after the whole Oz Day Fuss thread went so far off the rails.
I didn't just want to clamp the forum down hard the way so many other forums are, I thought that was what made this forum different to the others, but it seems some members like to paint all with the same brush.
We've had opinions that this forum is just like all the others in regards to bias and prejudiced, that all the moderators here were dirty little racist sexual deviants who got their jollies talking about sexual abuse of children, that some of the membership here suck, the list goes on and on .....
Now I'm not sure if keeping the forum going at all is worth the effort, it does only seem to be a minority of the membership that is at the pointy end of all this hostility, but with all sides pointing to the other sides as being the problem ... and in one or two members opinion I'm part of that problem side, to be non bias or prejudice against any of the parties involved, I'd have to ban all involved including myself ... so the end of the forum ..... but then would that be bias and prejudicial against the membership that was not part of the uproar?????

As an entertainer with blacked eyes once said "Welcome to my nightmare"
Sh*tte, am I allowed to say blackened? The entertainer involved used a name generally associated with the female gender ... am I in trouble for referencing such a character, even if I didn't use the possibly offensive name .... that he was a different nationality so that could infer some offence .... is simply asking such questions in itself offensive? .... would not having asked such questions be deemed offensive ..... would the fact I typed all this with one finger on only the left hand be deemed digitally offensive, bias or prejudicial ..... Should I hold another poll so a non definitive answer to each of these questions could be established .....

T1 Terry

Look !!!! this is me on my "pedestal" (winning the yellow jersey) and me on my "high horse"

T1 Terry wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 3:13 pm
Now I'm not sure if keeping the forum going at all is worth the effort, it does only seem to be a minority of the membership that is at the pointy end of all this hostility, but with all sides pointing to the other sides as being the problem ... and in one or two members opinion I'm part of that problem side, to be non bias or prejudice against any of the parties involved, I'd have to ban all involved including myself ... so the end of the forum ..... but then would that be bias and prejudicial against the membership that was not part of the uproar?????

T1 Terry

I hope you do decide to continue with it, it is just 1 of 2 forums I always come to each day.
Let the dissidents go, it's their loss, though I don't see that it's so hard to treat one another with respect and dignity.

Cheers.

Shirley wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 12:09 pm Native pepper, our South Pacific Islander daughter in law joined our family with a Bible in her hand, she met our atheist son at university, this has never been a problem, we are all entitled to our own beliefs, her Dad was a Pastor, her very religious family have visited often even stayed with us, very happy friendly family.

I don't have problems with the religious people I know until they try to bring it up and as I have a very good understanding, knowledge, historical, archaeological, anthropological and chronological facts surrounding it, just give them a few and they either shut up or disappear. Luckily most never say a word about it again and so there are no problems between us and I see everyone as a nice person, until they show otherwise. Although for many decades had a really good friend who was a priest and we had some lively discussions over those years, but never heated and there should be no heated discussions, if you are prepared to accept people have different opinions and beliefs.

My only belief is in the future and to have one, I have to create it, or become a victim of circumstance beyond my control. That to me is enough to believe in, everything else is like the wind, unseeable unconfirmable, just here and gone.

It saddens me that this forum has degenerated to this. I value Cuppa’s contributions. However, I have to say that we are atheists. We keep our opinions to ourselves (till now!) and respect the opinions of the Christians in the group. So we do not offer opinions on religious posts, of which there are many!

If that is your bent, more power to you but it is not our opinion. There are also other opinions with which we disagree but we keep those opinions to ourselves.

It would be a shame to lose this forum because of our differences. We strongly disagree with some admin views but prefer to keep them to ourselves. We need to live and let live in our opinion.

Bernie B can you give us your opinion please?
You say "let them go" ...
If the don't 'wish' to go should we push them to go or just endure a lot more of their 'campagn' ??
Should we sit on our hands while they totally destroy our (friendy, fun) forum?

BruceS wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:50 pm Bernie B can you give us your opinion please?
You say "let them go" ...
If the don't 'wish' to go should we push them to go or just endure a lot more of their 'campagn' ??
Should we sit on our hands while they totally destroy our (friendy, fun) forum?

There is a balance that's needed, we should not have to put up with any campaign as such.
However all views should be welcomed and treated with respect.
I have vastly different life views to most on here, however that's not why I come to this forum.
If some want to force feed their views they can do it elsewhere as far as I am concerned.

Moderators need to moderate, but with moderation.
i.e. not remove posts because they don't agree, or even when some complain.
Moderation is more about the tone or manner that comes across in the post.
In many cases the anger and antagonism towards another is very evident - and this is what needs to be removed.
And there are others that are so easily offended that even tongue in cheek is viewed as inappropriate.
Those that can't deal with others in a respectful manner should be given holidays, but with some decent feedback (see more below).
Repeated offences get longer holidays, till it's time to say goodbye.
The aim though should always be to set a standard that is reasonable and attainable.
So when handing out a holiday - especially for a first time, don't just criticise, explain how the point could have ben made and still show respect and restraint in their post. Perhaps even give them the opportunity to re-word and re-submit the post after a moderators review. We want to encourage others to enjoy the forum even if they step out of line, welcome them back and show them respect as well. Hopefully they will appreciate the assistance and endeavour to maintain a level of control in their contributions.

As far as all of us forumites are concerned - we need to stop taking ourselves too seriously.
This is what first attracted me to this forum, a lot of light-hearted banter mixed in with knowledgeable advice shared freely.
I really hope this is what we can go back to.

Just my views, keep in mind though that I wasn't aware of most of what has been going on, so maybe I have misread things entirely.

Cheers,