1 month ban cause... biblical saying?

[Askthepizzaguy]

Speaking as someone who thinks you have every right to say this publicly outside of the forum, where personal freedom of expression usually trumps how people might feel about it, I would like to say this:

We in the forum are peaceful denizens of a benevolent Tosacracy. I can't post certain songs, images, or say certain words, such as a four-letter word which doesn't actually cause any harm to anyone. I have pretty much every right to say it right now, in my own home. Or out on the street. I can even post it online and make pages and pages covered with the word. But, here in the Benevolent Tosacratic Republic of Orgahstan, I must obey certain rules. I'm not one who has the rules committed to memory, as I am not one of the Mod-gods. I am not all-knowing and all-powerful, and my little opinion on the matter, matters as much as yours does, which is not much in the scheme of things.

I think it may be a stretch to say that what you were doing was threatening Major Robert Dump. You weren't posting lewd pictures at him (He might like that, who knows?) or swearing, or mocking his belief system. That's why, when I saw your post, I read it, sighed, and replied in a way which I felt would ease the backlash. I could smell the animosity about to come... well, it did. What you said was quite offensive to many people. Others might hold a view that they agree with you. But in the end, if what you're saying is causing a disruption which threatens to derail the thread, or if what you're saying should be said in another thread, I've noted that the Mod-gods sometimes lock the thread, or remove the offending posts, or implore you to take your business to a different thread. In a thread about well-wishing for a guy who is ordered into a dangerous combat zone, you decided to make a political statement, and word it in such a way that would be quite offensive to people. Not a crime in and of itself, most anywhere else. But on the .org that can get dangerously close to trolling just to provoke a reaction, and in any case, it's neither welcome nor acceptable on a thread like that. Much like how in this country, when a soldier dies and has a funeral, the people who get their jollies from shouting "you deserved it" to the dead soldier and their family and friends have to stay back and out of sight. They can say what they want, but there's much to say about politeness and civility, especially in a difficult time.

Here, you won't find such liberal standards for speech. If no one but the Mod-god thinks it is offensive, then it is offensive enough to potentially be removed. It is only their judgment which matters. If other Mod-gods disagree with the decision, then maybe there is wiggle room and it gets put back. But if a moderator and many respondents think what you said would be better off said elsewhere or not said at all, the best policy is to remove it to avoid a flame war. Here, you can't even speak languages other than English unless you go to the talk-your-own-language thread. There are certain community standards which are upheld by a staff of volunteers to the best of their ability. While some of their decisions may not seem fair to you or me, it is their house, their rules.

Let's reverse it. Let us suppose someone started a thread wishing someone well for choosing to become a pacifist, religious monk. Now imagine I came in and stated my opposition to religion, saying it's all a bunch of baloney, and that this person was making a stupid choice, and the best way to make peace is to prepare for war, and other such anti-pacifist things. Maybe I have every right to say that, but that particular thread, it is out of place, off-topic, and borderline trolling. If my posts were removed because they were in bad taste, that's because they are. If they are removed because they are off-topic, that's because they are. If my posts are removed because they are borderline trolling, well, it wasn't even borderline. It was a very deliberate attempt to poo all over this other person's livelihood, beliefs, and disrupt the thread (which was non-political) to make a political statement. It was a troll.

As for the 1 point infraction or a ban, I don't know if they were deserved, but then again, I don't know what else was going on or what might have been said privately or if you had other points or if this wasn't the first time you did that. I'm just another hapless denizen of Orgahstan... thankfully it isn't my role to judge. The staff has given me points I disagreed with. Not much you can do about that except what you're doing, which is disputing the severity of the reaction.

I wish you well in that endeavor. I just wanted to give you another perspective, which hopefully illuminates how others may have perceived your post and why they aren't objecting to the time-out. Me personally, I wouldn't have banned you, or even reported the post, but I might have moved your post out of there and given a no-point warning. I'm a big softy like that. But, I can also see why someone might ban, even with my limited knowledge of what happened. The post was IMO inappropriate and it did invite a staff reaction of some kind.



By the way I'm aware these comments are from the peanut gallery, please feel free to ignore them.