I must say that being a part of this forum I really start to question the fact that everyone is really entitled to their own opinion. I have read many threads in which some sort of controversy starts, and instead of being able to continue the conversation they end up locked. This sometimes happens for no other reason than someone getting offened by what other people have to say and asking moderators to close the threads. Now don't get me wrong here, I am all for being respectful of people and having a conversation in a mature manner. However, if I start a thread giving my own opinion I realize that it opens up the floor for anyone who reads it to give theirs too. That being said, What do you guys and gals think? Is everyone entitled to their own opinion? Even without being disrespectful....Are we really allowed to say how we feel?

 

i just wrote a really long response that got erased because I accidentally hit the backspace button...boils down to this.

Yes we are entitled to our own opinion...we are not entitled to be vulgar or verbally attack others for their opinions. This is rightfully when the mods lock threads.

 

I feel everyone is entitled to their own opinion but there are limits. One post that comes to mind was in a certain religious thread where a member, I felt, crossed the line especially since he's a member of a certain faith that I follow. Maybe it was because he was young or whatever but some things just aren't cool. I kept my responses civil without resorting to personal attacks which is how it should be handled but once a thread reaches the point of degradation of an individual, it's time for a lock or some other type of moderation.

Religion-based threads I feel shouldn't be on this site anymore since nothing good ever comes from them and they just end up being flame-fests and ultimately are locked. The religious beliefs are too broad on this site and are too heated a discussion topic. For this matter, I personally will never participate in such threads again.

I will do what I came to this site to do and that is to learn about the cars we all love.

 

I disagree, instead of taking care of the individuals who are causing the problems, the whole thread gets shut down.

 

I am of the opinion that yes, we are allowed to speak our minds, but the mods do have the task of stopping a trend when things start to get personal.

jmiller, I think I saw the thread you are talking about.. I was suprised it went as long as it did before it turned nasty. I think as long as the posts stay close to topic and are not headed to just a gang-flame on any one person, the opinions are allowed to be stated. But it doesn't take much to let one vile thought posion the entire thread.

And I am trying to stay out of the threads that just smack of trouble...religious, what your girlfriend looks like and politics...

 

Not if you ask me.

 

"That Thread" was an refreshing oddity around here though, I'd have to say, at least for a while...

Us Americans are weak when it comes to a significant discussion of Merit... We are shallow most of the time, and really can't handle a discussion of things that really matter without resorting to hating or flaming most of the time... I've met very few people who'd just sit down and address each individuals perspective honestly and present reasonable "Justice" for the opinion they have...

I consider myself a very "Faithful" person, but I'm also an individual of "Reason" and I think that the two can be related, but not without some serious study and delving into philosophy which cannot easily be discussed in a forum-like setting... for those who are able to make that jump without some aspect of Reason guiding the way, I envy you, cause, man, I still contest aspects of my faith and must research pretty deaply into the apologitics to really get the answers that work rationally and intellectually in defense of that said doctrine or worldview...

I am for the ability for any individual to have their own opinion, but it must possess justification and must be fair...

I wish "That Thread" could have had a specific statement sliced out of it, cause outside of that individual's opinion, there was some good debate... and thoughts on LDS faith that I wish others, especially LDS members, could have researched and responded to more fully...

 

Well here is the thought from a MOD's perspective:

I know along with the other MOD's that I try to do the best I can to interpret the rules of the forums. We are a lot like the goverment like that, Darren the executive branch, makes the rules official, the membership, the legislative branch, makes the rules or shows Darren what rules need to be made, and the MODS, the judicial branch, interpret the rules.

That being said, if one thread gets out of hand or out of control, it works better to shut the entire thread down and let everyone cool off rather than deleting one or two people's comments while leaving the thread open to another side or another point of view to unfairly bash the punished side without fear of rebuttal.

In the case of only mildly offensive or singular posts that taint an otherwise cool and collected thread, we will remove only the bad ones or remove the one single post rather than shut down the thread.

Remember, I view you guys as the way rules get made or unmade around here. Understand that bashing others or getting offensive in a thread is only going to get it locked down and shut out for everyone. If you do have something you feel you 'need' to say to incite a flame within someone, take it to PM or take it off the site better yet.

In reference to the LDS thread, I found quite a bit of that thread interesting as I married a Mormon girl and am myself Christian. Things were getting a bit ugly and as religion has done for thousands of years before us, a small war broke out. If things are cool enough to try it again, then by all means, have at it! I'd like to see more intellectual arguments here in ScionLife about topics that are perhaps have a little controversy attached to them.

You just like me, am entitled to an opinion. You just like me, have absolutly ZERO right in my opionion as a human to belittle or trash someone elses opionion solely because its counter to your own. You have every right to disagree and to keep your own opionion but just keep it civil!

 

Good Response DUSTIN!!!!

I'd have to sit down with you sometime.... Interesting perspective you must have there...

Nice to see the MODS come down to our lowely world and discuss their perspective....

 

Our very own checks and balances...nice.

 

Interesting, I just wanted to see how everyone else felt, because I feel like there is this line somewhere (can't quite put my finger on it) that can be crossed without really being disrespectful of people. On the other hand I have seen people make horrible comments to people on here and the post has stayed...for example: "Why don't you all just go shoot yourselves". That being said, I understand what the mods do to a certain extent, but people like me who don't make a practice out of bashing people (but won't sit around and let someone bash them) should be allowed to express how we feel without the feeling that we have to somewhat butter up our responses becuase if we don't we'll be threatened to be banned or something.

I have no desire whatsoever to disrespect anyone, but even in that something I say might just offened someone. Honestly that's not my problem as the reverse could go for me, and then it would be. I would like to know where is that fine line, becuase from what I have experienced it goes beyond just being disrespectful and bashing people.

One more example, on a past thread someone had recieved a ticket and they were trying to find ways to get out of the ticket, basically having blatant disregard to why they got the ticket in the first place (speeding). In response I said something along the lines of "why not stop speeding, that way you won't have to worry about tickets" and then I said something like " why didn't anyone think of this before". I sort of got warned about that, which was neither bashing anyone nor disrespectful. What was disrespectful was the persons regard for the law. So again I ask are we really entitled to our own opinion? I only ask this so that I can get a grasp on what the "true" limitations are as I don't feel I have a clear understanding of them. It is based off of some recent threads that I have begun to question this?

 

Nice thread (no sarcasm either lol)

My opinion is that its that small tiny portion of the population that mess it up for everyone else..THAT...is the unjustice of it...whcih is (i thnk) where this thread came from.


Its the fact that...at ANY given moment...right now I could shut down any thread I want with ease...all I gotta do is say the wrong things and bam its closed. (this is NOT a knock on mods i like what you do..your cornered into it sometimes)

So for those of us that can actually handle a good debate and keep it civil (which is a majority i think) we lose out because of the ones that cant.

What would be cool is a point system where user id's get "warned" and after so many warnings your posting rights are revoked...so that people will be more careful of what they say and how they say it.

As far as the religion threads....eek I love to talk about it, but lets be 100% honest here...MOST PEOPLE cannot debate or discuss religion lol I could be wrong, im ok if you say I am but ive lived in 7 states, 1 other country and that seems to be a constant statement. (based on my own experiances)

Life is oh so simple, we make it so complicated lol

 

I thought that was good. Not the only comment I've gotten today about it either. Guess a lot of people didnt really know how things worked internally and that was a pretty good analogy.


In response to the other comments in this thread. Different strokes for Differnet folks. Lets all just play nice and nothing will go wrong.....lol

Chillaxin - I'm pretty sure you were not offically warned but most mods will give a gentle nudge if someone keeps jumping on something that someone else was warned for. Not sure and if you do have issues with what happened, I'll be happy to discuss it with you on PM and hopefully come to a good resolution but like I said I dont think it was official so you dont have anything to worry about.

There is sort of a points system by the way, its the penelty box which we will be using more as time goes by. You are restricted from posting for whatever length of time the Admins see fit to dole out but you are not a banned user. Just one more tool the the mods domination toolkit we will and I think should be using. It doesnt seem fair to be either when certain people ruin it for the majority yet they can still go in and post in the new thread or someone elses thread.

Remeber too there is a HUGE difference between being passionate about something and being offensive. You can come across VERY strongly by using your words artfully or meaningfully but that never means you need to be offensive while you do it. Passion is a great thing to have and I wish there were more people who were passionate about anything in this world. Besides, if you start to stop and think about what you say before you say it and craft your thoughts into passionate statements, you come across as highly intelligent rather than the rather cave dweller 'Your opinion sucks and therefore you suck too' approach

Hope that answers some questions, I must ascend back to the MOD level now......

 

i can't think of any thread i've read here that has impacted my to the point of feeling hostile, except for the one where the 1.0 owner painted his interior red as well....but that being said, i believe that an overreaction to others' expressed opinions is because generally, they fear those opinions at some level. anger is just fear expressed as an emotion. (not to be sexist, anger can also be hurt expressed, but this is generally only in women).

when topics either "strike a chord" or "hit a nerve" or "P you off" or just make you go "WTF?", it might serve to step back and ask one's self, "what am i afraid of in this post?" before posting a rebuttal that might be misinterpreted as personally hostile....or you could just tell them they're full of $#!& and add some lame smilie.

[/DrPhil]

 

Its not just in Scion/Toyota Life... every other forum is like that too. I think a lot of it stems from the fact that you can't hear someones tone or inflection through written word. If someone is just being sarcastic or is just short in general, who is the judge of that? just the reader. Its sad that so many people are so quick to offend.