Did Jesus ever have unintentional boners and wet drems etc., or were his genitals pretty much non-functional?

[loinburger]

If somebody can't respond to a non-personal troll without resorting to personal insults then in my opinion they shouldn't be responding - but that's my opinion and this isn't my site. I'm hearing you say that personal insults are still acceptable in "non-civil" threads, which I find unacceptable, but I don't pretend that I'm the majority opinion on that - I honestly don't know what the majority opinion is, or if the majority opinion really matters. I've definitely been guilty of resorting to personal insults in the past, but I regret this and have concluded that this has merely contributed to what has become a very toxic environment that I no longer want any part of. So, I'll check back in a few weeks when hopefully everything's been ironed out regarding site conduct rules (Laissez-faire, Nazism, or somewhere in between), and at that time I'll decide if this is the sort of place where I want to participate.

[rah]

Despite the acts of a few I think most people would prefer a more civil environment.

[giblets]

Some people, and I don't mean just Ben, would consider most of the activity on this thread to be a personal attack.

JM

Some people think drawing Muhammad is a personal attack.

[Kidlicious]

Fair enough, if personal insults are still permitted/encouraged then I'm going to have to jump ship. It's been a fun almost-16-years, good luck. If I get a decent response to the "how do I sandbox javascript" question in the computer security thread then I'll PM you.

Personal insults like deadbeat?

[Jon Miller]

Some people think drawing Muhammad is a personal attack.

Yep, just like others feel personally attacked when someone says that homosexuals are deviants/etc.

JM

[PLATO]

Despite the acts of a few I think most people would prefer a more civil environment.

I would be fine with a return to "discuss the post, not the poster" rule. Still, that would not go far enough in the case of obvious lying and bigotry and repeated and repeated and repeated posting of the same lies and bigotry.

That alone would return the OT to the somewhat civil environment that made it our home. I always enjoyed that the OT always walked the gray line there, but effective moderation kept the line from being crossed.

Some posters cross it daily now and the place is no where near as enjoyable. The topics of the threads have even gone downhill as poster after poster has chosen the loinburger option of just giving up and jumping ship.

I think that a healthy OT forum where issues are hotly debated, but jerks are moderated is an important part of being able to attract On-topic posters as well. If I came to this site and looked through the OT, I would not start posting here today. The only reason I stay is because of a good number of people who can coherently present opposing views from different parts of the world. I think the wild west OT has probably discouraged many more from staying.

[Proteus_MST]

I agree,

"Discuss the posting and not the poster"

definitely is the most basic rule that should be enforced.

[Aeson]

If somebody can't respond to a non-personal troll without resorting to personal insults then in my opinion they shouldn't be responding - but that's my opinion and this isn't my site. I'm hearing you say that personal insults are still acceptable in "non-civil" threads, which I find unacceptable, but I don't pretend that I'm the majority opinion on that - I honestly don't know what the majority opinion is, or if the majority opinion really matters. I've definitely been guilty of resorting to personal insults in the past, but I regret this and have concluded that this has merely contributed to what has become a very toxic environment that I no longer want any part of. So, I'll check back in a few weeks when hopefully everything's been ironed out regarding site conduct rules (Laissez-faire, Nazism, or somewhere in between), and at that time I'll decide if this is the sort of place where I want to participate.

When I took over ownership/management of Apolyton it was with a pledge that the OT would stay roughly as it was. I was under the impression that that was what the remaining posters generally wanted. (We did make it ourselves, largely devoid of moderation.) It does seem that's changed or needs some level of redefining.

While a lot is said about "this is Aeson's site", I don't view it as such. It's our site, built by the people here (and many others who have left) and I'm just responsible for heading up the team that maintains it. I really would like for this OT to be a place where everyone who still posts here feels good about the interaction. Since there's going to be mutually exclusive cases, we won't ever have that perfectly, but hopefully we can find a good compromise that's suitable to everyone. It will need to be a compromise though, and some tough calls will have to be made by staff still. I really don't have any preference as to how the OT is otherwise. I personally feel comfortable if it remains as it has been recently, or if it returns to what it was when tighter control.

[Kidlicious]

I agree,

"Discuss the posting and not the poster"

definitely is the most basic rule that should be enforced.

[Proteus_MST]

I didn´t have the impression that there was a lack of moderation several years ago.

I remember getting banned for one week once, several years ago, for posting a pic of a woman in Bikini who had obviously forgotten to put on her Bikini-Top

[rah]

those are the toughest calls by a mod.

That's against the rules............she was hot.

[Sava]

If Jesus were to come back, she'd be trans

[Imran Siddiqui]

But if [civil] threads are going to be allowed to be used to needle other posters it's already missed the mark.

I agree with this. A [civil] tag should be one reserved for non-trolling, non-personal attack discussions. I don't think there is any real intent for a civil discussion if it starts as a troll.

[giblets]

How do you know this is trolling and not simply parody?

[Imran Siddiqui]

I leave it up to the Admins and Mods to make that determination.