When I original set up this community, I included a politics board because I hoped to invite considered and civilized discussion about wider politics issues, which often and inevitably have a religious aspect to them.
I don't know if I ever succeeded in that aim in my original term here.
It's clear that it isn't now.
I appreciate that the world has changed a lot since then. I also appreciate that passions have run high and that political discussion has become much more divisive on the wider internet.
It's disappointing to see that happen on the politics board, though I guess it was inevitable. It's also worth questioning whether there remains a place for politics discussion on these forums. At the moment I see a place where passions and tempers run high, people engage in flame wars, and a general sense of infighting.
I do not think that is good for any community.
Heck, the fact that we are an interfaith community that invites the widest possible participation means we are also going to have a very wide range of opinions, but more than that we have generally - though not always! - manage to keep such discussions reasonably civil.
Therefore because I think it's more important to focus on that aspect of engagement and co-operation, which has always been the primary aim of this community as an interfaith community. If having a politics board threatens that, then it needs to be asked whether we should engage in one at all any longer.
I've therefore removed the Politics & Society board to a private archive, in order to suspend any continued political discussion on the forums. I would like to see if we can manage to exist as an interfaith community without emphasizing the inevitable division that politics encourages.
I appreciate that not everyone will be happy with that, and that is to expected - change is rarely welcome in a community such as this at the best of times. However, for the good of the overall community I think this is a change we need to at least try to run with, and see if we can exist as an interfaith community with all the political spectrum that embraces, rather than become too much of a political community that by its nature invites division and conflict.
Let's see where this little experiment takes us...
I don't know if I ever succeeded in that aim in my original term here.
It's clear that it isn't now.
I appreciate that the world has changed a lot since then. I also appreciate that passions have run high and that political discussion has become much more divisive on the wider internet.
It's disappointing to see that happen on the politics board, though I guess it was inevitable. It's also worth questioning whether there remains a place for politics discussion on these forums. At the moment I see a place where passions and tempers run high, people engage in flame wars, and a general sense of infighting.
I do not think that is good for any community.
Heck, the fact that we are an interfaith community that invites the widest possible participation means we are also going to have a very wide range of opinions, but more than that we have generally - though not always! - manage to keep such discussions reasonably civil.
Therefore because I think it's more important to focus on that aspect of engagement and co-operation, which has always been the primary aim of this community as an interfaith community. If having a politics board threatens that, then it needs to be asked whether we should engage in one at all any longer.
I've therefore removed the Politics & Society board to a private archive, in order to suspend any continued political discussion on the forums. I would like to see if we can manage to exist as an interfaith community without emphasizing the inevitable division that politics encourages.
I appreciate that not everyone will be happy with that, and that is to expected - change is rarely welcome in a community such as this at the best of times. However, for the good of the overall community I think this is a change we need to at least try to run with, and see if we can exist as an interfaith community with all the political spectrum that embraces, rather than become too much of a political community that by its nature invites division and conflict.
Let's see where this little experiment takes us...
