Originally Posted by
ethernautrix
I say, let 'er rip.
One facet of being human is negotiating all the differences we bring to the interaction.
You know, if you don't want to play, you don't have to.
I would rather open a thread, see the subject, blanch and dry heave or roll my eyes on this side of the screen, then close the window and move on than deprive others of the opportunity to discuss the subjects they're most interested in. And I would like the same opportunity. I mean, I like pens, but I don't restrict my discussion to only pens. I like a variety, and I find pen people to be usually very civil in discourse.
I don't have any imaginary friends. I wish I had a dozen of them, as Robert Webb did when he was a young boy (can't remember in which episode of Would I Lie to You? this information was revealed). But I appreciate discussions that reveal how people struggle with finding meaning or how they came to understand their faith or lack of faith. Some put more stock in religion than others, but it's the same struggle.
As for politics, I would love to see thoughtful political discussion (as opposed to reactionary blurb-winging - although I wouldn't ban the latter, but it would tell me more about the person winging blurbs rather than offering well-reasoned arguments, and that will be unavoidable). Maybe (American) politics is in such a shambles cos we've been admonished for years not to discuss it, and now we don't know how to talk about it without yelling and looking stupid to each other.
All we have to do in discussion is to give the respect to others' opinions that we want for ours. This doesn't mean agreement. If you have to, you could think, "I respect his right to sound like an uninformed jerkbag," snigger to yourself, and move on. You don't have to say it. That's what I mean about respect vis-à-vis volatile subjects, such as, "Which do you prefer, clipless pens or pens with clips?" Oh, the hard positions some hold on this matter! (That one's on fpn - and not locked!)
My opinion on this sub-forum idea is that I'd rather not, as such a move would indicate that we are unruly and unable to control ourselves. But if a separate sub-forum is what people want to protect themselves from accidentally espying a topic they'd prefer to avoid, well... okay. Either way, I'm likely to take a look at the topics, so separate-sub-forum, not-separate-sub-forum, machts nichts.
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