Bad moderation.

ephemera · #1 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

A thread by MrBiscuit titled "A simple question" was IMO unfairly 'moderated' down, it is now being shown as an invalid thread.

The thread could have been locked to prevent people from posting rather than removing it from sight.

Carpetsmoker · #2 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

Personally I prefer to just remove threads/posts like this and discus it with the poster in PM rather than do it in public.

The thread can be locked or deleted ... IMO it doesn't make that much difference ...

DutchDaemon · #3 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

I agree with the deletion. A tech forum is no place for religious/evangelical activity, even under the moniker of "Off-Topic". OS wars are a different matter ..

Mr-Biscuit · #4 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

I made a statement.
It was not insulting.
It was not false.
I thought before I typed each word.

DutchDaemon · #5 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

You could have posted a recipe for apple pie. It would have been a statement, not insulting, not false, and carefully thought out and typed out. It would still be moderated as not belonging on a tech forum.

ephemera · #6 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by DutchDaemon

A tech forum is no place for religious/evangelical activity, even under the moniker of "Off-Topic". OS wars are a different matter ..

I totally agree with that.

But, I think you might not have seen the thread.
The OP didn't start any religious/evangelical discussion.
Instead he was raising an objection to some of the stuff that has been posted by members of the forum, on such a sensitive topic, on which people have strong opinions.
And as an example he used one of Carpetsmoker's earlier post which had a link to a site making fun about the non-existence of God.

Now, I am an atheist, and even I think that post was in bad taste.
So instead of moderating/removing that and other similiar posts by other members of this forum, what does the moderator do? ... he quietly removes the
OP's post instead.

Isn't that double-standards?

The OP's post was not a personal attack nor were the contents of the post inflamatory. Infact he politely explained the reason for his objection to the said posts.

When you lock a thread it is visible to all members of the forum, and that is different from hiding a thread.

BSDfan666 · #7 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

Let's talk about my new Tricycle!

It's red.. but it might even be blue.. you'll never know!

Theology is often debated, in the end it's about personal belief.. the arguments between both sides end up starting unnecessary fighting and in the end just causes frustration and anger.

This is a technology forum for discussing BSD Unix and other technical things, remaining neutral is the best method of avoiding problems.. do not discuss your religious beliefs or disbeliefs, someone is always going to disagree with you.

EOF

Carpetsmoker · #8 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

It was a joke, not to be taken too seriously, in fact, Scott(ro) (Who is Jewish btw.) posted this explicitly.

If someone, for whatever reason, has a problem with this then it's fine, contact me and we can talk.
The thread was a long argument about the existence or nonexistence of God ... Something quite out of place IMO.

I don't want to hide any criticism, deletion is just the standard action whenever a thread/post is deemed unappropriated for whatever reason.
It's not about double standards, my post was a joke, you may or may not have found it funny, it was not a attempt to convince anyone of any religious belief or to debate it.
This is a BSD/Tech forum, some amount of off-topic discussions are good for the ``community spirit'' and getting to know one another, but there is a limit -- And this thread was beyond that limit.

Quote:

The OP didn't start any religious/evangelical discussion.

Ehm, he did ...

Quote:

When you lock a thread it is visible to all members of the forum, and that is different from hiding a thread.

All right, thread restored&locked.

DutchDaemon · #9 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by ephemera

But, I think you might not have seen the thread.

I flagged it with the mods. So I certainly saw it. There's off-topic, and there's interplanetary space. That's where this thread was (in subject matter and in distance to tech-oriented topics).

Quote:

The OP didn't start any religious/evangelical discussion.
Instead he was raising an objection to some of the stuff that has been posted by members of the forum, on such a sensitive topic, on which people have strong opinions.

He could (and should) have voiced his objections in that thread (concisely, I might add), instead of going off on a pseudo-mathematical duck hunt.

Quote:

So instead of moderating/removing that and other similiar posts by other members of this forum, what does the moderator do? ... he quietly removes the OP's post instead. Isn't that double-standards?

No, not at all. Raising a simple objection in context is one thing, erecting an entirely new topic that had no relation whatsoever with the subject matter of these forums is quite another. I don't speak for the mods, of course, but this is why I flagged this post, regardless of how I feel about the subject matter (I'm with Dawkins myself) -> it could have been a recipe for apple pie, for all I care.

Carpetsmoker · #10 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

Yeah, what DutchDaemon said (He formulated it better than I did).

ephemera · #11 **(View Single Post)** 16th April 2009

> instead of going off on a pseudo-mathematical duck hunt.

Granted that the OP post doesn't offer a rigorous reasoning/argument but I see a lot more depth in what he said than an apple pie recipe.

Anyway, the thread is back, matter closed.

And please, no more theological discussions for God's sake.