Well, I for one would be okay with leaving serious discussion topics in Gen Con IF and ONLY IF people treat each other with
respect. Unfortunately, I've seen precious little of that here lately, especially in the debating forums. And it really comes down to a handful of people who seem bent on ruining it for everyone else, either unwittingly or maliciously.
But you cannot argue the effects that the increased lack of respect for others has had on this board. So many valued members are no longer here; now Moraine has left, Bilqis is not really posting much anymore, people are scared to post for fear they'll be jumped on. This is NOT what IW was built upon, but it is the trend into which it is evolving, and I for one don't like it either. It certainly doesn't make my job, or Ertai's, or Memnoch's, or Ziroc's, any easier.
Nachtrafe, you claim that one sometimes needs to "argue the person, not the point." I disagree strongly with this. Maybe that's true in political debates, but this is not a debate forum. We have always prided ourselves in being able to respect other's opinions and being kind to one another, regardless of how we felt about the other person's beliefs or opinions, and have always worked to keep things from getting too personal. I certainly don't hold with all the beliefs said on this board. I will also, as Memnoch has said, fight to the end to allow you to express those beliefs, regardless of how I feel about it...as long as there is mutual courtesy and respect shown to the participants.
Not naming any names, but there now seems to be a contingent here of members who absolutely, positively, unrefutably MUST BE RIGHT under any circumstances, and who disrespect anyone who happens to disagree with them. I remember a safety poster I saw one time when I was going for my driver's license. It showed an automobile wreck, and the caption read, "John was in the right...but he DIED 'right'."
Even if one is in the right, does it hurt to yield sometimes? Or stop, look, and listen? Maybe, just maybe (oh wonder of wonders) one might actually LEARN something?
Or is that too much to ask?
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