Repressing emotions is unhealthy. That doesn't mean that they have to be expressed here.

What you call having a discussion UPSETS other people here, it makes them unwilling to post. Even without namecalling or flaming. This is going back and forth between two or three people and even without namecalling, it sounds nasty, it sounds defensive, it sounds hurtful.

If it upsets me that is one thing. I can ignore it. When it upsets a large group of the community and effects the atmosphere as a whole, then it is something unhealthy for the community. Express your emotions but don't do it in a way that upsets the community. The public forums are not your only outlet.

>>I wasn't talking about Religion!

I was not talking about religion in that context. I was not referring to that comment at all. I was referring to a recent thread where there was a back and forth discussion about politics. It was civil at the time. Such things very quickly grow out of hand.

And once again... the sarcasm is not helpful. "Religion rears its ugly head" ??? I have nothing against religion. It is EXTREMELY important and valuable to people's healing here. But not for everyone. Mentions of religion in context or well wishing is not a problem. Preaching is. What you may call "discussing" many people see as preaching. Again I am not talking about comments like the one you have mentioned here... in fact I can't think of anything here recently that has been an issue in that regard. I see mentions of God and other things many times here and none of them is a problem, none have been edited or deleted or mentioned as far as I know. However even though appropriate (i.e. within the rules) talk has not been "flagged" in any way I notice more and more that whenever religion, politics, or suicide are mention there is always a disclaimer attached... a sarcastic comment about what we "are" or "are not" allowed to talk about in this community. Those comments are hurtful to the moderators and distructive to the community as they promote an atmosphere of "lets see how much we can get away with".

The rules are in place for a reason. I honestly do not think it is difficult or unhealthy to follow them. There are other ways of sorting out arguments than publically on the board.

As far as a double standard... I don't read all the forums so I can't speak for what goes on everywhere. The mods try very hard to discuss things and to try to be consistant. If you think there is a double standard then "running to the mods" is the way for us to address our standards. Trying to do the same thing you think others are being allowed to do is not a healthy solution for this board. Two wrongs do not make a right.

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