YESSSS, Progress

Thanks guys.
I do appreciate the opportunity for a reply, and I don't wish to create a storm in a teacup and ordinarily don't have much to say about matters of moderating this forum, but I do stand behind what I've said above, which is that I think pewep has been unreasonably given license to have religious discussions and post comments relating to his religious beliefs.

Oh really? Exactly where is that comment from a Mod that we consider pewep as proselytizing? I went through the thread and can't find it.

I'll clarify first that I didn't say he was 'prosletyzing', rather I said there was a comment by a mod that 'tacitly acknowledges' him to be 'peddling religious beliefs', and by that I mean he is doing so by being given a forum (figuratively, and literally) on which to post his views.
To my understanding, it's against the rules here on BHW to have any type of religious discussion - which then goes to your question about which was the post that had me take the view that at least one mod also believes it to be a religious view, and in answer to that, I've bolded in a quote below the words that led me to that view.

I can't see anything offensive about his posts and they don't dump on anyone else's religion. Good natured banter is one thing but some of the comments directed at him seem borderline abusive. If you think the posts are breaking the rules, report it and we'll deal with them.

I don't think one would say 'anyone else's religion' if one didn't think that pewep was having discussion about his religion.

That's all.

Hence I take the view that if one writes words such as that, they, somewhere in their mind, interpret peweps posts as religious in nature.

As I also said above, I'm certain I couldn't be a fair moderator, and I haven't any issue at all with the moderation of this forum in any other instance - I know it's open to all and sundry to post whatever they like, and in the face of that, I think all the mods do a great job, particularly given they're volunteering their time. However, in the case of pewep, as I've said above, I think he's been granted license on an ongoing basis to discuss things that, according to the rules as I understand them, ought not be discussed on BHW.

If you go to the spirit of why religious discussion is prohibited on BHW, it surely has to be so as to avoid contentious threads and discussions that ultimately don't benefit the forum in any way, but do instead stand to create feelings of ill will between members - which in my view describes perfectly the 'meditation' posts.
So even in the event that one took a view that 'meditation' discussion does not fall within the definition of 'religious discussion' per that which is prohibited on BHW, one must acknowledge that the intent behind prohibiting religious discussion must also be served by prohibiting things that might not fall directly within the scope of prohibition.

I just can't see that it will do any good for this community to allow discussion about religion, meditation, politics, or anything else that is both useless and contentious.
I think, if this forum is not to become a place of ill-will between members, and potentially a ground for contentious (albeit useless) commentary, arising from totally unrelated and useless topics, 'meditation' and other spiritual posts need to be classified as 'religious' in nature, and thereby prohibited.
 
No. your interpretation of what I said is tenuous, to say the least and bears no similarity to my meaning. If you need me to make this clearer, I'm happy to oblige.

I don't believe that Pewep's threads about meditation are religious. When they have verged too closely on it, we've acted on this and deleted them.

So, my view is that most of Pewep's posts are not religious, in addition to this he does not dump on anyone else's religion. Regardless of whether you think someone else is getting better treatment than you, this does not give anyone licence to insult or abuse someone.

If you're going to incorrectly overanalyse my reply, at least quote it directly. This way other people can read what I actually wrote rather than the spin you choose to put on it.
 
Regardless of whether you think someone else is getting better treatment than you, this does not give anyone licence to insult or abuse someone.
This is not about me - this is about (non) application of rules...
I've said my piece, with nothing further to add.

If you're going to incorrectly overanalyse my reply, at least quote it directly. This way other people can read what I actually wrote rather than the spin you choose to put on it.

Did I not directly quote you above? I simply redacted the first paragraph, because it was irrelevant to the point.
 
No. your interpretation of what I said is tenuous, to say the least and bears no similarity to my meaning. If you need me to make this clearer, I'm happy to oblige.

I don't believe that Pewep's threads about meditation are religious. When they have verged too closely on it, we've acted on this and deleted them.

So, my view is that most of Pewep's posts are not religious, in addition to this he does not dump on anyone else's religion. Regardless of whether you think someone else is getting better treatment than you, this does not give anyone licence to insult or abuse someone.

If you're going to incorrectly overanalyse my reply, at least quote it directly. This way other people can read what I actually wrote rather than the spin you choose to put on it.

Hey tony_d,

Let me first address the semantics, since you disagree on that. I had actually checked it before re-opening the thread since I am not a native speaker.


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peddle

So I think it's clear that the phrase 'peddling religious beliefs' refers to proselytizing.



I think you've really stretched the words out of proportion. What I read is that he's not flaming someone's religion forcing *him/her* to retaliate. The reason we have a sticky in the Lounge about politics and religion is that they 99/100 times they lead to flames and community members end up hating each other. We advocate cooperation and not conflict. Thus, such topics have been set to be avoided. In every case, it comes down to a Mod making a call about what happens with a thread.

Now, regarding Pewep's threads specifically. I think we can both agree he is not proselytizing. And I think most members have come to see his threads as entertainment (both his content and the content of the responses). Pewep used to post threads everyday at the beginning and we stopped him from doing that. Now he does it more infrequently. As long as his threads remain in the realm of entertainment, I don't see any issue - people enjoy a good laugh. Should that change though, his posts will be treated accordingly. In other words - he's not getting any special exemption.


A difference of views it is - I seem to have run out of 'thanks' for the day, lest I thank both your posts.

I think I've made my point sufficiently, and I'm sure you guys will moderate according to what you think is appropriate.
 
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