Discussion»Questions»answerMug Members» Well muggers, it apparently is time for me to leave this interesting group of people---any thoughts on the matter?.
Have a good life. I figured if you wanted to explain why you were leaving, you would already have done so, so I won't ask about that. I appreciated your contributions, even if we have very different worldviews.
On my way to this site on Monday monring, I was unceremoniously kidnapped and held incommunicado for two days. When I was released, it was with a precise set of instructions that indicated that my existence may well be terminated. (I presume that thread is limited to this site---otherwise I would apparently need to hire bodyguards.)
It appears that I may have offended some of the members on here---and if I did, I apologize---but only because you may have been offended, not for anything I said. Following the necessary path to the truth by those who ae interested may well require viewer discretion. Unfortunately, it also occasionally requires that what may be reasonably inferred from what someone posts may in fact require a response which---while possibly disrespectful at least technically---is the only appropriate one.
I have posted previously that ad hominems and insults do not bother me in the least. They frequently arise in discussions when people hold close to things that they are aware they have no intellectual basis for espousing and feel the need to "spit" at those who point out their reasons for holding those things to be true have no real basis in fact. Much can be learned both by the ad hominems and the insults and the responses to them.
I have not decided whether to stay or go, but the responses so far indicate that at least some of the membership consider I add value, so I am inclined to stay.
Umm... the white wing evangelical monitor you'd be referencing tends to lean more left and is an atheist. That is, if you're referring to me, whom the question references. Oops. ;)
*shrugs* You know the rules as well as anyone else. If you can handle following them, I have faith in pretty much everyone else here.
I have to hand it to you, this is some of the most creative writing I have seen in ages.
I'm going to translate for people who don't share your flair for wordsmithrary.
"I was unceremoniously kidnapped and held incommunicado for two days." Means: My account was put on a 48-hour break for violating policies.
"When I was released, it was with a precise set of instructions that indicated that my existence may well be terminated. (I presume that thread is limited to this site---otherwise I would apparently need to hire bodyguards.)" Means: Just Asking requested that I follow the policies and let me know what the site's policies are for continued TOS violations.
For those unaware, our policy is to send a reminder email at the first TOS violation. If there's a second one for the same issue within 90 days, we put accounts on a 48-hour break. If there's a third violation within 90 days, the moderators vote as to whether the person is allowed to return and what the length of the suspension is if they are allowed to return. I kind of feel like it's been 6+ months since anyone else had been on a 48-hour break, but I could be wrong. It's been a while. As far as terminating anyone's existence, I can safely say no living being has ever been physically harmed by the answerMug administrative team. Bodyguards are probably an unnecessary precaution. However, I have removed a handful of people from the site over the years. I think the last one was about a year ago, and I told him he could come back if he promised to be nice. He didn't want to, so he remains in exile. Given that the rules are pretty lax and equate to "please be nice, don't post sexual stuff, and don't post illegal stuff," I don't feel too bad about occasionally voting someone off the island for not following them.
With all that said, I sure hope you stick around and that we don't have any other issues, but if you feel the need to vote yourself off the island, you're welcomed back at any time.
Since JA brought it up, here is the email that gives her point of view:
It looks like some of the discussions you had with another member had to be moderated for violating our respect guidelines. Somewhere along the way, it seems you and TsubakiSanjuro lost sight of the actual debate and went to town on one another instead. Because you received a similar message from us recently, our next step is to put your account on a 48-hour break. You can resume normal activity after this, though I hope you'll keep our guidelines in mind. Subsequent issues within a short time frame (90 days) are turned over to a vote of the moderators as to whether the person is allowed to return and how long their break is if they are to be reinstated. I do appreciate the flair you bring to the site and the thought-provoking discussions you have, so I hope that you will come back after the 48-hour break and have a smoother time with things.
I think you do not realize how offended people get when they get thrown off here. And when other members do not get taken to task for the same thing? Then it gets into these discussions over and over again.
The thing that riles me is when someone is threatened with expulsion if they don't quit whatever ATTACK that is supposedly causing a fight is all about. Just erase it. This is not the nightly news. It carries little weight anyway.
Tom is one of the nicest people on here. I think you should CONSIDER that?
And taking pictures off the screen because they depict underwear is going beyond anything I have ever seen on any site.
Just in case you want a real beef from me.
That was done by your Evangelical. To both myself and Lyrical One.
I mean this is stuff we see on tv on regular channels.
This really needs to stop with this going overboard. You are losing members for no reason by the barrel.
Sorry have only been on AM six months or so and was not really aware of you. But what you write about just sounds like life in general and why should AM differ? One person's "fact" is another's "fiction" - all kinds of things and attitudes and beliefs can keep us going and make life worth living for us. So no guarantee we are going to be able to get others agreeing with us right down the line on everything. But no reason we can't express ourselves even though our views just by their very nature may offend some. I think we naturally gravitate to those who support our views but in such a public and polyglot forum such as this I don't think it is good for us to expect that.
Please enlighten me - how do you think you have offended people here?
I was put on a 48-hour break for supposedly treating a fellow mugger with a lack of respect---and of course that is a judgment call on the part of a moderator. Judgment calls can be examples of either good or poor judgment, but there is no appeal from them except in the court of other mugger's opinions. My original "sin" with regards to the "terms of service" of the site was to simply copy a response that one particular mugger had made to another and then past it in my reply to the person who had originally posted it. A moderator "dinged" me for lack of respect. I suppose I should have realized that what the other mugger had posted was against the "terms of service" and therefore I should not have copied and pasted his remark---Treat me like a child if you want to, I could care less---but if you are in that position, isn't it important to you that you con't come off as the dimmest in the room?
I apologized in case I had used grammar and syntax and vocabulary and inference in too aggressive a way while trying to get to the truth. My apology was not because I thought that anything I said was out of line or offensive, but because I do not unintentionally like to offend anyone.
stillhavingfun123 