politics in chat

[HazMattic_Force]

OK so there are alot of times when politics comes up in chat , and well frankly if EC is a truely "safe" site why is it people can bash another for political thinking ?? I think it would be fine in designated areas , but when you do it in a place that is for everyone someone can join without knowing what they're going into . Yes chat is something people elect to go into but i believe that political bashing should not be on the standard chat . Now i am talking about the one sided no one giving in back and forth bashing . It would be fine if it was less "bashing" , rather then just talking . But for whatever reason people believe that arguing over the internet will change someones political views is not rational ...... so i am just ask what do you all think ....... i mean i belive they should make a room for it or GTFO or STFU ....

[No One]

Agreed.

[VampConspiracy]

If it's truly bashing, then it should be dealt with. If it's a civilized discussion... isn't that what we're here for?

Politics falls within the two types of conversation that invariably leads to problems - politics and religion. I'm not going to say that those topics should be off-limits. If people can manage to pull off a calm discussion of such things, then leave it be. If it turns into a bash festival, then it has become out of hand.

[TheEdend]

They say that you shouldn't talk about three things when you first meet someone - politics, religion and money.

It doesn't matter how you go about it there is always going to be someone that gets too carried away with a debate or conversation. Not saying that it shouldn't be done, but something that should be kept in mind when dealing with.

[Bryan90]

Originally Posted by VampConspiracy

If it's truly bashing, then it should be dealt with. If it's a civilized discussion... isn't that what we're here for?

I personally agree with this. Though, I do acknowledge that sometimes even civil and well-mannered discussions can get offensive and people can get uncomfortable.

It is ultimately the trade-off between having a comfortable space vs. the freedom of expression and exchange of ideas. This is an issue that is very common especially in the LGBT community. LGBT groups face this question all the time. "Should we allow discussion for sensitive matters such as childhood rape, incestuous relationships, or other issues that might be offensive to some but imperative to the sexual relationship of others?"

[maverick]

Honestly? I think folks should be thicker-skinned. Everyone knows that religion, politics, and other certain topics of discussion (such as sexuality) can get heated. If you are an emotionally sensitive person or easily wound up, you should stay out of threads of discussion which involve inflammatory subjects in order to avoid being made uncomfortable. I think most people here should be pretty good at self-evaluating whether or not you're going to be insulted by reading something.

The staff does their best to make sure that personal attacks are kept to a minimum, but there is nothing wrong with having contradictory opinions. This is a site full of people from all across the world. If we all agreed, we'd have nothing to talk about.

For what it's worth, I don't see a lot of straight-out "bashing" on this site. I do see some strongly opinionated people that occasionally get out of line, but for the most part I think this is one of the more supportive and reasonable forums I've run across on the Net, and occasional yelling matches over political parties or circumcision is par for the peace.

[RedState]

Well, from someone in said discussion..and there were several others that feel the same way..Nate, Brandon, Ron all the active people were having a very interesting and engaging conversation on the issues at hand. I don't recall anyone bashing anyone. It was actually a very pleasant conversation and interesting debate on the topics at hand...I was outnumbered (like always) but even with that I found the convo worth-while and informative
My apologizes to those that find political talk not your "thang"....Glee isn't my "thang" either but i deal with it...but I agree with maverick...some of you folks just need some thicker skin.

I mean, seriously, the convos in chat vary like the weather...a lot of times it is focused on that horrible TV show Glee. Other times, the evening may be consumed as to when Joey is going to get a haircut...tonite it simply happened to be politics...tomorrow it could be which version of The King & I was Yul Brynner better in, the original or the reprise? Who know?

[Moonstrike]

Why are there never political discussions when I'm in chat??

[Shevanel]

Originally Posted by bamaboy

Well, from someone in said discussion..and there were several others that feel the same way..Nate, Brandon, Ron all the active people were having a very interesting and engaging conversation on the issues at hand. I don't recall anyone bashing anyone. It was actually a very pleasant conversation and interesting debate on the topics at hand...I was outnumbered (like always) but even with that I found the convo worth-while and informative
My apologizes to those that find political talk not your "thang"....Glee isn't my "thang" either but i deal with it...but I agree with maverick...some of you folks just need some thicker skin.

I mean, seriously, the convos in chat vary like the weather...a lot of times it is focused on that horrible TV show Glee. Other times, the evening may be consumed as to when Joey is going to get a haircut...tonite it simply happened to be politics...tomorrow it could be which version of The King & I was Yul Brynner better in, the original or the reprise? Who know?

Joey doesn't get haircuts. Haircuts get Joey.

[Colton]

Originally Posted by bamaboy

Well, from someone in said discussion..and there were several others that feel the same way..Nate, Brandon, Ron all the active people were having a very interesting and engaging conversation on the issues at hand. I don't recall anyone bashing anyone. It was actually a very pleasant conversation and interesting debate on the topics at hand...I was outnumbered (like always) but even with that I found the convo worth-while and informative
My apologizes to those that find political talk not your "thang"....Glee isn't my "thang" either but i deal with it...but I agree with maverick...some of you folks just need some thicker skin.

I mean, seriously, the convos in chat vary like the weather...a lot of times it is focused on that horrible TV show Glee. Other times, the evening may be consumed as to when Joey is going to get a haircut...tonite it simply happened to be politics...tomorrow it could be which version of The King & I was Yul Brynner better in, the original or the reprise? Who know?

It's not necessarily whether or not it's your "thang", but it's the fact that these discussion will most likely get heated.

[Filip]

Yeah, politics, religion and money are definitely topics that are always divisive. Also, add guns. And abortion, and the death penalty... And at worst, those topics all get combined

I think that there's a bit of merit to both opinions (yeah, how middle-of-the-road and bipartisan of me )

On the one hand, I think people should try and not be so upset about discussions. While the stakes and effects of the actual politics of a country are, of course, important, the discussions about it really are about as serious as discussions between different fans of sports teams. Had the conversation been about the superbowl, there might have been back-and-forth trading of reasons why the Packers suck/rule (and by extension, their fans too). About what the objective, real, true strategy they needed to follow was. About how dumb the other team is for even competing in the first place... and most people would cope just fine, as that's accepted to be standard sports banter.

Now exchange the football teams' names with Dems and GOP you get much the same thing: everyone has an opinion, and everyone thinks the other guys suck. But yet, people get massively offended in this case. And everyone is always so convinced they're objectively right that they start to see every other opinon as bashing. All too often, BOTH sides get away feeling like they got mistreated and ganged up upon.
However, no laws get passed based on a politics discussion. No rights get granted or taken away, no taxes get raised or lowered just because of a discussion on an online forum. No matter how heated the discussion, Sarah Palin won't come into your house and smash up the furniture

So, speaking for myself, I usually go into these discussions knowing that I probably won't change the opponents, and they'll probably won't change me, but it's alwas good to see other opinions. I ignore it when people make blanket statements like "politician X just plain objectively sucks" and engage people who make more nuanced statements like "the deficit was up by 40% this year and I voted republican to make sure it doesn't spiral out of control further". A sentiment that I disagree with, but it's always good to articulate why I disagree and find out why others feel that way.


On the other hand, I totally get that not getting excited or upset is not always as easy as flicking a switch. And that it sometimes is better to have separate rooms if you don't feel like partaking in the politics discussion. So creating a separate room was the right way to go. Maybe having general chat for random banter and having a separate room for politics might have been more efficiënt, though.

As a final note:

Originally Posted by bamaboy

tomorrow it could be which version of The King & I was Yul Brynner better in, the original or the reprise? Who know?

There was a reprise? Why was I not informed?

[Z3ni]

I beleive.... that.. there should be rooms for certain topics?

Coz most times I'm in chat ... politics comes up.. it was ok at first but it gets annoying.. no offence

[Harve]

Originally Posted by maverick

Honestly? I think folks should be thicker-skinned. Everyone knows that religion, politics, and other certain topics of discussion (such as sexuality) can get heated. If you are an emotionally sensitive person or easily wound up, you should stay out of threads of discussion which involve inflammatory subjects in order to avoid being made uncomfortable. I think most people here should be pretty good at self-evaluating whether or not you're going to be insulted by reading something.

The staff does their best to make sure that personal attacks are kept to a minimum, but there is nothing wrong with having contradictory opinions. This is a site full of people from all across the world. If we all agreed, we'd have nothing to talk about.

For what it's worth, I don't see a lot of straight-out "bashing" on this site. I do see some strongly opinionated people that occasionally get out of line, but for the most part I think this is one of the more supportive and reasonable forums I've run across on the Net, and occasional yelling matches over political parties or circumcision is par for the peace.

I was gonna post pretty much this, and then i saw it was already posted, and more!

[PhantomX]

When the subject comes around to politics, I find that most of us try to have a civil discourse on the issues. I sometimes come to gain a different perspective on some issues. I don't get all bent out of shape when someone says something I disagree with. I personally find politics fascinating. Oh, and I get annoyed when people think that discussing the news issues (like what's going on in the world) is politics. They are related but I don't see current events as politics. Just my .02.

[Beertruck]

I hate to say it, Matt, but you'll find that politics is an everyday part of life - and most adults can have a civilized discussion about it. I don't know what happened before I got in that evening in question, but it seemed like everyone was having a pretty polite discussion. And having a discussion is not "bashing" by any means.

What I did find "bashing" was you coming in and screaming about how stupid everyone was because we were talking politics... and then making a thread complaining about it. Don't worry, I screencapped it for you in case you forgot.

[Staff edit: Removed image]

I'm sorry if posting this goes against site policy, but nothing grinds my gears like a hypocrite.

[Nat3]

Originally Posted by Z3ni

I beleive.... that.. there should be rooms for certain topics?

Coz most times I'm in chat ... politics comes up.. it was ok at first but it gets annoying.. no offence

There is no rule that you are unable to talk about politics in the main Chat tab...
And after all, some of you did make another room to talk in... Which as Beer posted was tittled "No Politics"... and none of us who were talking about politics went in there to disrupt your guys conversations.

[the ry guy]

Originally Posted by bamaboy

Well, from someone in said discussion..and there were several others that feel the same way..Nate, Brandon, Ron all the active people were having a very interesting and engaging conversation on the issues at hand. I don't recall anyone bashing anyone. It was actually a very pleasant conversation and interesting debate on the topics at hand...I was outnumbered (like always) but even with that I found the convo worth-while and informative
My apologizes to those that find political talk not your "thang"....Glee isn't my "thang" either but i deal with it...but I agree with maverick...some of you folks just need some thicker skin.

Really? REALLLY? lmfao wow no mention of the guy with "vote republican" in his signature at all, cause god he's not important enough to mention, he couldn't possibly be a republican too lol (i'm just poking fun at mike, but i'm not getting involved in this particular discussion for various reasons)