Dear members, It has been noted by the staff team that a disproportionate amount of time and effort has recently been spent dealing with political bickering within this forum. Although we accept that the perpetrators are a small but vocal minority, it is nonetheless concerning that such behaviour has become a common occurrence within political news topics. As a support community, our priority should always be to foster a welcoming environment, in which people can discuss their beliefs and differences in a respectful and compassionate manner. The staff team will now be operating a 'zero tolerance' approach within this forum. This means that anybody who is found to be engaging in flame wars, ad hominem attacks, or is otherwise disrupting the flow of discussions and/or undermining the spirit of the community will have their access to the news forum revoked. This forum ban will last until, at the very least, after the US Presidential election. It may even be permanent. These forum bans are now being issued to those who have hijacked the forum within recent weeks, and any future incidences that are reported to staff will also be sanctioned under this 'zero tolerance' approach. It goes without saying that we understand that people have different political ideologies, and we are thankful to the vast majority of you who are respectful within your discussions. Our diversity has the potential to be one of our biggest strengths as a close-knit community, but it can also be what unnecessarily divides us by making us lose focus on what our biggest priority of all is: support. None of us should be married to our beliefs so tightly that hearing an alternative viewpoint sends us into a frenzied, ad hominem rage. No matter how passionately you disagree (or even loathe) somebody's viewpoint, we expect you all to treat each other with a basic level of civility and respect. For those who lack the maturity to do this, their access will be swiftly removed, so as not to spoil things for everybody else. Thank you, From EC Staff
