@Admin Wow, lots of strong opinions here! Why not take a Darwinian approach and, if it’s not too much work, put it out there with appropriate settings to enable/disable it, and see what happens. If it’s ignored or abused, then maybe it’s not such a good idea. Anyway, thanks for trying to improve the experience.

Hmmmm... I'm on the fence... Could be good... Not sure... I predict most members won't use it...

All good ideas and, as normal, things have to evolve including this site. I understand the issue on people getting their backs up but, in this forum, there is little anyone can do except spew (and that should be avoided in that it only makes both parties even more upset. I really liked the civil discourse paper and, coincidentally, we had a speaker here on just that topic.He looked at the paper, liked and asked if he could keep it. He was also a former Mormon and was about to be tenured in a private school when he realized he didn't believe (for some reason the n'ts are always highlighted) and left to start all over again. He knew of FFRF and personally knew Dan Barker. I try to use reason and personal anecdotes when dealing with people who disagree and if that fails it is best to walk away or simply say to agree to disagree. It will interesting to see the comments on the "how feeling?"

It's about time this got brought up and mentioned. Thank you for doing this. I have been here 1.5 years now and noticed a lot of changes on how people talk to one another, the upswing in drama. There are a few areas that have gotten way out of control. Communication in word is our only way to reach out and keeping things civil is important because we know what we deal with in the real world of believers and the judgment call they lay on us daily. It sure is worth a try.

I agree with others that it may not be likely that you will ever get everyone to agree, or to even communicate nicely with others. I see your suggestion here as being along the lines of "let's create a forum where we can all play nicely together." But do we have RULES for how that would look, or at least suggestions? I think part of the problem is that many people do not know what the rules of good communication are, how to state an opinion without attacking another person, etc. Perhaps discourse would be elevated if everyone agreed to adhere to some basic principles of effective communication. For example:

[ombuds.unc.edu]

[thestoryexchange.org]

I feel that politics is hypothetical to a lot of people here. Some of us do not have that luxury. I have had multiple family members die for lack of basic medical care. I have relatives who are POC and or "aliens" and the concerns about them being deported or worse because of racist policies and ideals are, I can assure you very real. Y'all keep on playing nice with the people who espouse and further the ideas that endanger the lives of my family. I am done. I cannot deal with these kinds of discussions and having my all too real concerns written off as "identity politics" and " intolerance" . yeah I'm fucking intolerant of political views that kill people.

In an intoxicated for all World, avoidance of tyrannical violence and maintenance of wise Peace are global necessities. In order to avoid inquisitional forms (too many, aggressive questions), I propose to display a message in a form of friendly advice: "Terraprotective advice: Remember to be wise. Control of nerves and negative feelings is necessary for You and the other Co-terrians." #moralevolutionfirst #homosapienshomodeus #allhumanityforterraprotectivity #limitedtimeprecioustime #caresavesterra #protectivereasonnotdestructiveillusion #pandetoxificationisnecessary

Drumpf's MO is hate. There should be no tolerance of this. I don't respond to his minions because I don't want to give them any "points" here. Let hate remain level one and ignored. But I love my country too much to pretend that this is still the same liberal versus conservative dichotomy we are historically used to.

I'm suddenly reminded of the following quote: very fine people on both sides ....
and I'm now confused.

Firstly, I love the idea of a "How are you feeling" post. It's a positive message rather than negative and an opportunity to be honest and supportive.

On another note, I've stopped regularly participating in this group due to the negativity and constant criticism of my posts and comments. I have a bit of a conservative slant and I find that most people here are on the extreme left bordering SJW, a vocal minority which has taken over everywhere else. I was hoping to find a community that wouldn't judge when I signed up here, but that's simply not the case.

I like the idea of getting past all the vitriol, and I’m hoping we can all eventually find a way to do that. IMHO, we’ll be hard pressed to fix the world if we can’t even mend relations with each other. Whether we agree or not.

There are things I can rationally discuss and communicate with and even compromise with. Education, economics, gun laws, healthcare...

But there are things I cannot and will not tolerate or even humor.

And in my book, voting for someone who locks children in cages and bans people from the country for their skin color or religion, incites violence against people, refuses to work with anyone, and tries to take away basic human rights and decency, someone who shuns and insults our allies while snuggling with vicious enemy dictators...if you vote for them just because they support your economic or healthcare views, then you are not someone I can tolerate. You have clearly said that certain lives are worth less to you than your economic beliefs. That is unforgivable.

Now, I'm trying very hard to just block those that make me irrationally angry by being either the above or supporting the above. But I will not compromise with or tolerate people who believe basic human decency, human lives, and human rights are something that can be compromised.

Also a lot of people on the conservative side seem to forget that compromise means BOTH sides give up some and get some. It isn't a one way street.

I've been kind of a negative guy since my father passed in 1960, Mom raised 4 boys by herself, never remarried. It was just one struggle after another, mostly with money. We all stayed in 1 bedroom.......yeah, i have a chip on my shoulder...BUT......i've had some good times too. i regret getting married but I ended up with 2 magical daughters who are doing very well. I hardly believe they are my kids. NOW......today, it is very sad. The world seems very dark and I worry for my grand kids. I don't see it getting any better. I'm better than I was 20 years ago, I don't worry like I used to, and life is getting shorter and shorter.....but wow......Trump ain't helping matters. We have all this bullshit going on with the politicians.....and wow....watch the news coming from the Sudan!!! There are so many people starving to death......and just trying to find some food and a pair of shoes.....THERE ARE TOO MANY FUCKING PEOPLE!!! SAUDI ARABIA AIN'T DOING ANYTHING, DUBAI AIN'T DOING ANYTHING.......and the whole world wants America to solve their problems. This guy told me that 65 million people want to come to America!! Geez, I wonder why? Well, one thing, here in America if you want to rip a page out of the Bible and use it for butt-wipe.....YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GETTING YOUR FUCKING HEAD CUT OFF!!! (.......hey, wait a minute.....maybe YOU DO!!). Organized religions and the struggle for power, greed......it's ruining the world. We will not be here as long as the dinosaurs were.

Perhaps we should do the Jewish thing and demand a land for ourselves?

“...to help bridge the growing divide in society. My thought was if I could raise the view of non-believers in the eyes of religious people...”

A noble cause indeed; one I support 100%. But that is only one half of the task. You don’t save a marriage by talking only one member out of their contemptuous ways, and giving the other partner no support. It’s a two-way street.

What goes on in this site is not in view of any religious eyes. They aren’t welcome here.
And for the nearly two years I’ve been trying, I’ve had approximately zero success at raising the view of religious people in the eyes of non-believers.

People don’t come here to sacrifice themselves to those “inhuman others”. They come here to vent about them and lick their wounds. Same goes for the political divide.

I admire your desire to heal this problem, but I have to admit I have doubts that twitbook, whether it’s embraced or ignored, will solve that particular problem. I don’t think it’s status updates that we crave, but maybe status itself.

One thing I’ve noticed in my time here is how attuned we humanoids are, myself included though I’m loath to admit it, to the status conferred by points and levels.

If a point system could be devised by which members could assess each other’s “relative tribalosity” based on, for example, a three position rating - up, down, or neutral - with cumulative “T” ratings visible on the person’s profile, (you rate per member, not per encounter, but you can change that rating as often as you like) and higher cumulative ratings would gain access to site features not available to lower rated members...
who knows? Maybe people would compete by learning how to be civil?

Nah! They’d prolly compete to see who could keep the lowest score! Oh well, I tried.

Hiya,
I think its important always to be kind and I think it would be a lovely idea.

I am part of this community to not have to deal with theists and theism. I do NOT like seeing politics in the general categories here. I stay away from anything but my groups mostly.

Good we need it

I’d like to remind people of this support group.
We welcome everyone, and is a safe place for everyone.
I just saw these posts, and wanted to share.

"Mental Health Support "

There are a few members of the extreme r and/or irrational right on this site. As a group they are the most unwilling to have their thoughts and biases examined and challenged without becoming verbally and emotionally abusive. Yes, I have become angry at such despicable behavior and I b believe such anger justified. To me, they do not belong in a community willing and able to engage in critical, but constructive dialogue. If they feel uncomfortable with legitimate criticism, so be it.

Maybe the polarization in the US, in the long term, is a blessing in disguise. It brings up concerns such as yours. I think that a people is always polarized. But particular sides may be quieter than others. It may take more daring to verbalize one side than the other. People are learning to have more courage about their view. But adjustments to hear as well as speak may be trailing in the progress.

Your idea is interesting. It might be worth a try.

OKAY.

It seems like there is an assumption (reading the comments) that members here need to prove their worth or be of value. Is that a measurement we can make? Anyhow, this site is confusing as is. I think I joined at the moment the site was being redesigned?

It's very gratifying to slam one's ideological opponents, as well as their ideology, without bothering to pause and reflect on whether one is actually making a genuine effort to be fair-minded in one's judgments about their character or intelligence. But we are more rational, intelligent, and more likely to be persuasive to those who disagree with us if we try to avoid falling into this trap.

I should add that obviously, conservatives are just as guilty of this as liberals, if not more so. But we should still try to be reasonable, rational, and fair in our judgments (and I'm not saying that we should feel obliged to be completely non-judgmental either.)

@Admin the next page button for this post is missing.

I believe the rest of the content can be found by reloading the page.