It’s like honey, these rules- and trying to honor them….
Sweet, even if a little messy at times. You know how honey flows right out of the little Sue Bee bottle? It leaves a little stickiness on the top, but otherwise it flows on out.
Once out of the bottle however— that honey is going to stick to everything. Whatever it comes into contact with and anyone who comes into contact with it.
Here’s the trouble…. A poster posts some nonsense (there are numerous examples of this, with this thread being one, but you could look at almost any
@Episkopos thread to see the same principle in action) and the moment someone steps up to say that they don’t agree with whatever the nonsense might be— the OP cries out, or lashes out and won’t tolerate any challenge to their perspective.
They won’t entertain a dialogue, they simply disagree with anyone who might disagree. And in this way— often with Moderator support, they attempt to shout down or otherwise silence any conversation, points or counterpoints. They seek a platform, a podium and a microphone, not a dialogue.
To speak up and speak out against whatever they are saying is considered (by some) to be goading. But is it? Are you wanting to create “safe spaces” where the nonsense goes unchallenged?