Firstly I would like to say that it is my fault for letting political and contentious posts get out of hand. Can we please steer clear of politics. I know it is not always possible but we all have our own beliefs which should be respected. Otherwise we are at risk of losing well respected posters. Any future overtly political posts will be removed. Thanks.
I'm sorry @Dick Plumb1 I'm as guilty as anyone, and I started that thread a few days ago which wrongly undermined your position. For the good of the forum I now 100% back what you're saying. Hopefully we can all respect this position and nobody need feel too put out by it. I'm willing to stop my political posts now - and I won't gripe if I slip from that position and you have to remove something I shouldn't have posted. This is best for the forum, I should not have forgotten that
This post is re-printed from the 'Lardiman' thread, in the hope that all members will see it. Just to clarify, the 'no politics' rule applies only to subjects which are Off Topic here on Not606 Charlton. On topic subjects are Charlton Athletic / Football in general / forums & fans * Naturally the politics of these subjects can be freely debated, as the politics of the way CAFC is run goes to the very heart of our forum. Football politics (as with the Saudi bid for the World Cup) are also natural subjects for discussion by all fans. Threads with no prefix, or with any colour prefix other than the green Off Topic one are regarded as on topic, as long as the prefix has not been incorrectly used by the thread creator. * Threads about individual members here can be regarded as on topic. That would also apply to threads about other forums or their members. As those forums are football fans' forums they naturally fall within the area of CAFC and football. Since the comments posted about fellow fans have never been of a political nature until now, that would not seem to be an issue. I hope it can remain that way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'll do my best to see that all off-topic threads are tagged with the green Off Topic prefix. Only threads with that prefix are the ones where political posts should not be made. Presently on the whole 1st page of our forum there are only six threads prefixed as Off Topic. So the extent of the 'no politics' rule is not very widespread. Naturally any posts judged to be in the wrong thread will be moved to the more appropriate thread. This is what has always happened anyway, though it only happens very occasionally. If a political off-topic post appears in an on-topic thread it will be removed, just as it will be if appearing in any other thread.
A little while ago I posted that there will be no political posts. With what Lardy has posted today, without consulting me, I am totally confused. I am either running this forum or I am not. I feel it is best to leave it to @lardiman to Moderate. As I don’t like the direction it is going. We already had @Penguin walk away because of the political stuff. He is a well respected poster on here. I feel I am being undermined. I have better things to do with my time so I will bow out.
I'll try one more time to make the situation very clear. Off topic political posts will be removed. On topic subjects here on Not606 Charlton are Charlton Athletic FC Football in general Forums & fans of Charlton or other football Clubs (which, by definition, falls within the first two points above). It would be impossible to ban political comments on CAFC or Football in general. That would encompass any comments on the way Charlton Athletic is run by its owners and SMT, and the way Football is run by the FA, Premier League, EFL, UEFA, FIFA, or even the Government. The politics of football governance matters to many fans and has always been debated on fans' forums. When it comes to off-topic subjects, the word 'Political' is not confined to Party Politics, but also includes the entire ideological spectrum. Political means expressing any opinion which is controversial and likely to cause disagreement and even offence to other people who do not share the opinion being expressed. It is that disagreement and offence which has caused toxic or personal wrangles here in the past, and has caused members to fall silent or leave. Such division is not necessary on a football fans' forum. It is a harmful indulgence. Preventing harm to this forum community is the very purpose of the people who moderate it. Immigration, Culture & diversity, Housing, Policing, Education, Healthcare, Foreign Policy, the Justice System, Entertainment and the Arts etc, Even Sport outside Football (though I admit this is something of a grey area) All of these matters and others of a similar kind are not related to Charlton Athletic and football. That does not mean these subjects cannot be mentioned. But it does mean they cannot be used to express controversial opinions which will cause disagreements and members falling out with each other. Posts likely to cause this will be removed. @Dick Plumb1 none of what I have posted was intended to confuse or undermine you. But saying "no political posts" without then defining for members what counts as a post that will be removed does not serve those members well. Members must have as clear as possible an idea of what posts are likely to be removed. If you disagree with the definition of political posts that I have laid out, then let's discuss it. But I was left in a vacuum because you have not yet defined what you believe to be a political post.
One last thought; I do find it ironic that the member who seemingly most opposes this move to ban off-topic political posts, is the same one who always maintained years ago that Not606 Charlton should be for posting about CAFC and football only, and that all off-topic subjects should not even be discussed here. @Charles No Likes Hawtrey feel free to take the rise out of me all you like. It isn't going to change anything. Off-topic political posts will be removed, for the good of the whole forum, for as long as I am moderating here. Members have left in the past because of heated and sometimes nasty political arguments on here which had nothing to do with football. I was partly responsible for some of that years ago - before I became a moderator. Now we may have lost another very long standing and well liked member because of off-topic politics. We cannot afford to lose members in this manner. I will not allow this forum to become dominated by any single political outlook, on any subject not concerning CAFC and football. If that means some leg-pulling or ridicule comes my way, then so be it.
I really do not see what the problem is, if people do not like a post/member then ignore it. Alternatively, members can unwatch threads.
I have no problem reading other people’s views that differ to mine - I certainly don’t take offence to them , we are all grown ups at the end of the day (supposedly )
The controversial nature of some posts makes them difficult to ignore. Some posts are provocative, and members who strongly disagree are goaded or riled into an angry response. It takes a lot of will power to ignore posted views that you may find hurtful, particularly if those views are posted time and again. Even if you can ignore them, it won't be long before you feel that this forum isn't the kind of place you want to spend time in. There are dozens of online platforms where controversial political views can be aired all day long. Why do they have to be aired here? They only stoke division and ill-feeling. I completely agree with @Watameire it's time to move on.
On a forum with only 8.5 regular posters, it’s quite an achievement for its two Mods - 25% of our membership- to fall out yet again I was going to propose a vote of No Confidence in the Hanging Judge Kim Jung Lardiman …but thought better of it when I remembered that @ElfsborgAddick us next in line for the crown.
What's the problem with having a designated politics thread? If you don't like political discourse, don't look in. It's pretty simple really.
