Let me tell you a little story
Back in the beginning of the first board I had a run in with a gal from Canada. We disagreed on just about everything. The board had a similar make up as this one, where we were free to discuss politics and also had places to share fun chat and our personal lives with others.
This "gal" was not happy with the facts I spoke out about and didn't have a way of winning the debate. So instead of admitting defeat, or coming up with a better argument, she decided to belittle my son, and my ability to be a father. The thread got pretty ugly. I mean REAL ugly.
She didn't know me from a hole in the wall, or my son, but it still hurt. Rather than take it in stride knowing it was just text on a screen from an anonymous person, I came back with some vicious words of my own. When the thread was over, and she was ultimately banned, I felt like I had "won". I didn't. We both lost.
We should all feel comfortable speaking about whatever we want here without fear of others using our personal lives against us. She should have been embarrassed for making comments about a child and my ability to be a father. After the fact, I was equally embarrassed for my own comments.
Instances such as this hurt people. It makes our members look bad. It makes the board look bad. Liberal or Conservative, republican or democrat, man or woman - we are all human and we all have feelings. Let's all please respect that. You need not respect someone's opinion in order to respect them as a fellow human being.
