Originally posted by FutureCEO
you have to say the truth whether its good or bad.
"Ah, but what is truth? Is truth unchanging laws?
We both have truths, are mine the same as yours?"
I have not been a member for very long, and I may not have as many posts as some members who joined after I did, but it seems to me that there is a fine line between people having a difference of opinion, and people using unnecessary put downs, overstating their dislike of something, or implying that if someone doesn't think the way they do, then that someone is stupid, full of crap, etc., etc. I think Steve and the moderators, and the long time members, do an excellent job keeping people in check, but sometimes things start to get out of hand, or get on that fine line, before a moderator may notice (or have it brought to their attention).
The problem with saying that if people don't like a thread, they shouldn't read it and move on, goes against the nature of a forum. If you don't like a thread, and express an opinion that is different than the majority of the posts in the thread, you should at least have the good sense to express your difference in a civil way. And, you should have the maturity to realize that if you are in the minority, you are going to get alot of comments against your opinion. I have seen this happen more than once, and then the person in the minority gets upset and the thread goes "tense", until a moderator steps in and calms things down.
I see people make the comment from time to time about "freedom of speech" on this forum. No, we have a freedom of speech only to the extent that it complies with rules of this forum, something we all agreed to when we joined.
Some of us see the glass half-empty. Some of us see the glass half-full. For those of us who want to argue there is no glass at all, that's why we have the rules: to keep a common ground of cilvility.