Let's be careful

Originally posted by offgrid So, I think this is supposed to be the rPod owners forum, not the christian/republican/gun rights rPod owners forum or the secular/democrat/gun safety rPod owners forum, or some such nonsense .  I guess if we don't want to demonstrate good manners/be "politically correct" or whatever you want  to call it we could split into different groups. Then everybody could chat only with folks who thought exactly like themselves. How nice and comforting, but what a loss that would be for all of us.  Just like its a loss to the country as a whole that we are identifying more and more by those kind of criteria rather than as Americans. IMHO. And my apologies to our Canadian members, I don't mean to leave you out of the conversation, you can have your own splinter group if you want to . BTW, I'm curious if religion and politics tend to crop up more at certain times of the year. Here we are in the dead of winter talking about this. Boring time of year for most of us campers. I'll bet if it was summer and we were all out camping in our rPods we wouldn't be discussing this stuff so much....

You very nearly quoted something I said a while back, in your opening sentence. A person's faith, politics, etc. just plain don't matter here. Why? Because we don't "go there".

The second sentence is a position previously stated - it's a big internet. The Web Wiz software is free. All a person needs to do is plunk down some money, get a static IP and some server space (or perhaps one would prefer the cloud). If one has a better idea for a forum, by all means, go for it!

To answer your question, yes things slow in the winter. There are fewer posts and logins (about half). It is a good time to discuss things other than tow vehicles, hitches, etc. Much of this I enjoy, personally. I learn more about individuals - character, values, thoughtfulness, etc. We just need to be careful not to stray into forbidden areas. In past times, I would "save" postings about my camping adventures and post them in the winter.

In a couple of months, new Pod owners will start showing up and the rest of us will begin thinking of upcoming adventures.

Well I'm going to tie a couple of things together here and say that ... I have great empathy for those of you who WANT to be camping at this time of year and cannot be. Even though I live in that state that so many people bash - California - which means we can camp any time of year. Although in the big mountains (Sierra, Cascades) we camp in winter but not with our RPod. And to wrap it up with a bow, I don't care when people bash my home (California). I may think they are rude, because I was raised not to criticize others' homes. But it doesn't offend or harm me because it doesn't affect me or mine in any way. It does tell me something about them, and that can be enlightening. And I'd still help them if need be, in a camping situation for example (and have many times), because we're all people and we can come together and help one another around the common ground. Mostly I choose to read and talk about camping and how to keep our rigs wheels down (driving is of particularly great interest to me), well maintained and rolling happily along. I really learn from, appreciate and care about this Forum and hope that we will keep it rolling happily and usefully along as well. 

There are one or two that seem to imply that I am hallucinating and seeing some things that aren't there. So, I spent about 30 seconds and cut/pasted just 3 comments posted from the last few days:

we can never improve on what God has created

As a Jesus follower I answer to a higher authority and know that I am a steward of His creation,

“Our love for God is shown in how we serve the widow, orphan, and infirm.” Beecher

It is my belief that these comments are of a religious nature. It is also my belief that most reasonably intelligent persons would agree with me.

This is not all of the comments seen nor is it intended to be a comprehensive list of all things that might transgress. I'm not going to mention names, as to publicly shame the individuals. You know who you are.

I agree with a post above that says, in effect, they know the environment that they are in and what they are typing, when they type it.   I firmly believe this could be said of all of us.

If a person chooses to willfully defy, admins/moderators are left with no choice. The point of all of this discussion? To attempt to once again, in the most gentle manner possible, "nudge" us back on course. Gentle/subtle doesn't seem to work with some folks.

The task/mission of moderators (of any forum) is to insure compliance with community standards, which insures the long term health and survival of the group/forum. Put plainly, the needs of the group outweigh the wants/desires of any individual.

Happy, have you ever moderated a board on the internet?  It ain't easy; just a thankless job that often you feel makes no one happy.  

Originally posted by Happy Tripping I hereby request of the people who run this forum that this moderator, who has absolutely no conception of the arbitrariness of his manner of thinking, be terminated for the good of this forum.

I'm ignoring you. Also, as one of the forum administrators (people who run the forum), I refuse to terminate myself, per your request.