Jon and Mark;
You've made some interesting comments that suggest that I was unclear in my earlier posts. So, to clarify:
I agree, communication is important.
Never discussing politics and religion is not my mantra. I pretty much discuss them everyday. I study politics every day. I read several national blogs daily; and I contribute to one in particular from time to time. I host an online discussion group (local, private) whose sole topic is politics. I recently gave a talk at my congressman's office. I train volunteers. I attend and help organize meetings, events and rallies. I carry signs. I make telephone calls. I sign petitions practically every day. I call the offices of my congressman and my senators. I write letters to the editor. I educate myself on the issues. My positions change as I accumulate more information. I appreciate all sides of an issue. My spiritual practice infuses every thing I do every day - everything I think and do is part of my spiritual practice. I discuss practice with others regularly. I read material related to my practice daily. If I think someone can help me on my path, I'll ask; if I think I can be of assistance to someone on their path, I'll volunteer. So no, never discussing politics and religion is not my mantra.
And no, I'm not trying to get the masses to buy the notion that sex, politics, death, and religion shouldn't be discussed. I think they should be discussed. I read and participate in these discussions all the time. And I think everyone should continually educate themselves on these topics. What I know about Iran today, I literally did not know yesterday. There are lots of venues available for such discussions. In fact, if you really want to start a discussion, it's very easy to setup your own blog and start having discussions. You can put a link to your blog in your Alembic club profile, and all of the Alembic club members who want to join you in that discussion can click on the link and do so. You can email all of your friends, family and work related contacts and invite them as well. There are just zillions of blogs that discuss the war. If you aren't having daily discussions on these topics it's not because venues aren't available.
Wilfred talked about forums where the atmosphere and communal sense were completely and permanently damaged. I've seen it happen, several times. Online communities that I participated in and cared for, including some that I hosted, and some that were invitation only, just disintegrated. Invitation only; we invited people that we knew, and that we thought could have a civil discussion about politics; it was a disaster. In these cases, people whose online company I really enjoyed and valued would leave because of the comments of others. People get very emotionally and viscerally engaged on certain topics.
So it has been my experience that there are forums where people can go and relax and feel at home and feel a sense of community. And there are forums where people can go and expect to talk politics.
Now I acknowledge that I may be completely wrong about this. I'm just trying to help this forum the best I can as moderator given the experience set that I have to draw on. I don't and can't know what will happen.
Personally, I get very emotional about the war. While Alan was in Iraq, I kept a picture of him beside me at my desk. I thought about him, and Iraq, and the war, every time I looked up at that picture. I was very happy when he returned home from the war. I would imagine that we all get emotional about war, no matter what side of the debate we are on. When it comes to war, positions that you hold dear will be painful to others, and positions that others hold dear will be painful to you.
There was a case here in this forum where a club member stated that another club member's pride and joy Alembic was ugly. People say hurtful things often without even thinking about it or realizing it. When you start talking about issues where people have starkly opposing and strongly held emotionally charged positions, it just seems to me that you increase the chances of saying hurtful things, even if you don't mean to. And then this place might not be the comfortable oasis for some that it has been.
There are a lot of members of this forum, over 2,000; and they are from all over the world. We are all drawn to this forum because the main topic here is Alembic basses and guitars. I would imagine that for some, this place is a refuge; a warm and inviting place to go where you know you are amongst friends, like-minded individuals who think, talk and live Alembic; people who will look at pictures of your beloved Alembic and appreciate it as much as you do. I would imagine that if you're a bass player in Jerusalem, there's a chance that maybe you don't want to know that the guy who said all those great things about your bass has a totally polar opposite position on the settlements than you do. Maybe you just don't really need to know that about him. Maybe it's just too emotional of an issue for you. Maybe if you are a guitar player in Mexico City, maybe you don't want to know what that guy who loves your Alembic thinks about your brother who's in the US illegally. Maybe all you wanted was some people to talk guitars with. Maybe you're really emotionally burned out on hearing people talk about immigration and you're just looking for a place with a great group of people who love talking about guitars.
I don't know.
Maybe the last thing that any of you wanted to know was that the moderator has strongly held political views. After all, what he really needs to be doing with his time is practicing bass.
