Removal of member; Return to Decorum

[SCOUTER-Terry]

This is a general forum announcement.

 

I have now suspended a member of this forum after warning them for their unScoutlike behavior. This member has been asked to refrain from participation in these forums for a period of no less than three months.

 

This member could not follow the simple rules that were established for participating, and repeatedly violated my request to: (1) keep the debate honest and (2) treat each other with respect. There is no limit on what can be debated in this forum, but there is a basic requirement for decorum.

 

The member that has been banned was warned in the past for using multiple screen names to support their own posts. The member has been warned (not specifically, but publicly) for calling names and otherwise acting immaturely.

 

After receiving a series of complaints from other forum members, I have carefully reviewed all of the posts and made this decision. It is my sincere hope that the removal of this member (or any other members that might be banned from this board for failing to follow the rules) does not limit or hamper the debate of the issues. I believe that debate is a very worthwhile thing.

 

The banning of this member had nothing to do with the opinions they expressed on the issues being debated, and was limited only to their violation of the rules of debate.

 

Only one member has been suspended at this time. There is nothing preventing this member from registering under a different name and coming back, but I would ask him to act on his Honor and follow my suspension. After three months, this member is welcome to contact me and request reinstatement.

 

I take removal of a member to be a very serious thing. I do not like to do it at all (in fact I have never done it before), and will only consider doing so again very judiciously and if I feel there is no other choice.

 

It is my judgment that other members have also crossed the line of decorum, and they have been warned to modify their behavior or also be asked to leave. However, at this time I am removing only one member with the hope that this will solve the problem and allow the debate on this board to return to the issues.

 

I will again encourage the many participants and viewers of these forums to enjoy and contribute to the many boards of SCOUTER.coms forums. If you do not enjoy the Politics and Issues forum, please just dont read it. There are more than 150,000 pages of resources on or through SCOUTER.com, and Id encourage you to enjoy them.

 

TERRY HOWERTON

 

SCOUTER.com Publisher (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[le Voyageur]

Prior to upgrading to a new hard drive decided to review some old favorites before dumping them. This forum was one of them that was slated for the waste basket, but decided to have one last look. What a shock! Folks,Terry and others have made great efforts to provide a forum for us Scouters to connect and become a part of a much larger community who share a common intrest. Debate, and points of views requiring critical thinking, and an ability to maintain an open mind, while respecting the views of the poster had degenerated to personal attacks, and innuendos verging on slander. Those most guilty of these misconducts have no one to blame but theirselves for the actions takened against them. Terry did the right thing in the removal of this individual, and for that I respect his conviction to keep this a Scouting based forum. To Terry, I thank you also for the invatation to return to this board - but, I need to take a wait and see atitude to see if civility not only returns, but stays. Also, I very much respect your dission to remove my post directing members weary of the trash to another scouting forum. Again, my thanks to you Terry...

 

Stalking Moon (Le Voyageur)