1. This site is to help people recover from Mormonism.
2.IMHO If the post does not apply to recovering from Mormonism then the post is not appropriate to this site.
3. I am totally behind admin if they strictly follow this policy.


I joined this group to see how others were coping with recovery not to make political statements.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2019 02:22PM by thedesertrat1.

Agree 100%.

So they should delete this thread then?

I think there is room for a certain number of off topic threads. So far the mods seems to be keeping it under control. If it doesn't interest you, don't read it. There are plenty of on topic threads to read

I'm with you desert rat.

That leaves plenty of leeway for recovery from mormonism and the occasional personal observation if a pet dies or one of us receives a scary medical diagnosis.

The less about politics the better in my opinion.

“The less about politics the better in my opinion.”

I agree. There are countless places to argue about politics online, I’d rather this be a politics-free zone.

Having said that, I’m still more than willing to defer to the moderators to decide what’s appropriate.

Mostly agree. However, for those that live in the theocracy in Utah, where "the" church controls the State and most of the politicians, it makes it difficult. When they use their word of wisdom to pass and enforce laws on Utahn's, it becomes a blurred line. When politicians, who are also Stake Presidents and govt. department heads, get caught stealing or commit other crimes, that should be allowed for discussion.

Desert Rat,

Completely agree with every word of your post! Well Said!

I DO wish people would remember the rules and if they are posting something OFF TOPIC mark it as O/T in the topic!

Lots of people just post what they want and you are left trying to figure out its relevance, where there isn't any.

Hahahahahahaha! An exmo after my own heart!

If this were Friend Face (checking to see how many of you are IT fans!) then the smorgasbord of topics some people chattily put up here would be okay.

When something deeply touches one's personal life, then sure, share the joy or sorrow, that's what we're here for! But just to be chatty Amyjo, nah, there are plenty of places for that on the internet.

There are some people who should exchange email addresses and facebook IDs so that they can share the detritus of lives with one another. As Done & Done and I have done, but now he's not answering my emails anymore, at least not the ones I haven't sent...

Just not here. Given the basic premise of this website, it's probably not useful to someone seeking advice or comfort to get here and then see ordinary news stories about mass murders and celebrity deaths, when we ALL have other sites or sources for our news. Sure, if someone dies who was special in your life share it!

And of course my opinion is worth what you paid for it.

I think that those who disagree with the enforcement of the guidelines believe that the site's operators are trying to control the narrative. Or that the guidelines are unequally enforced. I disagree with them, but even if they are right they tend to tackle their perceived slights in a trollish manner. Which obviously truns off many of us.

ETA

I'm actually more inclined to post on the OT threads because there is little about Mormonism that's hasn't been beaten dead on this site.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2019 04:16PM by jacob.

Speaking for myself, (and admin keeps deleting anything I post so not sure if you'll get to read this) it's the lack of enforcement of the established guidelines that has me troubled.

The political guidelines are pretty simple: talk politics as it relates to recovery from mormonism.

That's all I've done, and one of the admins (admittedly not one of the originals) gave her subjective opinion that my thread was, "obviously political, with the Mormonism/religion angle painted on to try to justify the politics."

Now how did the admin in question get inside my head to find out my real motive here? They didn't. I don't pretend to know if that admin is trying to control the narrative.

I do know that the same admin has continued to allow off topic political conversations that have literally nothing to do with mormonism, but those threads lean hard in one particular direction.

Speaking for myself, your response is trollish and smacks of feigned ignorance. You're posts are so transparent that my four year old could sniff it out.

justkeepswimming Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>one of the admins
> (admittedly not one of the originals) gave her
> subjective opinion that my thread was, "obviously
> political, with the Mormonism/religion angle
> painted on to try to justify the politics."

FYI, the admin who wrote that, CZ, is a long time admin here and a while back became owner of this site (as Eric K, Founder, has stepped back somewhat in retirement - see his post of a few months ago on it). I wouldn't call CZ's decisions "subjective" in that CZ confirms or sets the rules and is very experienced at the modding game, from my observations.

Re politics being allowed - I've been here long enough to have seen this discussion arise often and for a long time the rule was zero politics, even if it related to Mormonism. When I first was aware of the issue it was mainly to do with Mitt Romney running for office and the Mormon White Horse Prophecy. Yes, that related to Mormonism but the politics angle usually got out of hand and partisan politics always, always, always resulted in big arguments, the topic/s flooding the board, and hard feelings between posters who had usually been able to get along, all resulting in a bad atmosphere and a lot of extra work for Admin. So that's how far back that goes and an overview of just some of the concerns and related issues re moderation of political discussion.

It seems to me that you could quite easily make your point about "group think" by using many other analogies without having to focus on current partisan political issues.

Besides all that, CZ's board, CZ's rules, simple as that. I would say if you want to use the names of specific politicians, include current hot button political topics, and especially speak in terms of the left, the right, the centre, the far left and far right and etc - that's too political - and that's fairly obvious.

It's not an exact science so yeah, there will be nuance and interpretation. It seems like just the way Admin has decided to run the board to be available and pertinent to the widest audience. The target group continues to be, as far as I can see, questioning Mormons, new exmos, and anyone with questions relating to Mormonism, as well as folks who have been out of Mormonism for a longer time and want to stick around and help newbies. Anyone who wants to discuss Mormonism for any reason is welcome here. Politics are often divisive and these days US politics absolutely so. It's just not the atmosphere that RfM owner/s want to encourage, as they have repeatedly explained over the years.

No conspiracy. Just an attempt to keep focused on the main topic of this board, which is Mormonism. And to maintain an atmosphere that is welcoming, not divisive.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2019 04:41PM by Nightingale.

Very well expressed, Nightingale.

:)

I can take a hint.

To be clear, jacob, I wasn't addressing my comments to you. I'm not sure what "hint" you're taking. If it's your remark that mo topics have been beaten bloody here, yeah, maybe. But that's the main topic and so that's what we talk about. On a site about babies, for instance, obviously, they'd be talking about babies. And after eons of having the little darlings all over the face of this earth you'd think we'd be all out of things to say, for or against. Yet, not. :)

I was referring to the contrast of your measured and accurate post and my abrupt and accusatory post.

Oh. That's too deep for me. Zoom. Over my head. :)

Nicely said.

I agree with that. I have been on this site for years and have read the same religious threads so many times that I really no longer care about most of them. What is left to say about Joseph Smith'sexual exploits. I know it is new to some, but for me it has been beaten to death. Off topic threads are often the reason I come here. I don't want to see them overtake the board, but I think they have a place.

+1

I can understand the confusion. Cults tend to be on topic, but the ones called Democrat and Republican are taboo. The only crossover is people in glass houses throwing stones. Mormons don’t throw that many if you ignore Oaks.

One-sided thinking (lack of diverse viewpoints) has been covered by Jonathan Haidt. It’s a major affliction in Mormonism, one that I would rather not see corrected because it would strengthen the church. It turns out that large organizations run by doofuses is not unique to Mormonism.