I know Matthew wisely allows great latitude on this board.  I know why he does it, too, as I've read many of his posts on the subject.

But I think some are taking advantage of his generosity to just be rude and nasty.  Not in the heat of battle, but in just plain cold blood.  Instead of sharing we wind up having to defend ourselves from someone's ill will.  

Who on this board would like to see a return to sanity?

Isn't that what the ignore button is for? If everyone ignored this person (whoever he is), he'd be talking to himself... which gets pretty boring after a time.

Are you saying, Dulcamara, that there should be no standards of conduct here?

Of COURSE! Absolutely! (dripping sarcasm)

... Now seriously... That's a silly question if ever there was one. It's obvious I don't know who you're talking about from a can of paint.

What I do know is that all of these "lets gang up and ban so-and-so" threads are obnoxious in themselves, just in the principal of them. They are mob activity, and mob activity is practically always wrong.

There are rules on this forum. Either someone really has broken the rules, or they haven't (even if we ourselves were mortally offended by what they said). If they have, then the proper, Catholic thing to do, is not to publicly lynch them, but to quietly go to the moderator and point out when, where and how the rules of the forum were broken, and then leave it in the hands of the rightful authority figure here. If the rules really HAVE been broken, I'm sure Matthew will gladly take action, once he has the time to read our messages. If they have NOT been broken, then the whole board of members rising up in one unified outcry, should not be able to "get the person banned".

If the rules are not our standard, then any mob of people here can rise up and cry out and get you or I banned simply because they don't like us or something we've said. That is what mob rule does. It might be nice when the sword only swings the way of justice. But when it's your head under the axe, one suddenly has second thoughts.

Just imagine if in the physical world whenever a crime was committed, everyone rioted and lynched the person rather than calling the police. THAT is why I find these threads deplorable, even if the person in question really DOES need to be banned.

If we call the authorities rather than lynch people in the physical world, why should we do any differently here, where nobody's life or property is at stake? When we call the police do we drive through the streets with a bull horn to do it? Or do we quietly take out our telephone and calmly call them in private?

Such threads are engaging in unjust activity (rather than resorting to the normal channels of REAL justice), publicly exposing someone who (at worst, really) has sinned against charity... that is, publicly pointing out someone's faults and sins... and then demanding they be kicked out whether it's REALLY just or not.

That's the only thing one can read into such threads. If everyone is so confident that the person really HAS deserved banning, I'm sure they should have no trouble telling Matthew in a nice, quiet PM (which is more charitable, and appeals to actual justice) what grave transgressions the person in question is guilty of.

If they CAN'T point to any such transgressions, I really do suggest the ignore button, it is, after all, there for all of those people who have done nothing worthy of banning in terms of the rules, but who annoy/antagonize/offend us to no end.

If the rule is "ban those who are offensive" you'll also be banning those who really don't mean to be. You'll be banning those who have flaws of character or vices they may be sincerely trying to fight, and simply not always succeeding. Do we ban people for their faults, too?

I say let Matthew moderate his own board, rather than all of us trying to take over and do it ourselves. We have an ignore button and a PM button. The PM button is there for us to send messages to our moderator, when people really ARE breaking the rules (hopefully only when they have done so MALICIOUSLY). The ignore button is there for people who may even offend us to exasperation, but who haven't really broken the rules. I think the sooner everyone learns how to use those two buttons, the better off we'll all be.

As Catholics, we should never want to publicly expose anyone's faults or sins, least of all when there are other ways to handle the problem, no matter how guilty the person is.

And I'm not just saying that to you, but to everyone who makes such threads. We really ought to stop and think about that. There's justice and then there's mob rule, and they are not the same thing. And if a dozen people can get anyone they want banned just by quoting threads that offended them, then nobody will be safe, even those who were simply having a bad day, or who have a hard time controlling their temper, but who don't necessarily mean to be vicious. There is no justice in that.

(I mean absolutely nothing personal against you specifically... that's just my take on the whole thing.)

Oh, well in that case, I dare say you can solve your problem quite easily, without any help at all... >gestures to the ignore and pm buttons<  :rolleyes:

Right..... You attack one of the most respected people on the board  and expect a return to civility.

I started this thread because I felt SJB misused you, Emerentiana.  It used to be we had gentlemen here.  I was hoping to call us back to that.  

From Lambs in Wolfskins by Eddie Doherty

Don Bosco often spoke of the devil; but never with respect.

"He is a stupid fellow," he once declared.   "He does not understand the rules of polite society.   He will never be a gentleman.  Never."

Well, I will say that people shouldn't EVER speak of the Devil with respect.