Threads of discussion in Finding Your Tribe - Threads Close Moved, Concerns Explained

Yesterday I reviewed a complaint about the repeated violations in the Politically Conservative tribe threads. In reading these threads it made me consider exactly why the threads are placed there rather than in War & Politics where they would normally be posted. Seeing the content of discussion and the violations I closed the thread and invited conservative parents to post their discussions in the topic appropriate boards that we have available for the discussions, depending on the specific topic.

I then began looking at the thread list and came first upon the Anyone But Bush tribe thread. Checking the first few pages and the final page it seemed fine so I moved it to War and Politics and posted to it to clarify that FYT was being reviewed and threads moved.

I countinued down the threads list and saw there were many that should not be in this forum but rather in the forums that host the specific topics of their content. Seeing the large number and that presenting a greater issue that needed discussion and decision I decided to not close or move anything futher until I talked with the moderators about it. And that is where we are now.

After I moved the ABB thread to W&P abimommy went through the thread and found similar violations that the conservative tribe thread had and which it was closed for. So she removed the thread from the board.

Since then I have receved a few PMs from members complaining about my actions. I can appreciate the way things appeared but really I am saddened that members would assume the worst and send me accusations and rather nasty remarks without first approaching me to find out the what and why of the situation. I have been called biased and anti this and that, and those judgmental words have been extended to Mothering as a whole which is really the furthest thing from the truth of the matter. The impression taken is an incorrect one and I hope I can explain things now to clarify and remove this misunderstanding.

I understand that some members feel they cannot post in particular boards without being attacked or criticized. If inappropriate posting is taking place in certain forums that makes it impossible for members to post their threads and have a topic discussed with civility then we will address that as an issue. But many of the thread topics posted to FYT are inappropriately posted here. It is not merely a politics or religious beliefs issue here. It is one of using the FYT forum to create sub-communities defined by beliefs and opinions to discuss topics that really should be within the larger community forum for that topic. In many ways this creates division within the community. While some division can be necessary - to organize discussions in one place - intentional division is a concern. I would prefer to address the reason behind such intentional division than permit it and encourage it to continue or ignore inappropriate behavior that is creating the feeling for this division.

To imply that FYT is a 'safe' place is not reasonable to me because it implys that other boards are 'unsafe'. This is a discussion board community. People present their discussions on the appropriate board for the topic and the entire community is invited to post their thoughts, agreeing or disagreeing, with everyone obligated to living up to the board policies and guidelines. We do have specific guidelines for some boards but those are exceptions that serve the specific advocacy purposes of Mothering or a specific need for that forum but is not the rule for all forums.

It is not reasonable to expect to be allowed to bar discussion that is not in accordance with your own opinions or that of a specific tribe. As long as what is posted is acceptable according to our posting rules and guidelines it should not be an issue of contention.

I am reviewing the entire issue with the mods, especially in looking at the threads in FYT that should be hosted in an existing forum. Please give me the chance to do that. Thank you all for your concerns, and even for your anger. I hope we can work this out for the community as a whole and I hope you can all assume the best of us and help us as we try to do that.

~Cynthia