Resmods: Gimme a Break

I seriously can't believe the "The Bible is Fiction" thread was closed. It was never actually a discussion about the bible being fiction rather it was created to make light of the "The Qu'ran is Fiction" thread, down to the initial post with the single misspelled word, "dscuss".

In this completely uncontroversial thread, folks posted a handful of links to humorous videos with religious themes. Most of the thread was dedicated towards discussing the hysterical spoof trailer (you must hear Samuel L. Jackson as the Burning Bush at the end) "Ten Things I Hate about Commandments". It's simply a mashup of the "Ten Commandments" trailer edited to look like a teen high-school movie. No controversy there.

While the Lindens selected the most vanilla and pedestrian posters to act as resmods, it doesn't mean that the whole forum has to become as vanilla and pedestrian as your posts. Give me a break.

~Ulrika~

Aren't you, like, gone?

Told you not to get your hopes up.

-Kiamat Dusk

Damn near. I'm hammering out a final settlement with N'burg as we speak. Hopefully, everything will be resolved within a week or two and then I can rest in peace.

By the way, have the resmods sucked this much since I left a few months ago or is this something new?

~Ulrika~

What Torley seems to be trying to do is disallow any discussions about religion in the forums. To people interested in the subject, this is flat out not fair. People with an interest in politics, economy, etc. are allowed to debate hotly or not on these matters, but people with an interest in religion are not. Also, for Torley to suggest "a wonderful place called www.belief.net" for Second Lifers with an interest in discussing religion is outright terrible. I mean, what does this say? If you have an interest in religion, Second Life doesn't want you? Get lost? This is not right.

I expect this one to be closed also.

Voicing opinions matters zilch.

Absolute nonsense. Allowing a watermelon-obsessed social butterfly to dictate what individuals can discuss in a forum is absurd. They're here to instill civility not to be thought police.

~Ulrika~

i knew the thread was more of an "in jest" type of thing, but this is one of those cases where ResMods would be blamed for anything.. acting or not acting.

"that one was closed, why not this one"
or
"this one isn't meant like that one, why close it?"

and yes, by definition, this thread would be considered one of those "why did you close my thread" threads, but i'm not as vanilla as i may have come across and actually enjoy being as fair as i can and am nowhere near as heavy-handed as it may seem at times.

i'm a fan of Wondershowzen and got a kick out of watching the "beat kids" segment, even though i've seen it a few times before. but, i'll have to go back and watch the 10 Commandments bit though.


we're simply trying to keep things even and consistant for all.

You get a super big-time gold star for discussing your reasons for moderating the way you did in a grouchy hey-what-up thread instead of just deleting it. Kudos!

With that said, I'd like to point out that by admitting the second locked thread was in its intent and content different than the first, you invalidated your own argument for consistency. However, regardless, I don't think either the first or second threads should have been locked. This being the sandbox, are we not allowed to state that we think Democrats are deluded or that atheists are wearing blinders (or the opposite as reality would have it)? Once you've purged religion from the forums, what is next? Perhaps politics or abortion or "intelligent" design? It is from the fire of such controversies that great projects such as N'burg were born (and died). Deny us this and do you not limit the potential of what SL is and can become?

~Ulrika~

My thread wasn't closed. It was entitled 'The bible is fiction.' Must be that my thread kept thing civil eh?

eh?

Jonas, i'm not sure if i came across your thread or not, but it was quite different from the start. it was social commentary on a statement made by a public figure.

Ulrika's post was "in response" to the "The Qu'ran is Fiction" thread by way of tongue-in-cheek humor, which i may have jumped on a bit quickly, but still.. either way, i was simply trying to avoid undue conflict. it was declared as being kept closed by a Linden, so that decision stands.

--

now, Ulrika, to respond..

by all means, discussion and/or debate about any subject (in my opinion) is highly encouraged and i would never try to stem any such conversation here or otherwise. you're quite right that such reportoire is responsible for all matters of developments.. throughout history, in SL or RL.

the problem arises when people belittle and attack the viewpoints of others in a derogatory manner, which was happening in the first thread about the Qu'ran. your thread was really quite harmless in content, perhaps it should have been left alone. again though, it was a pre-emptive move and one that was meant in a manner of consistency.. regardless of the original meaning of either thread.

i've always waxed on about the high amount of intelligence within these forums to friends/family outside of SL.. it's part of what makes our community so wonderful. it's also part of why we're so raw and rough at times.. because we are part of a society that actually thinks for themselves and act with conviction in regards to our own beliefs.

honestly, had the thread been entitled "i believe the Bible is fiction", it would have stood a much better chance of being left open. there have been several long-standing religious debates in these forums that lasted for many, many pages. it's all in the presentation. light-heartedness is a good thing, but sometimes people are offended easily and what does it hurt to be mindful of this and offer some civility to our fellow humans?

to cut my rather long diatribe short.. discussion and debate are the fuel for change. humor is the grease that keeps it moving. but anything that people take offensively can throw a set of brakes on that rival a brick wall.. regardless of original intent.

thank you for the humor and maybe through all of this, we'll all learn a little something about the other side of things.

Whoa. Great discussion! Given my long absence, I don't know if this is standard for resmods but I like it. Score one for your team. Additionally, considering that the thread really had nothing of consequence in it, I guess there was no harm done.

However, I should restate that there must be room in all forums to discuss subjects that are controversial. There is a difference between incivility (which should be moderated) and nonconformity (which should be protected). I should have the freedom to discuss my controversial minority viewpoint that god does not exist and the bible is fiction.

~Ulrika~

I guess since you haven't been around much, you haven't noticed how bland, boring and sterilized the SL forums have become. It's standard corporate practice these days. We must all fit into tight little cubicles and classifications, as should our discussions.

I actually did notice things have been a bit boring. Has there really been a crackdown on open discussions in the forums? I had always hoped moderators would focus on personal attacks and general cruelty instead of determining what residents can and can't discuss. I would suggest we need referees during a debate rather than overlords that give us an approved list of topics.

~Ulrika~

this, is an awesome statement!

and David has a valid point.

i've been trying to establish a balance between these two since my inception as a ResMod.

i hate the thought of sterilizing and at the same time wish to encourage civility.

i may have mis-steps at times, but all together i wish to make a positive contribution to the forums.

i really take the "Resident" part of "ResMod" more seriousy than the "Mod" part and continually strive to provide such a service to the community.

i am a huge believer in Chaos Theory and i hope that the logic thereof shines through in the bulk of my personal moderation.

for tonight though, i must truncate my involvement.. as i am in desperate need of sleep.

i'll be back later.. maybe a day or two, but i'll be around.

happy posting!

Hmm my thread didn't get closed either...

What if Abraham loved his son more than God
/112/73/102894/1.html

If civility is such a high value for you, why don't you practice it yourself?

You know, if we were talking rl here, I'd probably hit you for that alone. I don't like people talking trash about those I consider friends and good people.

Since we are talking SL though, be glad that I will have some time tracking you down since youre not on my friends list.

Might have been the civility too

Your characterization of Torley is... sorely off the mark, Ulrika.

Ulrika,

If the resmods were really doing the job I pay them for, the Bring Back Ulrika thread would have been locked, deleted, and burned a long time ago. Man, what waste of $L that was...

And you have been gone a long time if you ever thought you had enough cred to talk like that about...omg...Torley. There are certain forum tribes that actually worship her. Her fans are petitioning the government to be recognized as a religion.

Frankly, I wasn't sure what was going to happen when I saw that post about her being a "watermelon loving social butterfly", I mean you had an entire thread of fans demanding your return. But, I guess in the end, nice people win over virtual dictators.

...for once.


TORELY WINS! FLAWLESS VICTORY.

-Kiamat Dusk

The resmods are full of shit. Especially Zap.

Briana Dawson

I'll just throw in my token comment about disagreeing with the whole moderation concept. In the end, there is always someone who will manage to take offense against anything you can name. (Fluffy bunny pictures allways send me into a screaming bloody rage for example) But the wonderful [IGNORE] feature can fix that for anyone with and evolved MouseClickyFinger. We're adults (well, most of us anyway), we should be able to take care of ourselves. People who are really just TOTALLY obnoxious rat-fondlers would most likely eventually be ignored by everyone and left talking to themselves.