Deletion Of Thread

[Brian Minkin]

A post was made by a member of this forum that was an expression of his opinion.  I did not feel that the post violated any forum rules although I strongly disagreed with his opinion.  Many additional posts discussing his opinion and expressing other opinions followed and it was my decision to allow the thread to continue because again I did not see any violation of the forum rules and guidelines.  However the member who originally started the thread deleted his first post and once this occurred I decided the thread no longer had the original focus that it started with.  At this point I decided to delete the thread. If some members feel this is censorship so be it. It is my job as the senior admin of this forum to make this decision and I have acted in that capacity. 

[catchacab]

Thank you!  Your action was correct, and is not censorship.

[Brian Minkin]

When I created this forum I never imagined the difficult and unpleasant task of over site. It is a tough position to be in because in any group of individuals sharing common space we have varied opinions on every topic. A decision in either direction will be viewed by some as the wrong decision.  I am sure we will see other controversial posts in the future and that this will not be the last time I am put in this position. Anybody want to buy a well used Porsche/PCA Forum.

[catchacab]

Brian Minkin wrote:

When I created this forum I never imagined the difficult and unpleasant task of over site. It is a tough position to be in because in any group of individuals sharing common space we have varied opinions on every topic. A decision in either direction will be viewed by some as the wrong decision. I am sure we will see other controversial posts in the future and that this will not be the last time I am put in this position. Anybody want to buy a well used Porsche/PCA Forum.

Throw in a 1977 "Race Car" and I will give you the $78 in my wallet and you have a deal!

[Wellardmac]

The problem with being an Admin is that someone always thinks that you're wrong if you disagree with them and right if you agree with them.

The best thing that you can do is always try and do the right thing and wear earplugs the rest of the time.

[Brian Minkin]

catchacab wrote:

Throw in a 1977 "Race Car" and I will give you the $78 in my wallet and you have a deal!

How about buy the car for the asking price and I will throw in the forum. You will need to drive the car to relieve the stress of administrating the forum.

[Wellardmac]

Hey, when did you last work the forum?

[catchacab]

I am a strong supporter of free speech.  I am generally against political correctness.

I believe on this forum there is a limit on what is appropriate to post, and what should not be allowed.  To me the following should not be permitted: sexually explicit material, and nothing of a hateful nature should be allowed.  This includes hateful speech based on race, age, sexual orientation, or national origin (unless you are writing about Wayne)

On this forum, we should generally be having fun.  This forum for the majority of us does not deal with our careers, but about our hobby, club  and friends.  We should be serious about the technical details about our cars, and club activities.  In the OT areas let us talk about everything else.  We can discuss and debate, Obama, McCain, and Hillary (if she wins, I want to be her White House intern), we can talk about the good and bad of being PC, we can discuss other parts of our lives, and we can just joke around.  Discussion can get heated, and that is fine.  We all have our opinions and should be allowed to share them, as long as they are not hateful or at the expense of another club member.

Posts that cast the character of our club in a negative light should not be permitted.  This does not mean that we can not criticize our leadership, but when we post here, we are posting as a representative of our club.  If your post would lead one who is not involved with our club to think that our club condones a certain generally unacceptable behavior, or casts doubt on the moral and ethical core of our club, then the post should be deleted.

The reasons why I participate here are:

1. It is fun

2 I like the people on this forum

3. If I can help someone with the little knowledge that I have, the club benefits

4. I learn things here

This forum is still in its infancy.  We are all still learning, and mistakes will be made.  Thank you to Brian for making this forum.

[Wellardmac]

Hey, picking on Wayne constitutes a personal attack, so be careful, otherwise I'll force you to eat British food.

As I said in another post, Brian and I are very cautious about deleting posts - we don't do it unless we have to and even then we usually give the poster the opportunity to change their post.

The rules of the forum are very clear and we try to make sure that everyone knows where the line is before they cross it, because once the line is crossed, then we have to take action. In this particular thread we watched closely and tried to ensure that everyone knew where they stood. The good thing is that everyone was civil and there were no personal attacks.

We value free speech - just because an opinion is unpopular does not make it illegal or wrong, it just makes it an opinion that has as much value as the opinion of anyone else (opinions are cheap - back it up with data and it has value ).

Free speech is protected in our constitution. We might disagree with an opinion, but we should fight to the last to protect your right to hold an unpopular or uneducated opinion.

Remember, just because you might disagree with an opinion and you might be mad, imagine how you might feel if the shoe was on the other foot and your opinion was being repressed because it was unpopular.

[Porshagod]

That is the exact, and only opinion I was trying to express. I commend the moderators handling of the issue. Fair is fair, enough said.