Return to the General Forum?

[Greg Newton]

Periodically people mention to me that they would like to see a return to the General Forum with an emphasis on health related matters and physical culture rather than political discourse and debate. I'd like to see how others feel about this.

[PowerHank]

I like to read all the political discourse. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Stimulation of the mind comes as a direct result of physical exercise and is a true sign that a lot of people around this forum are in good physical shape.

I feel like Big Brother has returned.

[Andy62]

I believe that all true strength; physical, mental, and emotional comes from within. I have always wanted to experience the fullness of life in all it's forms which is why I believe DVR/VRT is the ultimate personal power training source for the largest variety of life situations. As Helen Keller said, "Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all." I don't want to be stuck in some gym or limited in other ways-life is about life!

[Alan_OldStudent]

Personally, I like the fact that we have a political board.

Of course, we are all guests here, and whatever decision is made, I'm going to respect it.

Regards,

Alan OldStudent

[PowerHank]

Well, I like having a choice. Unfortunately, in today's society we have become so politically correct that we are afraid of ruffling anybody's feathers or stepping on anyone's toes.

We have become a society of philosophical wimps. I yearn for the day when men were really men.

I remember reading the story of one Evangelist Bob Jones, Sr. As a boy a man came over and insulted his father. I think his father was sick at the time and could not defend his honor. A few years later after he was older, Bob Jones, the son, tracked down the man who insulted his father and his family's name.

He found him at a lumber yard. The man was working as a lumberjack. He was one strong dude. But this tall, skinny, young boy called him out and said he was there to defend his honor and his family's name. He was going to fight this strong mature man who had offended the family name.

He started to fight. The other lumberjacks looked like they were going to step in, but the foreman said, "Leave 'em alone." He whooped that lumberjack. It was a true example of putting the mind into the muscle. Who would have thought a tall, skinny teenager could have handled that man.

But if that would have happened today, they would probably would have thrown him in jail for disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and rode him out of town in shame. But as it stood, that good for 'nothin learned a lesson he'd never forget.

And as for Bob Jones, Sr. he went on to become one of the most successful evangelists of the South and eventually the United States of America.

You need standards in a website, especially a Christian website. You shouldn't allow cussin', blessin' other people out, off color stories, etc. But you should allow people to vent their feelings.

And if you don't like the political posts, go to another forum on the site. Nobody's demanding that you stay. Take your dignified turned up nose somewhere else.

PowerHank

[tom]

I think we have generally fitness forums and not fitness forums here. I see no reason to change.

It is obvious that this whole site exists because of one set of books and that is the focus of the site. Nothing wrong with that.

Stimulation of the mind may come from fit people being fit but, as this is the internet, it can also come, unbeknownst to others from people that are unfit.

I, personally, only plan to hang around a site that sticks to health and fitness as much as possible. I don't want to spend my time wading through flaming topics - it's part of my own personal stay positive plan for self-improvement. Just give me some push-up ideas - that's all I want.

Tom

[tom]

I have enjoyed political discussions online before. By my own choice I decided to leave them alone, thinking there was too much emotion (negative) over substance.

I may want to join in on a political discussion in the future. In such an event, I will take one of my current, personal websites that I own and operate and I will turn it into a political discussion forum, or general, website. It will be an open as possible site.

I will let you all know when that happens and you are all invited.

Tom

[Greg Newton]

Razztazz and other forum members,

I am the chap Hank is refering to. I culled part of his first post because it was controversial. But, I am not going to edit Hank's last post.

I undertook this because I have people tell me privately that they don't like the current events forum and I wanted to see if this was an isolated few or if it were more than a few. If it has already sparked inflamatory remarks, then this tells me that we're veering off into the ditch with the political discourse. Everyone does not believe the same.

And Hank, I am sincere when I say this: I probably don't believe too much different than you do about a whole host of things concerning religion and politics, but we have to respect that others don't share our same beliefs.

[JoeJustice]

And Hank, I am sincere when I say this: I probably don't believe too much different than you do about a whole host of things concerning religion and politics, but we have to respect that others don't share our same beliefs.

This is about a true and succinct a comment that could probably be made about the nature of political and religious discourse. Particularly on a civil forum like ours.

-Joe

[Aaron Hoot]

Great reply Greg. A person who is not passionate and willing to defend what they believe is not really worth their salt. When we discuss things on the forum for instance, we have to respect one another. You can learn so much from other people if you are willing to listen. There are a lot of things that I have changed my point of view on because I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, I have said a lot of stupid things to people with whom I didn't agree then have to go back and apologize. For example, being an American living in a foreign culture you automatically think that they are doing it wrong. Come to find out I just didn't have all of my facts and I needed to learn something. That even applies to my in-laws. When my wife and I first got married we didn't get along very good. We got along great before we were married but afterwards it got a little bad. My wife and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on April 6th and my relationship with my in-laws is great. I can't speak for them but I know that I made a whole lot of mistakes with my attitude in the way that I handled some situations.

I said all of that up there to say this. Especially when it comes to politics and religion there is no way that we are going to agree on everything. I don't even agree with myself sometimes when I think about it. It is one thing when someone openly mocks God or your family or challenges you but it is not that big a deal if somebody doesn't agree with you. In the wise words of my dad, "Opinions are like a certain body part. Everybody has got one." Please don't post this quote because it could cause a lot of problems with some of the churches I visit.

Your friend,

Aaron

[PowerHank]

I am the chap Hank is refering to. I culled part of his first post because it was controversial.

I don't normally post in these forums. If you're into statistics and have the numbers, you'll probably find that no one has more posts over the last 4 - 5 years in the Daily Workout Forum than some guy named PowerHank. I lurk more than anything in these other forums. I'm like Pierini--at least in these other forums.

But that part he culled--I didn't know he had the authority to cull--was a mention about a certain president. I'm trying not to be specific, because I don't want to offend any of the more sophisticated, self-controlled, and moderate posters. But it was to simply say, "I wish he would quit working out. His liberal agenda is ruining this great nation."

Those weren't my exact words. They were culled and I didn't commit them to memory. Actually, I'm not referring to any 'chap' in particular. But as Ronald Reagan would say, "If the shoe fits, wear it."

And when someone asked him, if he were going to apologize about something he said. He said he would be more willing to pass a fruit of a prickly nature through his lower intestines than to apologize for criticizing a liberal for what he was.

Now he was a great president. I know the exact words he said. I'll never forget them. But again, being the sophisticated, self-controlled, and humble poster that I am, I won't quote his words verbatim. I hope that you'll forgive me. I don't want to offend anyone of a more sensitive nature.

Was Reagan great because he was coarse? No, he was great because he respected the God given rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. He wasn't about to put a muzzle on the spirit of the individual of an American citizen.

I don't agree with everything that's posted on the forums. I haven't agreed with everything Andy62 has posted, but after reflection I have said, "you know, I think I do agree with him." And I don't agree with everything that Old School Guy has said either. But I respect his right to disagree. And I just enjoy reading the different viewpoints. And once every 3 or 4 months, I might throw in my two cents on the other forums. But frankly, I would appreciate it, if you wouldn't throw my two cents away.

Hank

[tom]

He was going to fight this strong mature man who had offended the family name . . . . Who would have thought a tall, skinny teenager could have handled that man.

Interesting. I wonder who related that story after it happened. It must have been someone who was at the house and at the lumberyard. Could it have been the lumberjack? I always like to know from whose point of view . . .

Tom

[April]

Periodically people mention to me that they would like to see a return to the General Forum with an emphasis on health related matters and physical culture rather than political discourse and debate. I'd like to see how others feel about this.


Hi Greg,
Since I am relatively new here, I am not familiar with the previous format. I like the present one because whoever wants to read/post about fitness can stick to the authors' forums, and anyone who wants to post about anything else can jump over to the Gordon Anderson forum. To me, that is one of the plus' about this site. However, if it is decided to remove the political discussion board, I would still visit the site because I have found the fitness threads quite valuable.

Regarding the political discussions: As I have mentioned before in my posts, if we can think of this as a place for discussing ideas, it would be more productive than to think of ourselves as debating to win. There are some brilliant minds in this forum, and we have a wonderful opportunity to learn from each other. Just the process of learning to respect another opinion, even if you don't agree with it, is valuable in and of itself.

Whatever happens with the format is fine...even though I have enjoyed it as it is.

How will you decide what to do? Strictly according to the vote - democratically? Should we start campaigning? This could be yet another political discussion! (Just joking!)

(After I got my college degree, I found that in the scientific field I studied, working on the job was actually about 95% business, politics, and personality; I would be surprised if I used on my job even 5% of what I studied in college. Does everything boil down to politics???)

[Greg Newton]

Hank, April, and others,

To answer some of your questions, Joe Justice and I, among others are volunteer moderators of the various forums. We have been for some time. We don't make a big deal about it. And Hank, out of respect for you I sent you a PM to let you know why your comment got deleted. But, you seem to be determined to make this an open issue.

As to why your comment was inappropriate, I will repeat what I said. There are many Obama supporters on this board. I am not one of them. However, I found the comment offensive because you are talking about our president. As Christians, the Bible gives us the command to respect those in authority and to pray for them. That does not mean I have to agree wtih them, just like you don't have to agree with me. However, as a moderator I have a responsibility to steer conversation away from inflammatory remarks, and believe me, there are some here who are just as vehement in believing Obama is what this country needs.

As to me being some sort of sophisticat, I am far from it. I live in those same S.C. Foothills where the late Dr. Bob (Jones Sr.) called home and have listened to him for years on the Bob Jones University raido station. I also want to point out that in the 3 and a half years I've been here on this forum, I've had posts and threads deleted at different times and for different reasons, all of them valid. I did not get angry, I simply asked why, because I am a guest here, and am still a guest here, and do not want to offend.

As to who decides what happens, that is up to John Peterson and he has not indicated anything would change anytime soon. I am merely posted a neutral question to see what the responses would be. I also want forum members to realize that this is not an attempt to down any other forum member or their beliefs, or to downgrade the importance of keeping up with current events.

However, some have expressed to me that they wish the General Forum was back and the politics and current events be downplayed. I tend to agree. One of the problems with the former General Forum was that there was no one to moderate it and it would go in crazy directions: conspiracy theory and aliens one day and ultra-libertarian politics the next. We have emough moderators to keep things from deviating too far to the right or to the left now, and there are also plenty of other places on the internet to discuss these things. I for one would like to see the General Forum again, and to see it return to health, fitness, and other quality of life issues. However, that was the purpose of this poll, and that was to see what others here thought. There was no intent to start a political discussion or to offend anyone.

[blackbelt]

Instead of one or the other, why not re-add the general forum. That way there's a place for all topics.

[JoeJustice]

To backup Greg, I think we have an example of exactly what he’s talking about when politics are brought into a discussion. This topic had nothing in the world to do with the current president, but someone had to bring him into it. Greg removed the comment, moderated the thread to keep it on-topic, and gets accused of playing Big Brother.

There have been several discussions in the Current Events forum that I have had to lock and/or remove for various reasons. I don’t feel comfortable doing that because I don’t want to be “Big Brother” HOWEVER sometimes moderators do have to step in. Many times I get private requests from member asking for a discussion to be removed or locked. So we’re put in an awkward position, people get upset with one another and others become uncomfortable.

I think if you read this thread, you’ll see an example of that. And this discussion isn’t really about politics to being with!

-Joe

[tom]

Wow, Greg, you're a moderator. For a moderator, I notice from your last post that you are quite, uh, moderate.

Is there room here for a sarcasticor?:devil:

See? This thread is exactly the reason I try to keep myself from threads such as these. Inane statements/posts make my sarcasm rise like bile in my throat. Then it comes out my fingers on the keyboard. Believing famous people's stories about themselves!?!?!?!?! Bad me! Bad me!

I'm gonna go see that other thread on Caveman exercise or something.

Tom

[Greg Newton]

Tom,

You've known me since I came on this board, and I know you've had to shake your head quite a few times, especially in the beginning when I jumped feet first into angry discussions with other members. As well, other times I found myself having to defend positions I didn't support, just because I wanted folks to look at all sides of an issue.

But, being on a forum like this is a learning experience. Especially for someone like myself who hadn't spent a lot of time on the internet. Now being involved in moderation puts a whole new face on things, because it is not just what I believe or think, but what is good for the various forums and members as a whole. A lot of you have respect for Pierini, and it often times comes down to me asking myself, "What would Pierini do?"

[tom]

Hey, I have to shake my head at me many times.

I do notice the changes in people over the years, though. When I finally think I'm as smart as I'll ever be, I wait a few years and, yep, I was dumb. The goal keeps running away from me. I guess it's because I'm not dead yet.

Well, I know Pierini and you ain't no Pierini. I keep telling you alls, he is really a short, fat, blonde chick who has expert Photoshop skills.

And Pierini is still asking himself that same question everyday, "What would Pierini do?"

Tom

[Kathleen]

Tom,
Tell that Pierini girl that I really miss her. No one here has come close to filling her high heel shoes!!! You are lucky to know her. :clover:

[JoeJustice]

Tom,
Tell that Pierini girl that I really miss her. No one here has come close to filling her high heel shoes!!! You are lucky to know her. :clover:

:rotfl:

-Joe

[Max McKinley]

Well, I generally stay put here on the Ask John Peterson forum. Due to some challenges, I have suspended posting to the Daily Workout area. I like April's post about keeping it the way it is but I did cast the vote for a General Forum - any topic. Why not just add that back in rather than an either/or scenario? But hey, I'm pretty easy. I appreciate the positive and edifying friendships I have developed on this forum, and that is what benefits me the most anyway. Whatever is best, let's go for it.