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Wrap10
Administrator
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Posted: Fri Feb 5th, 2010 12:23 am |
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I've updated the Campfire forum to reflect one 'unofficial' rule that is now official, and have also put another new rule in place.
First, as of today, posts about modern-day social, political, or religious issues are not allowed. I'd mentioned this before from time to time, but only informally and as a request rather than a requirement. But to avoid any confusion, I decided to make it 'official' in the Campfire description.
Second, posts about slavery, secession, the causes of the war, who was right or wrong, etc, are now considered off-limits. This one I really debated about with myself, because I hate the idea of barring discussions related to the war. But two things decided me in favor of doing so on this subject.
First, the recent experience we had here on the board, where pretty much every issue above came up for debate, reinforced what many of us already know, which is that even though the war is almost 150 years in the past, it can still generate some strong emotions. People often feel compelled to take sides as if they are defending themselves personally rather than discussing events from several decades ago involving entirely different generations. Been there, done that, so I'm not singling anyone out. It's just human nature.
However, it isn't my desire to re-fight the war on this board, to lose current members, or have visitors steer clear of us because we seem to spend most of our time arguing about what caused the war, and who was right or wrong, instead of talking about issues related to Shiloh. There are many other places on the web where people can debate issues related to what caused the war if they wish to do so.
Second, even though my philosophy is to let people have their say on whatever they want to talk about, the bottom line is that this board is supposed to center around Shiloh. As I've witnessed on other discussion boards, conversations about "the cause" tend to quickly dominate everything else, and drive other discussions far into the background. I suppose that can be okay on a more general board about the war, but on a board that has a more narrow focus, like this one has, it can be a bad thing.
Please understand, I am not blaming anyone for this. No one here did anything wrong, or violated some sort of taboo. I had indicated that we could all voice our opinions, and by golly we did just that! 
The problem is that when it comes to what caused the war, and all the issues related to that, I fear we'll fall into the same trap of generating far more heat than light which seems to so often overtake discussions about that subject. I considered declaring it to be off-limits when I first created the board, but decided to let it go and see how things went. To be frank, I'm a little surprised we made it almost three years without having it become an issue. I may eventually lift the ban and give it another try. We'll see. But until further notice, discussions about what caused the war, and it's many related issues, are off-limits.
Also, please note that even though these new rules are only mentioned under the Campfire forum, they apply to the entire board.
This is a heck of a good board, and you folks have made it that way. I just want to ensure that we don't get ourselves off-track. Thanks for all of your help, and for understanding. And if you want to call me a damnyankee under your breath, you're welcome to do so.
Perry
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"And all is hushed at Shiloh." - Herman Melville
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