User @clifyt has been asked not to return.
We are a heavily moderated forum, full of amazing individuals who take time out of their day to post and respond here, even to those they disagree with, even to say the same thing for the umpteenth time because a new member hasn’t read the last discussion, because such is the way of the internet, and because they believe in what they say.
This is why we ask that users not post generic talking points or waste the time of users by taking up positions you are not really invested in. Because folks here are invested in their opinions and positions, and to come into a forum, play “devil’s advocate” (or what is colloquially known as sea lioning) is asking users who are invested in their positions to debate you, “just because”.
There are others here who do believe strongly in both sides of virtually every position, and whom are more than capable of making an argument. “Acting in good faith” means not taking on the pretense of caring about a topic you don’t really care about. There are other forums out there if this is your intention. Do not do so here.
There is an especially troubling version of sea-lioning - one where taking the side of an unpopular opinion and then acting as if you are being personally attacked when people debate vociferously against that position, with bonus points if you can drag in a forum regular or moderator into the argument as “proof” that one is being attacked.
These are all examples of bad-faith posting, and trolling. A user doing this is attempting to be an energy leech - draw effort to rebut and prove that others are acting in good faith, when the original user had no intention to do the same, from the beginning. These users “have no skin in the game”, while many of our community members do, often from personal experience.
Case in point - explaining that this user was, in fact, sea-lioning by admitting they were “just curious” about a topic or that they would not take a position themselves resulted in a PM to me about how my statements suggested: “So I’m a troll now. And you are threatening me with your moderator powers BECAUSE YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN SOMETHING.” and how my taking the time to point out how a post violates our standards, instead of simply hiding or deleting, is instead suggested that “If this isn’t an abuse of power, I don’t know what is.”
I stand by my attempts at open and transparent moderation here. This user chose to take a contentious topic and become an energy leech, then use their perceived persecution as a derailing topic for the entire conversation.
Those tactics will not work here. We do not need users who create work for other members by taking positions they themselves do not believe in. To do so is trolling.
Do not post on the BBS if you are not prepared to have your opinions challenged, and do not post in bad-faith with the intention to “force debate”. If you believe in something, by all means, have at it. Do not complain when your opinions are, within our guidelines, challenged. Discussion is the very reason we are all here, and we expect sincere discussions about topics one actually cares about discussing in good-faith.
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