The Energon Pub

[DREWCIFER]

If one didn't post in there frequently, then it probably seemed like it was shut down over nite.

I remember, it started getting heated up because religion(s) were being bashed, bashing and a genreal bad will towards fellow man was persisting. Even a mod was starting scary threads and hate was reigning supreme.

Bossman Seibs saw it and locked it. We had a message about why he did it. Then earlier this week, the entire forum was shut dowm.

I agree it was fun discussing, time travel and things of that nature. I'm not really surprised that it all went south, the speed that it happened in is what caught me off guard.

I sent you a PM but received the following error message, which I believe stems from the ampersand in your username.

Sorry, but no such user exists

You can send PMs to yourself. Can you send yourself a PM to see if you receive the same error? This should be resolved when we upgrade to phpBB3 in the near future.

I PM'd you Seibs.

I have changed my username.

Eveyone welcome...

ConDrewfus

I am Drewcifer's near East correspondent. I spread the word of Drewcifer, so cower in fear mortals.

Bwahahhhahahhhaaaaaahhhhaaaaa!

[Nightracer GT]

It's a pretty good thing it got locked.

Say what you like, but this is a TRANSFORMER website.

We have to deal with reality enough in everyday life. There should be an escape from it on our favourite tf website.

But I agree with Master Blaster, this is a Transformers website and I come here to geek out

Then you are free to ignore it. No one's twisting your arm. That forum is a big part of why I post at this site. Why should it not even exist just because some people don't care for it? Go to the TFGD. Go to the Toy and Comic and Cartoon forums. It's a free internet.

Meanwhile, those of us that do like it, can have it.


But of course that's the big question. It's gone because it descended into the depths. I blame myself in part. I did my fair share of it, and for that I apologize. It's been a wake up call for a lot of us.


I agree with Ryan that it needs a full time devoted moderator for the discussions. I fully believe it should be brought back at such time as is convinient with a trial run of several months, where discussion is carefully watched. If it becomes too combersome and the fun is gone, then so be it. But it's worth a shot. Please, it really is. I loved that forum. I for one will behave.

[Professor Smooth]

/\IAWTP

[Spoon]

/\IAWTP

GTFO?

I have no idea what you just said.

[KAMJIIN]

I think the PF would be relatively problem free if we just made religion an off limits subject. People just feel too passionate about it to talk rationally, regardless of their views.

[Autobot032]

/\IAWTP

GTFO?

I have no idea what you just said.

He was pointing up. ^ and IAWTP means I Agree With This Post. It's a simple way of saying "Same here" without going through all the paces.


On the forum itself...is there any way we could just drop the Religion talk? I agree, it was the downfall of the forum really. Politics are a hotbed enough on their own, plus personal experiences, world issues, afterlife/paranormal, etc... Those could be handled with care and maturity, and with a lot of sensibility.

Religion's too personal (myself included, even I can admit when I'm wrong) for a lot of people, whether you're for it or against it, everyone has a story and a button that gets pressed in the process. It's better just to avoid it, honestly.

This *is* a TF board first and foremost and that should be our main focus. Philosophy and other worldly matters, second.
I've seen the damage that Politics and Religion can do to a board and it's members (fortunately, we've dodged that bullet, others haven't quite been so lucky...)

The following discussions:

Life? I'm there.
Politics? I'm there.
What ifs/rhetorical? I'm there.

Religion? Nope. Count me out.

And I know, some of you are going to say "Well then, just don't click those threads" but that's not fair. The forum should be open and accepting to all users, not just a few who happen to agree on one or two key issues.

Part of the reason I lashed out in anger was because I felt cornered about my beliefs, plus I got sick and tired of all the "God doesn't (insert here)" and it's hard to avoid such a topic when the title itself is inflammatory.

You're gonna say "Well then, let us discuss it. Again, you don't have to even open the thread!" but I (and many others!) still have to read the title in passing while we're looking for another thread to post in. Non believers say they hate seeing our beliefs and it's system rammed down their throats...well that's how we believers feel when we see those incredibly offensive thread titles.

I don't come to your house at eight o' clock in the morning with a tract, calling you a sinner (or whatever you might think I'd say...) so why come to a forum that's open to all and post things like that? It's like coming to my door and telling me what you think of my God and beliefs even when I've done nothing to provoke it. This is where the biggest problem is...neither side is willing to see the other's side of it. We could, we choose not to. (That's the biggest crime of all.)

Another problem with even discussing it, aside from the titles is...it's a constant hate fest and full of ridicule and how impossible it is to understand us, how we've got our blinders on, etc. Sooner or later, a protagonist will come out and stand against the antagonists and then we have yet another merry go round of anger, hatred, malice, and fighting.

Religion has it's time and place, I think it has neither here on Seibertron. (You want it? Take it to PM, IM, Email, etc.)

I think we can do just fine with Stem Cell Research, Abortion, Politics, World Events, etc.

Trying to understand the philosophies of the everyday world around us. Important items hidden in our day to day lives that beg us to question, push, learn. We can do that with so many other topics, without Religion being involved.

I mean, let's face it. We know who does believe, who doesn't, we know each other's stances, etc. Knowing all of that...we're just begging for trouble, opening up the same can of worms over and over and over again. It's like burning your hand on the stove...you do it once, you don't do it again. Same principle applies.

...some of us went past third degree burns, and we're down to the bone now. We've got more sense than that, people. It's time we showed it.

There's just no reason to keep going down the same path, especially when there's a brick wall at the end.

[Professor Smooth]

The reason I liked the Philosopher's Forum was because it allowed other users and myself to discuss sensitive topics like religion and politics outside of the places where those discussions usually take place. The people other either side of the discussion are not necessarily as "entrenched" as those you'd find on a site devoted to Catholicism, Islam, Politic, etc. On those sites, almost everyone believes one way. You can join a board where everyone agrees with you and pounces on the person who disagrees or you can be said pounced upon guy.

With the Philosopher's Forum, everyone reading it agrees on one thing, and that's that Transformers are pretty cool. So at least they've got that going for them.

If religion is banned from a possibly reborn Philospher's Forum, I can safely say that I'd spend much less time there. It's a tremendously interesting subject to discuss.

[DesalationReborn]

If religion is banned from a possibly reborn Philospher's Forum, I can safely say that I'd spend much less time there. It's a tremendously interesting subject to discuss.

Ditto. It isn't THE topic, but it's one of the most foremost in people's minds. I'd be hesitent to ban any subject just because it has the tendency to cause inflammation-- it just needs careful moderation and mature posters whenever it comes up. May fail sometimes, but mistakes happen, which themselves offer a chance to learn, and it's better than having massive lockdowns on whatever people can discuss, though I'd admit there are limits. South Park's "Cartoon Wars" comes to mind. Damn, why does South Park relate to everything!?! Part of what makes these forums fun is their openness, and that really needs to be kept.

[Nightracer GT]

I personally don't mind if religion is banned in there. I am almost an athiest, and I never post in those topics anyway. I've been there a few times, and once you've seen it, you've seen it.

Religion is not logical, and blind faith can be dangerous. But we are human, and who are we to say something doesn't exist. Whorship what you have to. Trust in what you have to. It's a tough world out there. It's silly to argue that something doesn't or does exist when we have no way of proving any of it. Therefore, I don't care to post in those topics. If they go, I don't mind.

What gets my goat are the opposing political posts where I and people like me are attacked, our core values mocked by people who don't understand them, and a general atmosphere of anger and hate. One poster in particular seems to hate me for caring about those less fortunate than myself. But that's already a rule, and it was broken. And yet, I would be upset and dissapointed if political discussions are banned because I like to discuss what I think and why.

What I really like is 4th dimension, time, and tesseract related stuff. That stuff is not only non-confrontational, but it's insanely interesting and I like to boggle people's minds with it, and have my own mind boggled. I suppose I could post it in the GD, but in the PF the only people that look are serious posters.

So again, I say, lets' have a trial run. Let's even allow religion and ban topics as they become too unstable. Then, if everything is eventually off limits, chalk the PF up to a failed experiment after all. Please don't listen to the posters that say "but this is a TF forum!" They don't care about the PF and can survive just fine ignoring it while we use it. It's like asking a bunch of old ladies at a Kansas church bake sale to vote on some new inner city gun law from New York. It's silly. Something like that doesn't concern the people who don't want to have anything to do with it.

Thanks.

[Autobot032]

If Religion is involved, I will have no part of the Philosopher's Forum.

And it's only interesting to some because they want to post massive, bitter diatribes against it. The religious threads were absolutely ridiculous, and that trend will continue.

One of the only reasons nonbelievers wish to have conversations about Religion is so they can vent about it, bash it, and feel vindicated by getting it out of their system. Any other time, they say God doesn't exist, and that it's a topic they can forgo for now. So...why not just stick with that train of thought and find something else to work with?

I still don't get why it's oh so important to tear God apart or his followers beliefs. I really don't, I mean past a certain point ya'll must get a little tired of it. "Eh, I've posted this before, ain't worth the time wasted. Screw 'em."

It goes well beyond trying to understand our point of view. It goes well beyond exercising your rights to speak of it.
It's just a way to push the buttons and be anti-establishment or something.

It's also not entirely necessary either.

But, this is all a moot point if the forum doesn't even open up, so hopefully we won't be having this as a problem.

[DREWCIFER]

Even now, the bellows are blowing and the coals are glowing.

Folks. Stop and take a look at the past few pages.

It is clear that people feel that religion is under attack and is attacking at the same time.

We all have different views about religion.

Everyone has the same basic need, to believe. Be it religion, science, or whatever. Everyone has to believe that there is an answer to whatever they are questioning. - Olde Drewish Saying

We can't change other's personal beliefs, and that's the point. We can discuss opinions and different options, but we can't change someone else's. We need to agree to disagree.

Christians feel that they are being belittled for their beliefs.

Atheists feel that religion is being shoved down their throat.

Islam was being flatout attacked.

Everyone else has something to say.

Listen we can all discuss religion, but we need to stop attacking other members. It is possible to discuss without belittling someone else.

I think that we all need to keep that in mind.

[Professor Smooth]

Let's not discuss the discussion of religion in this topic. Our points have been made in that forum, let's keep them there. If we can't keep a discussion ABOUT that forum from going down in flames, it's not a great argument for the place's continued existence.

The mods and admins know that there's a bunch of people that would like to see the forum continue in some capacity. I think this thread has gotten as far as it needs to go.

[Leonardo]

Even now, the bellows are blowing and the coals are glowing.

Poets? Here? Maisie, I'm gonna get the gun.

[Me, Grimlock!]

What I really like is 4th dimension, time, and tesseract related stuff. That stuff is not only non-confrontational, but it's insanely interesting and I like to boggle people's minds with it, and have my own mind boggled. I suppose I could post it in the GD, but in the PF the only people that look are serious posters.

This is why I'd go to the PF. Science-related stuff is absolutely captivating. Politics, human motivation, et al aren't as interesting as scientific talk. I love that crap. (Yes, I'm a Christian who believes in science; evolution is still an open end for me.)

As for the religion topics, I was one of the ones who felt belittled (and, IMHO, was belittled), so I stopped posting there. If the religious topics return, I'm out of the PF. I come on the Internet to relax, not to get bashed.

Listen we can all discuss religion, but we need to stop attacking other members.

I see this working for about a week. After that, the PF will have several different religion-related topics of people bashing the other side. Then the new PF will be exactly like the old PF, and then there won't be any PF.

Atheists feel that religion is being shoved down their throat.

Why always down the throat? Up the butt is always more uncomfortable.

And don't read anything into that.

[Moonbase2]

We can't discuss science and time travel in general discussion? It's not religion or politics so I don't see why it can't be discussed there, because it's not inflammatory (if we behave).

[DREWCIFER]

What I really like is 4th dimension, time, and tesseract related stuff. That stuff is not only non-confrontational, but it's insanely interesting and I like to boggle people's minds with it, and have my own mind boggled. I suppose I could post it in the GD, but in the PF the only people that look are serious posters.

This is why I'd go to the PF. Science-related stuff is absolutely captivating. Politics, human motivation, et al aren't as interesting as scientific talk. I love that crap. (Yes, I'm a Christian who believes in science; evolution is still an open end for me.)

As for the religion topics, I was one of the ones who felt belittled (and, IMHO, was belittled), so I stopped posting there. If the religious topics return, I'm out of the PF. I come on the Internet to relax, not to get bashed.

Listen we can all discuss religion, but we need to stop attacking other members.

I see this working for about a week. After that, the PF will have several different religion-related topics of people bashing the other side. Then the new PF will be exactly like the old PF, and then there won't be any PF.

Atheists feel that religion is being shoved down their throat.

Why always down the throat? Up the butt is always more uncomfortable.

And don't read anything into that.

I like science also. Bring on the Spring theory and quantum mechanics. I love a good, smart discussion.

The PF lived a very long life prior to the religion debate. It's crazy in less than two weeks a forum that was a many years old was killed.

"...Up the butt, snuck, stuck, mucked up, sucked. I'd eat baboon bowl before I bite on juvenile, penile, pole projections, they casually and smashingly refer to as 'My Dick'..." Chemical Imbalance by the Skatenigs

[Bartmanhomer]

I just notice that somebody is discussing potilics right now at the General Discussion already.

[lkavadas]

If the PF ever came back sans religion then good riddance. The entire forum was just the same four people bashing on every religion they could get their mitts on. And the criticism was so disrespectful that it was the primary cause it was shutdown. You know exactly who you are by the way.

So yeah, keep it dead. It'll just turn into the same crap all over again so long as the same people keep posting the same subjects over and over and over and over, which they undoubtedly will.

[Cyber Bishop]

His reasoning is here

http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... 18263&sid=

I've had enough with the behaviors of quite a few of you in this forum. A couple of you are staff members. A couple of you are long time regulars. Seibertron.com is not here for you guys to debate about God, Islam or whatever other things you want to get into extremely passionate and heated and hateful debates over. Remember the old saying about not talking to friends about "politics" and "religion" because people are just too passionate about those subjects? Maybe we should instigate that rule here. I can't believe how some of you are going on in this forum.

Do not, under any circumstances, bring these topics out in the General Discussion forum. I do not want those types of discussions in General Discussion either.

Enough is enough.

And just for the record he is not trying to silence anything, the forum grew too wild and he decided to close it for right now..
It may be re-opened eventually.

[Bartmanhomer]

If the PF ever came back sans religion then good riddance. The entire forum was just the same four people bashing on every religion they could get their mitts on. And the criticism was so disrespectful that it was the primary cause it was shutdown. You know exactly who you are by the way.

So yeah, keep it dead. It'll just turn into the same crap all over again so long as the same people keep posting the same subjects over and over and over and over, which they undoubtedly will.

I agree. Everybody will just keep flaming then.

[Autobot032]

There are so many other things that are seriously flameworthy, and they will keep us entertained far longer than Religion will. Religion will get us to battle, end up warned or banned.

Other inflammatory topics will just become heated discussion in a heartbeat. I'd rather we skipped religious discussion on that alone. Then you add in the obvious and yeah...doesn't work.

[Jeep?]

I don't care that it's gone or not - but since the forum's been deleted, why keep a dead link on sidebar?

[Just Negare]

You know what the funny thing is, I saw this thread a few days back and thought I won't bother posting anything in it cos it'll end up at the bottom of the list and no one will care...

Hah, anyway, while I enjoyed the antics of the forum, I thought it was getting waaaaay to retarded and really got to the point where I couldn't be bothered posting to people who have no brains and take my statements out of context, so I buggered off.

I'd like to see it back, but it reminds me of the time we used to have the phil debates in the GD and that's why a phil forum was created, so flames and the like wouldnt' spill over into non phil GD threads.

Oh well, there's plenty of places people can go off this site if they want a good rile or too. I'd enter a plug for my fav forums but I respect seib. too much to do something ever so disrespectful.

To close with something completely off topic:

"They mostly come at night... mostly".

[Jeep?]

"They mostly come at night... mostly".

"Game over, man! Game over!"

[Deadpool.]

I don't care that it's gone or not - but since the forum's been deleted, why keep a dead link on sidebar?

The forum still exists.
Just that it's been blocked off from viewing.
That's what Ryan said I think.