If so I will look into ways of deleting posts that are just crap and not related to the topic of this site. Let me know what you think, should something be done?

Andreas,

I think it is a mixed bag. There is facsinating and useful conversation going on here. There is also thread-drift and troll posts.

I agree the latter should be deleted.

Publish a statement describing what sort of posts are acceptable. Anything else, including but not limited to OTO, gasious cults, American presidential politics, LAN design, the price of tea in China and fishing in Norway can be removed.

Mike

Andreas, I think it has degenerated. I don't find many on-topic things to talk about anymore. I know there is a different set of people here than, say, a year or two ago, and different people will have different levels of communication. And the silly stuff will always come and go. But I feel like the debates and conversations have lost their "teeth" in that the testimony against Scientology has been diluted by "mediatorial" attitudes or they get lost in the crowd of topics not on point. It kind of feels like a more focused form of spamming the internet occurring in this guestbook to keep the truth talk down (or discrediting by silly posts). I've been feeling this way for awhile. It's why I asked Dilbert a pointed question recently, trying to find "the item." Something just doesn't feel right and I can't quite put my finger on it.

Hi.

I think that lately there has been more spamming. A lot of weird stuff about OTO-COS-Scandinavian-etc... conspirations (the scientologists are still obsessed with the conspiration stuff) appears in the board. I think those threads are pointed to discredit the board, the scientologists try to appear as biggots so if a neutral observer comes by he will think that the scientology critics are a bunch of biggots (at least that's THEIR theory).
I agree with Mike that some posts should be deleted.
Thanks.

P.D:excuse for my English, I'm from Spain and sometimes I'm not sure how to write my thoughts.

Andreas,
Degenerated into what? You will always get the BS artist and the spammers. They take up valuable space that should be used for better stuff. However this is how we get information and some of the BS can be useful. Where do we draw the line on free speech? Should this post of mine be deleated because it is slightly away from the mainstream thought? So these pages are yours to do as you please. Don't interfer with the reason you started this in the first place. Free speech and the fight against Scientology.

Thanks for listening.

NG

I think a certain degree of drift should be tolerated, we are after all a club of individuals. If we become a community then we will develop friendships and drift (for a periord) off topic. I am one of the worst offenders.

There postings by scientologists ar another matter. There is no atempt to communicate, just to disrupt and waste time. This is the opposite of what the board is about.

If the spammers were to make an argument for scientology and argue the thread through to a conclusion then I think we should alow this. The trouble is that scientology is not about engaging mind to mind (this would risk losing control of the scientologist) it is about good TRs (meaning repeating yourself endlessly and not listening.)

I am sure your judgement will be correct in the end.

FWIW:

A limited amount of drift and a little joking around "within" the text of the thread can be condusive to a more relaxd, open discussion. But it's disruptive and diminishes the purpose of this site which is, least we forget, THE FIGHT AGAINST SCIENTOLOGY ON THE NET, when threads desolve into postings composed mainly or only of drift, whether it be trivia, jokes, insane hallucinations, or the price of tea in China. I was apalled that there was a town meeting (lots of postings) for trivia such as the definition of the F word, while the freeing of Tom Padgett could not even generate a two-person conversation.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing.
But Paul Harvey, the commentator, once said, "Your rights end where your neighbor's nose begins". Rights come with responsibilities. People aren't allowed to scream obsenities during a church service, interupt an opration by streaking naked through the operating room or get in the face of a woman who has exercised her right to an abortion and then claim, "I'm exercising my freedom of speech.

We have the right to hang up on a telemarketer, which I do quite often, or shut the door on a Jehovah Witness or a Mormon who wants to talk about "his" god.
Are we denying them their freedom of speech. No, they can still make telephone calls to your neighbor or knock on his door. Are we denying the scammers freedom of speech if we have certain guidelines for participation?

Perhaps there could be a "rules of the road" type of permanent post to which certain people could be referred. Give them fair warning. If they don't shape up, ship them out. Delete them.

For the rest of us, perhaps guidelines for
the types of posts which are more effective for the reason why we are here.
We don't want to scare away legitimate posters. If we drift too far astray, perhaps an experienced poster could intervene and gently push us back on track. A list of definitions for COS words and computer talk (such as the smiley face, lol, etc.) which are used on a regular basis could prevent misunderstandings.

The responsiility of he posters? Good carpenters measure twice and cut once. Perhaps we should think twice before speaking.

These are just my thoughts on the issue.
If they are relevant, use them, if not, discard them.

Gee, Tigger should think three or four times or maybe five or six. Seven or eight?

The frgotten thought: Several posters, especiallty us females (I know, in the book Tigger is a boy, but hey, this is the real world.) somtimes like to chitchat and share personal experiences unrelated to anything scientological. Perhaps there could be a separate thread to accomodate
this human need to share things unrelated to scientology. And hey, I have noticed some guys who have that human side, too.

Cheers!

We have the ability, I've noted, to work together in harmony, candidness, and mutual understanding. We like each others' society, and this is the only way we know each other, in most if not all cases.

In other words, every time we have a friendly discussion, on topic or off, we prove over and over again to any lurking Scientologists that it is possible to communicate without manipulation, fear, and dishonesty... that strangers are not enemies... that we are perfectly happy as we are, thank you, and function perfectly well without being slaves of a space alien cult.

speedwell

i think it has degerated a bit since i started here just a few months ago. i mostly agree with what the others have written in response to your question. i think you-andreas are very smart about this and i think you could use your own judgement to delete what you consider isn.t in the spirit of this message board if you have the time and energy to do so.i mean this all in the the nicest way.sometimes when i write on here it comes out different than i would say in person. love, pam

Andreas,

I agree with most of the others that a little thread drift is ok, however done extensively can lead to forgetting the purpose of the site.

I definately agree that you have excellent judgement and will respect your decisions on this subject.

Regarding postings by Cos, in my opinion those are easily identified by the regular viewers and are immediately labeled as such. I quite enjoy seeing those because it only serves to support our purpose and goal while at the same time providing a good laugh.

Thanks for asking.

Chuck

Andreas,

Maybe you can create a category called "Incoherent Posts: Please Rewrite and Post Again" and put the troll posts there. At the top of this thread, explain that you can't understand the post and the person should clarify his point for a better exchange of ideas. That's not censorship, it's helping people write English better (and believe me, plenty of Americans and ESPECIALLY Scientology-educated Americans, could use a little guidance). Since you are not deleting the posts, you can't be accused of blocking speech. And we can always go visit "Incoherent Posts" for a laugh.

On a different issue, some internet nanny programs for children may block www.xenu.net if the site contains spelled-out f*** words. The interesting but not essential post about the origin of the f*** should either be sanitized (spelled like I am spelling it) or moved to a separate site (keep the link, though). We don't want to be blocked by net nannies at homes or school libraries (where Scientology children might log on), just for one spelled-out obscenity!

Andreas

Boards like this one are so much like social gatherings that it is easy to draw parallels.

An experienced attendee of social gatherings will quickly learn the ropes and learn when to listen, when to speak up, and when to back off. But in the actual physical gathering there are many verbal and "body gesture" clues to the clue-less, plus in real time the serious participants can quickly recognize (and deal with) the jokers and the disrupters. It's much harder in this cyber space environment.

I agree that this is your board to moderate. A separate "what does this post mean" thread could be very useful, without being overly dictatorial.

Another thing that makes this difficult, is that we are all on our "honor" (for several very good reasons) and so the insincere must be treated equally with the sincere. I don't know how to fix that, or if it should be "fixed".

Many of the regular posters have become familiar to me because they are genuine. In a way I feel like a newly blind person who is becoming aware of people through their voices. These posts are immediate, not like a book or novella written by an author over time.

Another thought occurs to me. There is only so much you can say in these postings when the common cause of highest priority is changing the effect Scn and CoS have. So perhaps some are feeling the little vacuum and awkwardness after the talking that can be done has been done.

I also agree, that the spelling out of profanity has a bad effect. Asterisks, by all means!

But above all, don't let the trolls and bad boys spoil the party!

June 15

I second the "Incoherent posts" thread idea, if it is feasible for you, Andreas.

I too like the Incoherent posts thread idea.

How about having a "Mad Clams thread as well?"