Censorship on this Board

[Davin Raincloud]

One of my threads has been deleted. It was the one discussing the ethics of Prostitution.

When a mod deletes a thread, are they supposed to contact the Original Poster?

Last time I read it, it was a simple discussion on pagan ethics.

Surely we aren't like conservative Christians? Heck, there are heaps of discussion threads on christian boards about this, they even have sections for sex industry survivors.

Was the thread deletion a mistake?

If not, why the wierd censorship and not telling the OP?

It looks like it wasn't even locked, just deleted.

Just trying to understand........

[Kat Lady]

Hi Davin!

It is rare that the moderators will "delete" a whole thread. Usually, a thread is "deleted" only if it is found be in direct conflict with the User Agreement. The moderators will, however, lock threads and remove them after notification in certain situations. The User agreement can be found here and some general guidelines for how we moderate and suggestions for posting may be found here.

However, there is only so much space and unfortunately, we have to remove some older threads to make room for new ones. In order to have this done in a more consistent and fair way, some of the busier forums are set up on “auto prune” so that if there is no activity on a thread for a certain period of time (ie: 30, 60, 90 days etc.), the Message Board will automatically delete the thread from the board. My guess is that was the case in this particular situation. Chances are, the thread had not had a response in the designated time period for that forum and the Board automatically removed it on its weekly sweep.

So if it is a topic that you would like to continue, I would say perhaps you should start a new thread and see what responses you receive from our ever evolving membership.

I hope that helps.

[Davin Raincloud]

Thank you for your response Kat.

Seems wierd though because I was able to access threads I started that are over a year old. This one wasn't more than a couple of months old.

[Kat Lady]

Seems wierd though because I was able to access threads I started that are over a year old. This one wasn't more than a couple of months old.

And you will be able to depending on the forum as not all are set up to auto prune. We mainly set up the "big ones" where the topics change often and there is a lot of traffic.

[Davin Raincloud]

Ahhh Makes sense now!

[Corvin]

First, thanks to all that make this thing run so well.

There is lots here and a fair bit of variety. Everything in life renews so auto prune is likely not all bad.

Nevertheless, I did just write a site admin about censorship. Part of art is provocation, not to disturb for the sake of disturbing alone, but to at least disturb the comfortable as much as it comforts the disturbed, as it has been said. I hope merely because one or a few people may be easily disturbed someone is not as easily censored. Some of the things I see in this world offend, puzzle, and disturb me. As Milton Acorn aptly put it "I was born into an ambush." I do hope those who censor others consider such matters.

Many things I have said have offended the white, middle class, able bodied, prosperous folks into luxury and convenience at the expense to many (and likely themselves). There are subtle forms of oppression, injustice, hatred and cruelty. I hope these things are considered worthy of more discussion and less censorship. Not that I claim to speak for anyone other than myself. I do have the public interest in mind though. I take this seriously because I have suffered under it. I see where the world is going. I think we need more discussion not less. Many of the old solutions are clearly not working these days.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Jingle]

Corvin,
I sent you a P.M., but I would also like to address the thought that we would censor poetry here.
Aside from the auto-language editor, we try not to censor any of the Bardic Arts. It's always good to voice your concerns to a forum moderator so we can try to resolve the issues on an individual basis.

Or perhaps I misread your concern?

[Corvin]

No Probs everybody. Just making a general comment and wanted clarification. Thanks Selene, Jingle.