probation to banishment

[Wootah]

Hi all,

Just wondering if you are on probation or have been (or anyone).

Do you think banishment is inevitable? Do you resent being on probation and think you can do nothing about it? Did or has the warning system and probation system change(d) the way you post on the forum? Are you trying to change and still receiving warnings and not sure why?

Those questions aren't in order. I want to make sure that the system is giving enough time to people who receiving warnings and probation and that they realise how close to banishment they are.

Getting a warning isn't good. It should be a red flag to your behaviour right?

[keithprosser3]

I think we all have to accept that Joey has left us, but he is now in a much better place where he is very happy. We can't see his posts, but he can still see ours and watches over how we are doing, so in a very real way, he is still here. I know that Joey still loves us and he knows that we love him.

One day, we'll be banished too, and then we will join Joey where he has gone, and we can exchange posts and we will argue forever and ever on a website that never crashes or has a slow connection. So don't be sad for Joey. He isn't really banned, just permanently suspended.

[Danmark]

Others mentioned Joey and thought it was about him but we could talk about 10CC.

One of Sonofason's problems was he called people a fool without explaining why they were a fool. That is uncivil. I think non-Christian's are foolishly sending themselves to hell but I don't think I have called anyone a fool. For instance I feel I am pointing out the foolishness of atheism in the thread asking what theists think of atheists. It is logically true that atheists are without hope and living without hope is foolish. So I don't think it was his Christianity that caused the issue here. It is just like any atheist that calls me a fool or a moron or unscientific because I believe in creation. It is uncivil.

Yes I saw that thread. I should put my 2cents in there but respecting another ideology can mean several things. Bringing someone away from superstition is a good thing and often our best friends are the ones that give us the harsh truth will be the gist of my argument.[/quote]

Probation should be, of course, for repeatedly breaking the rules, after warnings. None of the rules should be content oriented, regarding belief systems.

I would not want to be a moderator. I think it would be difficult to have to make these judgments. If have some thoughts on this process and even tho' some of them may contradict each other, I'm hoping wiser persons will be able to make sense of these:

Frequently I see people like Sonofason, where it takes way too long to be put on probation. This can lead to other members getting themselves in trouble because they break the rules in response. Or they send rules violation reports that are either ignored or take days to be acted upon. This causes frustration because they see that 'nothing is being done' when actually the process works, it's just too slow.

Same thing with being banned. When some people have been on probation, and they continue to be warned, but nothing happens and no behavior change is noted, they get a free ride for too long, unless they use very bad language and are extremely inflammatory. JohnA was insufferable, yet it took too long to ban him. He made ZERO changes during the process. Same with Sonofason.
10CC was on probation a long time, but suddenly was banned, even tho' I at least, thought he was making an effort.

I didn't like seeing Joey being banned, but Joey is a special case. I don't know. Maybe there should be an intermediate status: suspension for a week or two. Maybe a public petition for reinstatement. Winepusher certainly did himself a favor by his complete apology for his treatment of NENB. He got 3 warnings in a row by persisting in the same attack. But the apology and acknowledgment are worthy of granting some kind of reprieve.

Part of the problem is timing. It's like when a kid gets spanked 2 days after his naughtiness, it doesn't have the same effect as it would if the punishment swiftly followed the deed.

So, to sum up:
Warnings and probation should probably be done as swiftly as possible.
Publicly acknowledging the violation and apologizing should grant some slack.
In intermediate status between probation and banning might give the moderator team a little more flexibility.

And finally, perhaps in lieu of total banishment, suspensions of various time periods might be a good idea. When one returns from suspension, he or she would be an probation for 30 days, earning regular status by 30 days without a warning.

[otseng]

[Replying to Danmark]

I understand what everyone (well, most everyone) are saying. Let's just say that I think things will work out in the end. As for NENB, he has fully agreed to the banishment. All of you will just have to trust us in this decision. (Sorry, I can't provide you any evidence at this time of why you should trust us.)