Poll: What's the point of having a Religion and Politics forum if we're just talking about that here

[Uszi]

Maybe it's my OCD acting up, or my secret inner Nazi, but why are there religious and political discussions right now, numbering in the hundreds of posts, in the Off-topic board?

I mean, I thought the OTD board was for like, discussing whether you like your Ramen noodles al dente or boiled into mash. Not for discussing whether Jesus would make a good president or if a law should be passed in Georgia making miscarriages illegal or who's right in the Wisconsin Governor vs Teachers thing.

I mean, I am honestly confused, I'm not trying to be a snoot or a snark. I would appreciate moderator input as to why these threads continue in the OTD forum.

What do you guys think, especially the original posters of those threads or the people who are actively debating in them. Should they be moved to the forum that was created specifically for these types of discussions, or should they be allowed to continue in the OTD board?

Anyway, please click the red "Report" button on the lower left so it is brought to moderator attention if you think that those posts should be moved.

EDIT:
Specifically I am referring to threads like these:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268535-Poll-Miscarriage-A-capital-offense
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268526-Poll-What-is-wrong-with-America
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268427-Miscarriage-is-a-crime-punishable-by-death
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268214-Poll-If-Jesus-ran-for-president-would-you-vote-for-him
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268360-Supreme-Court-claims-Protesting-a-soldiers-Funeral-is-protected-by-1st-amendent
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268455-No-prescription-No-condom
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268376-Westboro-Baptist-Church
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268221-I-am-a-Gnostic-Jedi-what-are-you

 

[Irridium]

I don't know. Its really annoying considering there's a whole forum dedicated to religion/political discussions.

 

[Armored Prayer]

Now that you mention it, there have been a rise of religious and political topics leaking out of the R/P forums.

Perhaps something is going on there causing some posters to leave. I really don't know, I never go there.

 

[OrokuSaki]

I was kinda hoping that there was gonna be a joke starting with "So Jesus and the Governor of Wisconsin walk into the bar."

 

[Bobic]

My theory is that these people do it because they know they'll get more traffic if they post in the off topic section.

 

[Stoic raptor]

Shouldnt this thread be in religion and politics?

And i think they should keep the religion and politics board. It helps keep them out of off-topic discussion, even if some manage to leak in.

 

[Jetsetneo]

And they both go 'Ow!'.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I think they should be moved to R&P, myself. I think people take one look at the R&P forum and the (at-times) shall we say... heated discussion that goes on there, and decide to post it in Off-Topic instead. Or maybe they just want a more broad range of views than the ones present in the small number of R&P regulars.

 

[Uszi]

I don't know. Its really annoying considering there's a whole forum dedicated to religion/political discussions.

Agree. It's also annoying that there's only like 10 people in any given discussion on R/P, when it's fairly apparent that there are plenty of Escapists who would be willing to discuss these issues on OTD.

I feel like, what at least appears like moderator apathy, is going to undermine the purpose of the R/P board. Why would I post a R/P topic there when I can post it here and get more traffic?

Now that you mention it, there have been a rise of religious and political topics leaking out of the R/P forums.

Perhaps something is going on there causing some posters to leave. I really don't know, I never go there.

Agree.

Shouldnt this thread be in religion and politics?

And i think they should keep the religion and politics board. It helps keep them out of off-topic discussion, even if some manage to leak in.

No, because this thread is a discussion of trends within the OTD board, and in no way deals with Religion or Politics itself.

Maybe if it actually dealt with Jesus or the Governor of Wisconsin it should be. But the thread title is really just a red herring to get people to come here and vote.

I think they should be moved to R&P, myself. I think people take one look at the R&P forum and the (at-times) shall we say... heated discussion that goes on there, and decide to post it in Off-Topic instead. Or maybe they just want a more broad range of views than the ones present in the small number of R&P regulars.

And that's the kind of thing that will never change if Moderators allow "moderate" R/P discussion in the OTD board.

 

[Uszi]

Oh hey, guys, please report this post to the moderators.

I would really appreciate their input on the matter, and the way most forum software works, I think, is that the mods get reports, and the more reports on a specific thread the higher up it goes in their queue of things to address.

Or else I'll just get banned or something. Heh.

 

[DocBalance]

I don't think there actually should be an R/P section. I think it should be folded into off-topic, personally.

 

[EchetusXe]

I don't think it is a brilliant idea to have a Religion & Politics sub-forum in the Offtopic forum. Might as well say 'if you want to discuss anything worth discussing click here, if you want to talk about computer processing speeds or candy bars then remain here'.

 

[Penguinness]

It's kinda like Off-topic is the sweet shop, but Religion and Politics only sells chocolate. I prefer going into the one which has sweets and chocolate.

It's depressing making food analogies...

 

[Uszi]

It's kinda like Off-topic is the sweet shop, but Religion and Politics only sells chocolate. I prefer going into the one which has sweets and chocolate.

It's depressing making food analogies...

But also delicious.

Ok, granted that maybe they should be combined into one place, as several people have suggested, given their current state as separate forums, shouldn't those threads and any threads like them which are created, be moved onto the other forum?

 

[ViaticalTarsier]

Most people that post R&P topics in the off topic forum are just looking for an ego boost as these topics generate a lot of post and nothing strokes some people's ego like creating a thread and it going on for 10pages as they (the OP) sit and think about how smart they are for creating such a popular thread.

It kind of cracks me up because they are always very similar. Normally they have a link to something from some outrageously biased source and then they write one sentence with their opinion and that's it.

They know that in the R&P forum there are some smart people on either side of an issue that will ask for more detail or question their position and they don't want to debate or defend their position they are just trolling for responses to their thread.

 

[Uszi]

Most people that post R&P topics in the off topic forum are just looking for an ego boost as these topics generate a lot of post and nothing strokes some people's ego like creating a thread and it going on for 10pages as they (the OP) sit and think about how smart they are for creating such a popular thread.

It kind of cracks me up because they are always very similar. Normally they have a link to something from some outrageously biased source and then they write one sentence with their opinion and that's it.

They know that in the R&P forum there are some smart people on either side of an issue that will ask for more detail or question their position and they don't want to debate or defend their position they are just trolling for responses to their thread.

Which is my sentiment, and I consider support for the argument that the R/P forum's existence is negated whenever popular R/P topics are allowed to exist in the OTD forum.

We also get repeat topics in OTD, where two discussions of the same thing are happening but because they are on different forums it is ignored, i.e. the circumcision discussion happening right now took place some time ago in R/P.

 

[krebain]

Duuude... Ramen noodles kick ass... as for boiled into mash or al dente, it really depends what the noodles will be going with... I mean, if you're gonna add cheese, al dente gives it that nice texture, whereas if you're adding cinnamon and sugar for more of a cinnamon bun taste, it's really better boiled to mash... now, if you're adding yeast and storing it in a bottle till it ferments, then straining it and drinking it, you want a bit more water inside... It really depends.

 

[Uszi]

Updated the thread title so it is no longer a lie to try and entice people to join the discussion.

 

[Penguinness]

But also delicious.

Ok, granted that maybe they should be combined into one place, as several people have suggested, given their current state as separate forums, shouldn't those threads and any threads like them which are created, be moved onto the other forum?

Oh yeah definitely, needs to either have an R&P forum and move things there, or combine them into one off-topic forum.