Dear QP Friends,

Yesterday evening I deleted some posts from the General Chit Chat section of the forum. Soon after that, we lost electricty here so this is the first I've had a chance to post an explanation.

I've been online for over 15 years now, and I've yet to find a forum or mailing list that is able to discuss religion or politics without it breaking down into an argument. This weekend, we saw that the same is true for the QP Forum.

Understandably, the result of these disagreements is usually hurt feelings and deep offense with one or more people leaving the forum over it. I know on some forums heated arguments are not only acceptable but encouraged. On the QP Forum, we have always tried to do things a little differently. (If you haven't yet read my "Higher Purpose" post, it explains why we try to stay away from controversial subjects.)

The threads that I deleted all contained posts with very specific religious views. Not all of the threads had broken down into arguing, but it would be unfair to allow someone to post a religious view and then not allow someone else to express a different view in response. Therefore, removing them all seemed the best thing to do. (BTW, I also removed my own thread regarding the prayer group to be as fair as possible.)

Going forward, I think it's ok to offer prayer, lighting of a candle or whatever your personal beliefs allow in support of a difficult time that a forum member may be going through. It's something that we've always done here, and I don't recall that it has ever caused an argument in the past. However, I think it's best if we refrain from posting specific religious views on this forum for the reasons mentioned above.

As always, I welcome thoughtful and constructive comments and criticism to any decisions I make regarding the forum. I value all of you and will carefully consider anything you have to say on this subject.

Respectfully,

Shelly