Patriot wrote:No problem with respectful discourse mate, I think my posts have always been respectful.
I just think as mature people, we should be able to handle free speech however it comes, after all its only words.
Offence is taken not given, the more we, as a society, give into the ‘victim mentality ‘ the weaker our democracy becomes.
I, too, am in the free speech camp.
Having said that, we do get quite a bit of freedom here compared to other places and there appears to be a common-sense approach to moderation.
There's a lot of respect for knowledge in the gun forums, and a lot of members go to a lot of trouble to give help and offer advice.
Politics on the other had . . . is just a reflection of real life. They say never discuss politics or religion, as they both polarise. It's a brave forum that has a politics section (especially where firearms legislation is involved), and it can't be easy moderating it.
But I've seen the results of free-for-alls on other forums, and it just doesn't work. People say crap to each other online they would never say face-to-face because there are not the same social conventions or consequences.
As much as I cherish my implied right to free speech (which we don't actually have under the Australian Constitution), I accept there must be a line drawn for the purpose of discourse. Otherwise every thread ends up being a bunch of people calling each other names. Been there, done that.
The laws of physics do not apply to politics.