Well I guess I owe you guys some sort of explanation for my embarrassing behavior.
Last night I had an attack of very childish petulance and deleted some of my recent posts. Like I said it was a spur of the moment fit of petulance; mark it down to my advancing years and the onset of a second childhood.
As always I am reluctant to cause dissension within the community and in the calm light of day I regret having given in to my baser instincts. I will confess to being severely irritated by the way in which the forums are being perceived by some but my manner of dealing with it was immature for someone like myself who considers himself to be a calm cool and collected dude.
I know that some consider the forums to be mainly for AA related matters and that free ranging discussions on non AA related issues are frowned upon. We have been told that if we want to discuss such issues we should join some kind of debating forum. The thing is that some of us who play AA have also become friends and we like to have discussions about many other things. If I join a golf club I do so to play golf but when I make friends at the club I expect to be able to discuss anything I please with my friends in the club house without being told by the "management" that we can only talk about golf. We wouldn't expect to be told we should go elsewhere to socialize. Before someone says we could do it on TeamSpeak I will add that some of us like to gather our thoughts and give some careful consideration to what we want to say before we say it...hence the attraction of the written word. My generation was taught how to write in a comprehensible manner and how to analyze what we read. It seems that many these days have lacked that kind of education.
What I can understand is a reluctance to see angry bitter and insulting arguments in the forums and this, of course , is where moderation comes in. We all know that tempers will become frayed from time to time, people will say things they shouldn't and some will even enter the forums with the sole intent of causing disruption. For this reason, of course, there is a need for someone to keep an eye on things and step in when necessary to remind folks of the need to be respectful to each other. I believe that can be done without using a baseball bat approach.
When I was Forum Manager, I was always honest with you all. When personal issues dictated that I could not give what I considered to be the proper amount of attention to the forums I handed the reins over to others and bowed out until I could give the job the attention it deserves. Not everyone has the background and temperament to be a good moderator but, if there is going to be wide ranging discussions on what could be argumentative issues it is essential to have gentle guidance from someone with the right ability and attitude. I am not seeking re-election; I know that would cause offence in certain quarters and I would prefer to avoid that. I just think that those of you who still want to have forums that you will enjoy visiting you need to think about how you want these forums to be managed. It's up to you to make your feelings known on the subject.
Anyway folks that's my story and, again, I apologize for my fit of peevishness.
I'm not sure this is any longer a place where I am welcome so I will give careful thought before posting anything in the future.
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