The climate change thread was removed by the old mods before me and chrisb1 took over. I started that one, before I read the rules about debates not allowed, ha ha!
And yes, one person threatened to leave BECAUSE the debate thread was moved but several went elsewhere for support, they said they would come back if it calms down, though one said they would not return.
So really the
Webmaster is right, that debates do drive people away from
Support Forums .
Anyway you have all proved you have enough fingers to operate a mouse to come here if the debate is moved, so really I can't see any problem, especially if I provide a link and statement if the thread is moved.
By the way I think some debate is fine in there, eg the benefits of
Water Fasting over juice fasting, its when it starts to get out of hand and insults get traded, then it becomes a problem and swamps the board thus spoiling it for genuine support seekers.
So I think I am acting like a "Type 2" moderator when I start moving threads that get 50 messages and a hot debate in 5 hours. Here are some comments that the
Webmaster gives to moderators:
"When to React?
There are 2 main types of moderators.
Type 1: He recognizes when a controversial subject has been brought into his forum and reacts quickly (hiding the message or moving the thread into a debate forum).
Type 2: He recognizes when a controversial subject has been brought into his forum, but prefers to let people talk about it, and only if talk grows into a name calling and flame war ... then and only then he chooses to act (usually moving the thread into the Conflict forum or a Debate forum).
I personally prefer Type 2.
I would very much appreciate if every moderator tries to show maximum respect for every second any forum user spends writing a message. The longer a message, the harder it should be to just simply hide it."
One final point, Chrisb1 and I are moderators of the
Water Fasting Forum only, so it could be argued that issues which involve the moderators are if anything MORE even handed in here because we do not have power of moderation in this forum. However if it starts to turn into personal abuse - as has happened recently - I hope the moderators here will react appropriately.
So I will carry on as we are, cleaning up the support forum of overheating debates, and thanks all for taking the trouble to comment here.