Some idle musings of mine... Perhaps it's the spirit of the times, with a possible war looming, economic woes and so on, but have the rest of you noticed that there's been a shift in mood on the board of late?
I'm referring to the fact that a number of debates have turned so nasty recently that all debate has been rendered almost impossible.
Of course debate is a very healthy thing, and it's great to share points of view. I even enjoy arguing with people, in a civilized manner, who have opinions totally opposed to my own, so I'm not suggesting some topics are best avoided, although I doubt there's going to be much meeting of minds in a debate conducted on the internet. Face to face over a few beers would be better.
What I do feel is that threads which would have aroused little controversy a year ago, such as PIM's innocent question if anyone had gone to gay pride, now seem to generate cyber warfare.
Perhaps we all should try to adhere to some code of conduct, for example, stick firmly to the topic. Then if we disagree with someone, address only the points we disagree with and not introduce red herrings.
We have, thanks to Madridman, a fun little community here. I'm sure we can all have wonderfully varied opinions on everything under the sun, but debate them in a friendly, good-natured and respectful way.
Now, about gay anti-American members of ETA who want to get married to get a green card...