Showcase Forum Issues and Requests

Access granted.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

As per your request, Dr Adequate's permissions in the [forum=-37] forum have been removed. This is not a problem. Showcased members are under no obligation to follow any rules beyond their own muse. The purpose of Showcase is to allow participation by those who prefer a more free style of discussion unencumbered by rules and moderators.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

It is only showcased members that are unmoderated by board admins. All other members are expected to follow the Forum Guidelines, and the requests of showcased members they are debating with. I repeat this periodically so that those requesting access to Showcase understand this.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

It's intended as a showcase for those who have interesting views or styles of participation that attract much attention, but who have proven over time to be unamenable to moderation.In the site's early days I created a Free For All forum that permitted unmoderated debate for all members, but it became unpopular with the growing moderator team and was eventually closed. Boot Camp was my first (failed) attempt to find a middle ground, and Showcase my second. Perhaps I should just follow my instincts and bring back Free For All. I always liked that approach and still do.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Access to Showcase granted.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Hi Randman,Please keep in mind that this thread is not in the [forum=-37] forum, and as such the Forum Guidelines apply here.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

You can run things in your showcase threads any way you please. All I can do is control who has access. Just let me know when someone's access should be removed by posting messages here.I sympathize with your desires for constructive discussion in your showcase threads, and what you're beginning to discover (or at least I can hope) is that this results from a mutual commitment to follow an agreed upon set of rules.I'm going to change the name of the obverse thread to "A Guide to Creationist Tactics". For symmetry I'd like to change the name of your thread to "A Guide to Evolutionist Tactics". Would that be okay?

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Hi Omni,I'd like to respond to something you said in your Message 131: Members who have interesting viewpoints or styles but are unamenable to moderation are placed in [forum=-37]. Certainly irrationality could play a role in making showcase decisions (if Faith were showcased it would be in part for that reason), but one can't automatically conclude that restriction to Showcase was for that reason.I prefer to focus on specific and visible symptoms rather than speculate as to underlying causes. Randman was showcased because he was unamenable to moderation, perhaps because he feels that moderation here is blatantly biased toward the evolution side. Threads in which Randman participated invariably deteriorated into name calling.In discussion with moderators Randman expressed his belief that he was always being provoked and that he was merely responding in kind. It was pointed out time and again that the proper response to a guideline violation was not a guideline violation of your own, but to instead request moderator assistance. It was also the opinion of moderators that Randman has a hair trigger when it comes to detecting provocation, and I'm sure everyone familiar with Randman will agree that a very common Randman response to some innocuous argument is (paraphrasing), "This is just the kind of typical dishonesty we always see from evos."Randman could never seem to grasp, indeed still does not grasp, that doing things like calling people dishonest tends to derail constructive discussion. The foundational position of his stance on evolution is that it is a conspiracy perpetrated upon the public by fraud, lies and dishonesty, but he doesn't seem to understand that you can't maintain a civil discussion while calling people frauds and liars, and so he was showcased.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Just as I reminded Randman I'll remind you that this thread is not part of the Showcase forum, and that the Forum Guidelines have to be followed here.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I think Randman's current approach to discussion in the Showcase forum exactly exemplifies why he is there.Randman has a really tough row to hoe if he is to ever achieve civil discussions with evolutionists. Ask yourself how well you could maintain civility in discussion with someone you thought was a liar and a fraud, and who was repeating baldfaced lies to your face. This is the problem Randman faces. He truly believes that evolutionists are dishonest, duplicitous, dissembling liars who lie while fully aware of the lies they are telling. It's no wonder he can't contain himself.Reprieve from Showcase will only come when Randman realizes that evolutionists are honest, forthright people just like himself who truly believe what they are saying.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Oh, no, you didn't create any misimpressions. Everyone will always have their own opinions, and in this case I just thought it a good idea to make clear my own opinion on the matter, since I'm the one who made the decision to showcase Randman. I certainly grant that the actual underlying causes of Randman's, uh, aggressive approach to debate are open to a variety of interpretations.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I think I'll just let this discussion role on, off-topic though it is. People on both sides seem to be revealing their true colors, it should be very illuminating.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Amen.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director