(May 2, 2018 at 12:27 am)vulcanlogician Wrote: I like the idea, and it could work... not by mod enforcement, but rather by self-policing from users. Maybe it should be packaged as "Questions for Atheists" or some such thing (rather than a "no no zone") and would have its home in the introduction forum where new members would likely see it along with a descriptor of the intent that it is a place where more civil interactions might transpire. "Questions for Atheists" would immediately signal that this is a subforum designed for theists who want to inquire about a different point of view, and not a place for us heathens to draw our line in the sand.
I imagine the only occasional problem would be hotheaded theist trolls or socks posting "troll question" threads, (ie. "How are you going to cool down when you are burning in Hell?") so the descriptor of the subforum should indicate that this is disallowed (along with mockery from nonbelievers).
My only reservation is that sometimes innocuous questions can lead to vigorous and forceful debates. And these debates can be quite fun and informative. Perhaps the descriptor should also invite users of the subforum to open a new thread elsewhere should such contention arise.
Meh, it could work... and even if it couldn't, I like what motivates the idea.
I don't think vigorous and forceful debates cannot occur in a civil setting. In fact, I would argue that CL's descriptors of "no insults, no mocking, no off topic posts," actually improve the quality of a debate - it's not usually a lack of insult or mockery that ends discussion.
And I don't think it would just be a 'theists vs atheists' section. I for one sometimes don't agree with the majority of atheists here, and would appreciate a setting where I could discuss my opinions without a portion of people defaulting to easy surface ridicule instead of attempting to understand the argument.
Self-policing from users is correct in my opinion, so perhaps in terms of moderation it would just require users being approved to post or not, and the losing that ability entirely if they were clearly misusing the subforum.
