Peanut Gallery Commentary on the Staff Log of Bannings and such like.

[Edwardo Piet]

They were ad hominem attacks of the lowest caliber, Hammy. Regardless of how passionate any one member was, how does that advance the discussion?

It doesn't need to advance discussion because it's totally irrelevant. The point is censoring Ad Homs that aren't even against the rules is going to shut down discussion a lot more than the Ad Homs are.

Pointless censorship and fake-ass safe spaces are absolutely dire and stop discussion altogether. A discussion temporarily going in the wrong direction when it's goddamn TO BE EXPECTED in an emotionally charged topic is NOT as bad as bringing the discussion to a complete halt because people said some naughty things without even breaking the No Flaming rule. That's the point.

If it's not even flaming and yet Staff are still taking action in a way that  excludes the very people who were most invested in the topic because they went a little overboard because they're human, then the Staff are pressing buttons when they don't need to.

AF has been a fantastic place from 2008-2017 and not banning threads has been a huge part of its greatness. If that's going to change then it's certainly not going to be change for the better.

So, yeah, just leave everyone in the thread who make glib quips and then disappear and ban anyone who cares enough about the topic to overreact about it emotionally in between their actually discussing it properly unlike the people who are going to be left in the thread. What could possibly go wrong? /sarcasm