User Suggestions for Future of Atheist Forums

[Angrboda]

I also think the Civil sub forum is still a good idea.

Another idea would be for the user to be able to tag topics as [SERIOUS] or [CIVIL] and then civility rules apply to that thread alone. May require more modding though. Dont know how popular that would be.

I would suggest the same, only without the additional modding or rules. At least as an initial step. Try voluntary civility, and then see if additional tweaks are needed. I don't think any of the objection to a civil forum is that people really just want to be dicks. Given the chance, I think most people would respect the request. And for the few that don't, then additional, less globally restrictive measures or rules could be applied. (Or not. Perhaps reducing rather than completely eliminating disruption of civil discussions is a more reasonable goal.)

ETA: Now that I think about it, you could have the civil forum section, just without any specific rules or enforcement. I'd keep the thread labeling for usability, but people's participation and restraint would be voluntary. That would seem to eliminate many objections to the Civil Forum section. (Though not all.)