Ah... moderators have their days...

X-)

Nearly everyone can get their panties in a wad when faced with certain situations.

All in all, even the ones I disagree with, even the ones that have replied to me in a way that could be taken offensively, even all the worst that this site has... even all that...

I'm grateful for the site.

Kudos to those who provide it.

Perhaps we should reintroduce the upvotes (not the downvotes, as that will lead to reddit style abuse). If it is seen that people find certain posts helpful/useful, then that may lessen the desire for censure.

Let me add a point more relevant to the OP. As I have pointed out before, the single greatest need on this forum is a mod who can act as a counterweight to the present mod team. I suggested Agustino, i.e. someone who isn't best buds or ideologically sympathetic with the other mods.

The mods have refused to allow this on utterly unexplained and arbitrary grounds. They say they desire feedback and a diverse mod team, but then turn around and say, "no, we don't have to listen to your feedback, and we're not going to make the mod team diverse by adding another mod." It would be the simplest thing in the world to shut people like me up if they would enact my suggestion, and yet, inexplicably, they refuse. So I will continue to have a cautious, skeptical attitude toward the leadership here, and to hell with them if they complain about my complaints.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but this is supposed to be a philosophy forum, not a bullshitting, verbal sparring ground for trolls and assholes or some sort of comedy club. — Buxtebuddha

You're right, and I agree with several of your other points.

I look at the list of comments you provide. They are inconsiderate, arrogant, snotty and smug. They are also bad philosophy. On the other hand, I don't see any of them that should be deleted. Be that as it may, I have made the case before that moderators should be held to a higher standard than regular posters. Otherwise, the credibility of the forum is undermined. — T Clark

I agree with all of this. The crucial part of the guidelines is here:

2) Tone matters:

A respectful and moderate tone is desirable as it's the most likely to foster serious and productive discussion. Having said that, you may express yourself strongly as long as it doesn't disrupt a thread or degenerate into flaming (which is not tolerated and will result in your post being deleted).

3) Context matters:

The amount of leeway you get on the above depends to a degree on where you post and what the topic under discussion is. You're likely to have more freedom in the Shoutbox or in discussions in the Lounge, for example, than in the philosophical discussions.

A respectful tone is merely desirable, and being disrespectful is not always a case for action by the moderators. However, it seems fair to expect moderators themselves to live up to what is desirable, and to almost always be respectful.

And although inconsiderate, arrogant, snotty and smug comments are more tolerated in the Shoutbox, when the discussion there has developed into a substantive philosophical debate that really belongs in Philosophy of Religion, that leeway doesn't apply.

I will be urging all of the moderators to try to live up to the spirit, and not merely the letter, of the guidelines, and I will be keeping an eye on how that goes.

The mods have refused to allow this on utterly unexplained and arbitrary grounds. They say they desire feedback and a diverse mod team, but then turn around and say, "no, we don't have to listen to your feedback, and we're not going to make the mod team diverse by adding another mod." It would be the simplest thing in the world to shut people like me up if they would enact my suggestion, and yet, inexplicably, they refuse. So I will continue to have a cautious, skeptical attitude toward the leadership here, and to hell with them if they complain about my complaints. — Thorongil

Hopefully the above will help to show that we do listen to complaints. As far as mod hiring is concerned though, it was suggested to us by some that the addition of a female mod would help in terms of diversity. We've done that. It may be that the next time we hire we look for another conservative. I would support that too, but it would be unreasonable to expect us to hire specific posters at specific times on the demand of one or two or their friends.

Let me add a point more relevant to the OP. As I have pointed out before, the single greatest need on this forum is a mod who can act as a counterweight to the present mod team. I suggested Agustino, i.e. someone who isn't best buds or ideologically sympathetic with the other mods.

The mods have refused to allow this on utterly unexplained and arbitrary grounds. They say they desire feedback and a diverse mod team, but then turn around and say, "no, we don't have to listen to your feedback, and we're not going to make the mod team diverse by adding another mod." It would be the simplest thing in the world to shut people like me up by doing this, and yet, inexplicably, they refuse. So I will continue to have a cautious, skeptical attitude toward the leadership here. — Thorongil

Baden has already addressed this but I'd already written my own response so here it is...

As I see it this discussion is not about ideology, but about tone, manners, and so on.

But to address your point: we have listened to the feedback, and we do want a diverse mod team. Moderators are chosen on the basis of various qualities that have nothing to do with political or religious leanings, so what you see as a refusal to be diverse is honestly no such thing. Just because we don't want person "A" to be a mod, doesn't mean it's his religious or political views that are putting us off.

A respectful tone is merely desirable, and being disrespectful is not always a case for action by the moderators. However, it seems fair to expect moderators themselves to live up to what is desirable, and to almost always be respectful. — jamalrob

I personally appreciate your desires jamalrob but I have not found 'respectful' to be the case when moderator(s) insist on addressing myself and other forum members in a demeaning and/or condescending way, repeatedly.

I know, and you have a point, and it's exactly what I tried to address in my post.

@ the OP
I've found this app to be very helpful. https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/28211

Quite often I see complaints about certain behavior, and I find myself to be blissfully ignorant.

I see it's no longer available (but I've installed it and it still works great). Maybe SophistiCat will make it available again?

Want a better forum culture? Use the "ignore" button....

I think people need to back off on this subject (moderator behaviour, alleged discrimination against conservative posters) because a) people's opinions have become entrenched on the matter, b) a sufficient number of moderators have taken it to heart, c) even if it didn't result in utopia for certain posters and d) it's basically a big distraction from everything that is going well for this forum.