It doesn’t require rocket science to understand the reasoning of the staff in regard to why they made their decision, and I cannot fault it from the POV of what’s best for the board.
I do admit to a lot of concern for the lady who posted as vanilla – who had a lot of problems integrating her humanistic values with her conservative-Christian upbringing and beliefs, and who in consequence took a lot of what certainly appeared to be self-contradictory positions over the years. She was a sweet woman in many, many ways, someone I considered a good online friend, despite the occasions she questioned some of my views.
I will miss her. But I think TubaDiva et al. made the right call, all things considered.
Banning…it’s kind of like a death penalty for Dopers.
Sometimes, IRL, the death penalty is warranted (IMO), but that doesn’t mean I’m truly, completely happy to see someone get executed, no matter what they were guilty of.
I didn’t know her that well, but she seemed to be reasonably non-abrasive, especially considering that many of her posts dealt with religion, which tends to be a contentious issue for many of us. But since she did bring in others here, to watch them fight, so to speak, I think the staff made the right call.
Suggestion to the staff: What Vanilla did seems to be a clear case of a single act that is a banning offense. Maybe it would be a good idea to put stickies in all the fora warning that there is a one-strike only policy on this, and explaining exactly what it is and why it’s bad.
Incorrect, on several levels. Even if we ignore the rest of life (over which the administration here has no say at all), they’re still not analogous. A banning can be reversed, while an execution cannot. Admittedly, it’s not common for a banned person to be allowed back in, but it has happened and can happen.
Righto. Lynn suspended me for a week because I started a joke thread in the Pit. I can’t complain. I was fully aware of the restriction but it just somehow slipped my mind when I started the thread. There’s no one to blame but myself. Several times I’ve had my wrist slapped for getting overheated in Great Debates. Again, there was no one to blame but myself. I knew the rules, but I trangressed.
It’s just not that hard to avoid getting banned, folks. Granted, almost everybody acts like a jerk sometimes, but the mods generally give you plenty of warning, and you’ve got plenty of time to clean up your act before they come down on you hard.
I’m sorry for Vanilla. I really am. But she was given every opportunity to straighten up and fly right, and she didn’t do it.
Now, could we all please do everything we can to make the mods’ lives easier?
I do like this new idea of a thread in ATMB for the well established posters. It brings some closure, and it is in some odd way a small gesture of respect- it seems to be saying “You *did *contribute, and we are sorry we had to ban you”. I hope you continue this.
It’s good that so many Dopers are taking this as intended: a way to answer legitimate questions and concerns outside the Pittish approach. Losing a poster for any reason isn’t something to be celebrated. You’re absolutely right, DrDeth, they do deserve some respect. If they couldn’t fit this board, we couldn’t fit their needs either. There are a few gazillion boards out there, and we hope they find one that suits them better.