Hello Todangst, good to see you. For the members who do not know me, I am one of the owners of TheologyWeb. What you said is utterly false. Perhaps you are simply mistaken. I would like to discuss your statement with you. If it is not appropriate to discuss it here (I do not wish to break your rules), let me know if you would be interested in discussing it on TheologyWeb.

Listen, it is your business to ban who you will. It really doesn't matter what I think about that quite honestly. However, you asserted something blatantly untrue about TheologyWeb and that I do care about. Knowing you for the short time that I do, I believe that you would not want to say something objectively false, so I ask that you please engage in that conversation either here if we can be respectful to each other (I promise that on my part to you) or at TheologyWeb if not appropriate here. I promise that a TheologyWeb thread will be respectful to you as well in my communications to you - I have no control over other posters (but I will do everything in my power to insure it is a respectful discussion), but I am posting this to you in absolute good faith and belief that you have no desire to post untruths about another forum.

Thank you. You can grab my email from my profile if you want to respond by that way.

Thank you for starting this thread.  Let me let you know what my concern was.

Trout joined here 11/29/06.  Over a month ago would put it right after his joining.  Let's take for the sake of argument (which obviously I don't agree wtih, but I am taking this for the sake of argument) - he was a troll that kept bringing up refuted points.  Am I understanding the charge against him correctly?

We have TONS of people like that at TheologyWeb.  It is extraordinary hard to get banned at TheologyWeb and RARELY is it ever a first resort.  So to say that someone like Trout (taking your grievance as accurate for the sake of argument) were to be at TheologyWeb, it is not true they would have been banned quickly.  Most problem posters take over a year to get banned, and that is after numerous warnings and usually it takes over two years with periods of temporary suspension first.

You see, we as a forum has a very lenient moderation policy.  We get a lot of flack for that, but it is something that we actively cultivate.  So to see that we would have banned someone we saw as a troll within days of their joining simply is not true, and I would like Todangst to acknowledge his error.

Now are there offenses that would result in a quick banning?  Yes.  Posting hardcore pornography and hard profanity when one knows better for one, plus likely a few I am not thinking of.  However, none of them are for the type of trolling that Trout is accused of.  And even posting profanity is not an automatic heave-ho.  A prominent atheist member who totally knew better let lose in a fit of profanity to one of our upper staff, and after he was suspended for about a month, I campaigned heavily to allow him back in if he agreed not to do so again.

That is really all I wanted to clear up. 

For the record you harbor blatantly untrue claims about the Rational Response Squad and people involved with no repercussion.  None of us have taken the time to come to your site because you have a reputation for banning atheists too quickly.  I'm not saying the reputation is true, I haven't experienced for myself, I'm saying you have a reputation.  I wouldn't know for myself as I don't spend time on your site, because of this reputation.

On your board you do in fact have control over other posters.  And if you care about untrue claims on message boards I suggest you start at home.  Every post from Frank Walton would be a good start.

You can have the conversation here.

Hello Brian, I am here no a limited topic, and am glad to engage you on it. Thank you for responding

We practice very little censorship. Our members may post what they wish, and they can be right or wrong. You are also free to challenge them. I only posted here because I knew Todangst and had a good opinion of him. I am asking no repercussion and if he was just a regularl member I would have chalked it up to that's how debate goes.

Examples please? We actually have a reputation for banning theists way more quickly. It is easy to post generalities, but I would like examples.

And please note, I didn't deny we ban people. Todangst proffered Trout's alleged trollish crimes as something we would have banned within days of joining. That is not true. That is the only thing I addressed.

Brian, I am sure a great deal of what you have heard about us is true. If you want to discuss some of that with me in private, I welcome the conversation. I am dealing with one specific charge here, and it is not true. I am sure you understand that a lot of things can be said that are not true. Have you not had that happen to yourself?

BTW, thank you for your tone.

I missed this part:

You see this is missing my very narrow point.  If I were to edit everything I thought was untrue, no atheist would post.  People are allowed to post things others think are untrue, and I bet that happens here.  I am sure Trout doesn't think what you guys said is true - that is why they called debate forums.  I don't monitor each conversation in that way - that is our policy and because of that, all posters, good and troll, get to post.

I knew Todangst, and felt he would want to know what he said was not true.  I am not complaining that you allowed something untrue to be posted.  I am not suggesting your forum should not allow that.  I went to Todangst, man to man, so to speak, and asked him to discuss it.  I am not railing against this forum or what you allow.  I believed Todangst would want to be accurate.

Here's the starting post of interest.

Precisely. 

And our friend doesn't realize that I've been to his board..... I'm calling upon the experiences of other atheists who have posted on that board, and have been banned within a very short time span....

Who is "our friend"?  You have made it quite clear that you don't consider me your friend.  Have you reconsidered that?

Which board is "his board"?  I am completely lost as to what you are referring.

I would like to know examples Todangst, that I think is fair.  I have no idea who you are talking about.

And once again, my context here is your statement that posters who behaved like Trout did here (the accusation - which no one seems to want to confirm with me - is that he was trolling in the form of asking questions or repeating points that have been repeatedly answered) - you claim that posters doing the same or similar things at TWeb have been banned within days.  I say that is untrue.  Do you have evidence, not assertions or anecdotes, to the contrary?  I would like to see them. 

And that means what?  That I cannot be genuinely pleasant to you, person to person?

Do you not think theists are attacked here?  From the very sloagan onward?  But that is not the point.  I didn't claim that theologyweb was all sweetness and light.  It isn't.  We are very lightly moderated and many people play very rough.  That has nothing to do with what I said to you or my complain here.  Must you not deal with the point at hand? 

Let me take that as Gospel truth for the sake of argument.  So?  What does that have to with the falsehood in your statement? 

 Let me take that as Gospel truth for the sake of argument.  So?  What does that have to with the falsehood in your statement? (BTW you are referring primarily to LakeGeorgeMan who is an atheist poster)

Once again, you are diverting.  The only personal experience that is relevant to my post is that of trollish atheist posters getting banned within days of their joining.  Do you have any examples or proof of that?  I never claimed that TheologyWeb was a rose garden of etiquette.  It isn't.  I claimed that we don't ban trollish posters within days as a practice.  Care to deal with that? 

It isn't showing on my screen.  Is it the same one Brian posted?  If so, is it posted in proof of your prior claim that some thread on II is filled with examples of trollish atheists getting banned within days? 

 If I came here claiming that no one ever complained about our site, that would be relevant.  But right now the issue is your false clam, so do you have examples of trollish atheists getting banned within days? 

Let's review your claim and my response.  You claimed I came at the "beck and call" of Trout because he was banned.  I told you that he told me he was banned, and I was curious to see why.  I came, I saw, and I shrugged - it is your forum, you can ban as you wish.  Thus, I am not here at the beck and call of Trout.  I am not defending Trout.  I would have read the ban and left without a backwards glance but for the falsehood you said about TheologyWeb. 

You know what, I could go back and forth with you on this, but.... It's quite possible that I am in error about your site, and I apologize. I may well be confusing your site, for another site. 

I also apologize for assuming that you had some negative intent. However, I think you might understand why I was suspicious.

 I'm glad you are here to set the record straight, and I hope you stay around to post. 

...

He's trolled other sites as well, but that's no longer the issue. The issue here is my error in confusing TWEB, with, what I'm guessing is my actual recollections of Gene Cook's site.

While there were complaints about TWEB on infidelguy, and while the TWEBers on infidel were a pack of trolls, my claim that the site itself has a quick trigger on atheists is based on an erroneous transpotion of memories of another site onto TWEB.

Dee Dee is correct, I only posted on TWEB once, and I stayed only for a few moments.... my actual interactions with the TWEBers was on infidelguy, not on TWEB.

This just goes to serve that claims have to be backed up with evidence... memory is fallible.

      Hello, Dee Dee, welcome here! I am now @ the new Theology Web. I had a lot of fun @ the old one. I am also@ christianity.com and other forums with the same arguments .I hope to see challenges to mine and additions as I want to improve my arguments . See my blog here on the definitive refutation of the free will argument.