Ed

[Hal_Crawford 15]

I rarely see a posting by Merlyn where there isn't one by Ed so in the interest of balance I think that Ed deserves his own thread. I am sure that we can have another about Beavah and the funny way he talks. The list can go on. Perhaps it needs its own catagory.

 

Actually, I don't believe that any more than I think there should be a thread about Merlyn or any other individual on this forum. A number of posters have complained about ad hominem attacks and I can't think of anything more conducive to that than naming a thread after a poster. I don't think it is up to the standards we should expect from scouters or model for scouts. I believe that the original poster has already come to that conclusion and apologized.

 

I encourage the moderators to close the Merlyn thread and this one too before this all gets further out of hand.

 

Hal

[Guest OldGreyEagle]

Fellow Moderators, please check "The Eponymous Posts" in the Moderators lounge

 

[Beavah 205]

Yah, Ed is like a terrier that just can't let go, eh?

 

If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the community; and if he refuses to listen even to the community, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Matthew 18:15-17

 

Honestly, I'm a sort of biblical fellow on the matter, or at least I try to be. When someone jumps off the reservation, I usually PM them. When your brother sins against you, first approach him in private and all that. If they keep it up, I usually PM them again, maybe with another forum member or two. If your brother doesn't listen to you, go with one or two others and approach him in private...

 

It's only after havin' several conversations in private that I feel inclined to move to a public admonishment. Or at least, that's how I try to behave, eh? Not claimin' I'm perfect by any means. If your brother still doesn't listen, take your case before the community.

 

Generally speakin', when dealing with fellow Scouters on the forums, I almost never have had a negative response to a private message. Sometimes I'm the guy who blew it, sometimes the other is; most often we both apologize. IIRC it's only been BobWhite, Merlyn, Kudu and one other fellow (who I think was drunk at the time) who haven't responded appropriately in PMs, eh? Ol' BobWhite was the worst; he was an order of magnitude more rude in PM.

 

So when that happens, I really do think it's OK to take the complaint before the community at large. In fact, I may have been da fellow who started an eponymous thread on ol' BobWhite. If they don't listen to the sentiment of da community at large, then I reckon it's OK to give 'em the heave ho from the forums, or send 'em to our (non-functional) ignore user list or whatnot. Anybody with a sense of character and decency who has to be confronted in public by a significant segment of da user community should take that as a "hey, I"m wearin' out my welcome" at very least.

 

So I think there's a place for it, but it should be rare. Honestly, though, doesn't repeatedly calling other forum members liars and cowards and such rise to that point? Granted, Merlyn does that mostly in da Issues & Politics area where we all cut each other more slack, but this last round was in the regular scouting forums, not I&P.

 

B

 

[desertrat77 1144]

deleted by Poster's request (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Guest OldGreyEagle]

I don't like Eponymous threads, never have. Last time I closed a bunch of threads I was regarded fairly harshly but it's time to do it again. The forums are to express opinions on scouting topics, and in here, on just about anything but not each other (yes, I know thats not in the fine print)

 

But to call people out is not right. If you dont like it, start an OGE thread and let me have it, just don't reference anyone else

[Guest OldGreyEagle]

Brought forward to make a point