I just want to say how great it is to read all these responses. I think the responses really speak to the best in all of us, ya know?
I did want to just point out a few things that I'd wish I'd said in the original post. By no means do we want anyone to take any of this personally; if this had been about 1 person, or 5 people - we would have dealt with it via PMs, and kept it more as a private exchange. So I hope that helps anyone who is taking this too much to heart, or personal. It has to do with a much bigger "mood" on the board, and it's not about specific recent threads - it's about many threads, over a long period of time.
Also, no one wants any of the members to feel like this means they can't stand up for what they believe in;
a person can stand amazingly firm in their beliefs, while still offering up their opinion without anger and personal jabs. I think what we're requesting is reasonable and doable by all of us, it's a realistic request.
I doubt there is a single one of us who hasn't regretted something they've said here, I know I have - several times. Those instances taught me a ton about myself. What always amazes me though, is the willingness of everyone who says "I'm sorry for..." - and the other person "I'm sorry too for..." - a genuine apology goes a loooong way. And it really helps in mending the regret, on both sides.
At the end of the day, we've just gone a little too far for a little too long in being overly confrontational. And we all need to work on it so that people feel that this is a community for support, where questions can be asked and discussions can happen without retaliation or anger or emotion that goes too far. We all get emotional here, sometimes we all over-step the line - and we just need to do a better job of checking ourselves.
Anyway, thanks for being so open-minded about all of this
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