A CALL TO PRAYER FOR ALISON

[turbo]

OKAY, I GUESS I GOTTA REPLY TO THIS: THIS MEMBER WAS DELETED, NOT FOR RELIGIOUS VIEWS, BUT FOR BEING RUDE, CONFRONTATIONAL, INSULTING, AND OBNOXIOUS. NOT ONLY IN MY OPINION, BUT ALSO IN THE OPINION OF TWO OTHER BOARD MEMBERS WHO PM'D ME. THE DECISION STANDS. MAYBE Y'ALL BETTER RE-READ THE "FAMILY BOARD" POSTING AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE.

'NUFF SAID.

[sophie91]

Turbo, please just delete this entire thread, okay? Apparently most are more interested in bickering than in Alison's wellbeing.

So in the end four of us cared more for Alison than for our own viewpoints, we know who we are, we can just keep it in the PM's now, okay? Thanks!!!

[dreambig88]

Turbo shouldn't have to delete anything! I mean I'm not trying to start anything but why are people sticking there noses into something they know NOTHING about.? We dont know why this persons account was deleted but we can trust that the admistrators have the best intrest of all the memebers on this board at heart. We can trust there doing whats best. We need to keep this board about ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION!!! Its not a drama board, save that for myspace, but in the future keep in mind that if somebody feels like a post or comment is disrespectful or bothers you, send that person a personal message asking them to kindly take down there post or thread because it offended you. Please lets be civil and continue to share our AKUS stories!

[Scribe]

dreambig88 - Turbo (the administrator) - just listed off a slew of reasons as to why that person was deleted.

None of which are good, by the way. They're purely subjective. Maybe you Sophie and Turbo were somehow offended by another person's open-minded approach to prayer, but there were plenty of people who were not offended.

If Sophie is allowed to post her opinions about prayer and how it should be done, that member has a full right to also post their opinions on the topic is as well. They weren't discouraging prayer by any means, nor were they being rude to the original poster.

They clearly said "If you want to pray that way, that's perfectly fine, but there are other options as well."

Besides, what if a large number of muslim fans were offended by that post? Would it be taken down then, or would they be told to just not read it? Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and they are allowed to share them.

All akusfanforeverrr did was say a few bible verses and tell everyone to pray whenever they want to. Was it the bible verses that were offensive to the Christians here? The administrator's reasons for deleting their account was unfounded and an act of abuse of power.

You can't be all "everybody get along" if you're going to just delete the people who state their opinion. If you do that, you might as well kick out everyone except for Sophie, Dreambig and Turbo - since they are the ones that get to decide who stays and who goes, anyway.

[silverqueen]

"in the end four of us cared more for Alison than for our own viewpoints"

Oh my god. Because we don't believe in the kind of prayer you believe in, we "don't care for Alison's wellbeing?" Are you kidding me? Do you really not see that you're behaving in the exact opposite way that Jesus would?

And Bridgette, yes we do know why this account was deleted, because the person in question is my friend and because Turbo just explained why. And sorry, but you haven't been around long enough to know whether Turbo has your best interest at heart or not. What really gets me is that Turbo has had conflicts with people on this board in past years - much uglier, more direct conflicts - and been relatively restrained with regards to how he dealt with them. Whatever disagreements he and I have had, I've never really had cause to complain about his administration until now. I am truly appalled that this time he flew off the handle and deleted someone, without any kind of warning or justification, on the basis of two comments that didn't even call out anyone specifically or even use any harsh language.

So tell us, Turbo. What are the exact guidelines for how to behave here? What constitutes "rude, confrontational, insulting" behavior as you define it? We need to have some concrete guidelines, because apparently nobody here is sure anymore what will get them banned. What specific words or sentences of Africa's were beyond the pale? What specifically did she say that was too much?

Or if it wasn't anything specific, what's the quota for how many board members have to dislike something for it to be banned? If some board members have a problem with something and others don't, shouldn't there be some kind of mechanism for us to vote about whether or not to ban the person, or do the people who are offended always win the day?

Or is the identity of the offended people what matters most? Do some board members' opinions hold more weight than others? I'd like to know how this works, considering I've been on this board a heck of a lot longer than Sophie and Bridgette, for example. I'd like to know what my longtime presence on this board is worth.

[dreambig88]

Look SCRIBE, I just said WE DONT KNOW WHAT OR WHY THE PERSON WAS DELETED!!! we dont know what were in the PM's and I believe what turbo did was what he felt was best! You must be the person who got deleted if you cant let it go! Dont bring me into this, saying "you might as well kick out everyone except for Sophie, Dreambig and Turbo" I was just trying to keep it civil and to get back to talking about AKUS. Like I said if you want to argue, go back to myspace with all the Drama their.

[dreambig88]

Silverqueen thats not how you spell my name! And personally I would rather you use my screen name. And yea I may not have been a memeber of this board for that long but I can personally Guarantee TURBO's best intrest at heart....Just cause it says how long I've been here doesnt mean nothing! LET IT GO already! Maybe if you guys arent happy here you should just leave. Im not trying to argue or start trouble I just posted what I thought was right and felt like Turbo had best interest at Heart, and you guys are bringing Sophie into this because you guys arent happy. let it go already. Whats done is done.

[Scribe]

Seriously Dreambig88? Do you not see that Turbo gave specific reasons for deleting that person?

Also if you want a civil conversation...then turn off your caps lock. And if you don't want to be involved in this, stop involving yourself.

And it's beyond talking about AKUS if the administrator of the entire forum is abusing his power. That needs to be dealt with.

[dreambig88]

[dreambig88]

[Allie]

Apr 15, 2012 16:43:34 GMT -5 Scribe said:

Besides, what if a large number of muslim fans were offended by that post? Would it be taken down then, or would they be told to just not read it? Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and they are allowed to share them.

This, too. I consider myself an atheist and the post just assumed everyone was of whatever Christian religion of their choosing that prays to God. I could have very easily taken offense to it, but I didn't because I understand and accept that not everyone thinks like me. You didn't see me jumping down anyone's throats because I disagreed with the posts. It's pretty frustrating to try to stay open-minded to something I don't believe in, yet to see that those same people cannot show the same respect when Africa's posts merely suggested that this way was not the only way. I'm expected to go along with these posts even though I don't believe in them or believe in God, yet when someone posts something that you all don't agree with, her account gets deleted without warning. That's an unbelievably narrow-minded way of seeing things.

And how dare anyone accuse anyone else of not caring about Alison. That comment was way out of line, in my opinion.

[silverqueen]

Dreambig88 - I'm sorry for misspelling your name. I will call you by your screen name in the future. But if I've invested nearly six years of my life into a forum, I have a right to know what will or will not get me banned and my five years' worth of posts deleted.

And no, after only a few months here, you do not have nearly as much context as the longtime members here do. You don't know the history of this board. Don't you dare come in here without knowing our history and tell me that, after five years, I should leave now rather than openly expressing my opinion.

[greenmoray]

Silverqueen has made some cogent comments that deserve a response and not simply the quotation of some verbiage from the Rules of the Board Handbook.

Believe me, I have been offended more than once by posts on this Board but I also believe in pro board free speech short of inflammatory personal attacks and profanity. If anything, turbo should have warned both parties and removed the entire string if he felt the posts was going over the courtesy curve. This is standard practice. I can't help but wonder if turbo isn't enforcing not the rules of the Board, but his own personal religious beliefs.

Allie also raises the point that not everyone on the Board is a Christian. I found the entire string out of line because neither position is consistent with my spiritual belief system and politics and religion can be very divisive; however, I did not raise any alarm because there is no alarm when people disagree with one another and the only weapons they are carrying are words.

Little did I know that one member would be banned....how important is the love of music if we don't love open dialogue as well?
We need some clarity and I, for one, would put the cork in religious and political comments since they can be divisive.

[Scribe]

Apr 15, 2012 19:39:27 GMT -5 greenmoray said:

We need some clarity and I, for one, would put the cork in religious and political comments since they can be divisive.

Agreed.

If there was ever going to be a rule, it should be that.

[silverqueen]

So is this matter going to be addressed, or is it going to be ignored because it's inconvenient for some?