[BattleRifleG3]

The political forum is gone because of the direction it took. The primary problems were the constant devolving of threads into the same direction and a large number of the threads being links to various news articles, many of them inflammatory, some of them being fringe news sources. This led to the main area of the forum being dominated by discussion that is against the intentions of the owner and the traditional standard of this forum.

Various opinions, views, beliefs, convictions should be shared, but the way it was being done before was against the best interests of the site. There is a better way, one that emphasizes original thought and personal convictions over passing on and fighting over other people's opinions. One where someone can make a statement without the topic being sidetracked and grouped into another discussion.

If you look at the menu at the top of the page, between the "Calendar" and "New Posts" links, you'll see the "Blogging" feature. It sort of snuck its way onto the site, without too many people making note of it. Now I believe it is the solution to our controversy over how to discuss touchy matters.

Here's how it works:
You create your own blog on Gunandgame. You can then post in it. You can receive comments, you can also edit comments. I think you can enable or disable both features. In short, your blog is your own. If someone trashes it, you can remove their comments. If you get accused of censorship of anything that doesn't agree with you, you will learn what it's like to be a forum moderator. And perhaps most importantly, no one has to read or respond to your blog. No one has to sort through different people's entries while finding yours constantly bumped to the top of the list. Someone has to actively open your blog and read it.

But there are still rules:
This is not a replacement for the political forum. This is not the place to post news articles you come accross. This is for YOU to write what YOU think. Use other articles as a REFERENCE for YOUR writing. Write responses, write rebuttals, but make the points YOUR OWN. The emphasis is on YOU articulating what YOU really believe, in YOUR words, and taking responsibility for it.
While being generally receptive to different religious views and political affiliations, you should not be using your G&G blog for things that go against the purpose of this site, being to support American firearm rights, active gun ownership, and shooting sports and to welcome international members into discussions of the same. You should not post things that are threatening, hateful, libelous, racist, or derogatory about the membership here. You should, while freely articulating your viewpoint, be respectful of the rights of others to do the same.

For example, posting in favor of returning to traditional gender roles in society could possibly be done in an acceptable way, while posting things against women's rights and dignity would be absolutely unacceptable. The first is a hot issue that would invoke many strong opinions. The second is blatantly derogatory and has no place in reasonable discussion. If you want to objectively criticize President Bush and propose a realistic and lawful response to certain grievances, that's what your blog is for. If you want to blast President Bush with the words of leftists who want to destroy the Constitution, you need to set up your own blog elsewhere.

LIKE THE POLITICAL FORUM, this feature is still owned by G&G and is subject to the rules of the Administrator. If it becomes something that works against the purpose of this site, it too will be restricted or deleted. If things start to go in a bad direction, there will be redirection. If no one heeds the redirection, a great feature of this site will be lost.

I look forward to reading the earnest thoughts of the people here.