Update to sitewide forum rules

[Jim Oaks]

For quite some time now I have felt that social media is dividing people and destroying our country. Some social platforms have even censored and banned people from their platforms. I don't want TRS (The Ranger Station) to become part of the problem.

In the past TRS has disallowed political discussions in the forum to prevent drama and feuding amongst the members. We have gotten laxed in this approach and it occasionally causes problems in the forum. I myself have been guilty of engaging in these discussions.

It's time to bring some civility back to the forum.

As a result, I have added the following paragraph to the Forum Rules:

Political & Conspiracy Topics:​

As the owner of this site (Jim Oaks) I feel that social media is dividing people and destroying our country. Some social media platforms have chosen to censor its users because they don't agree with the opinion of the person posting the content. I do not want The Ranger Station to be part of the problem. While there is nothing wrong with discussing current events, discussion of politics and conspiracy theories that lead to any of the above Prohibited Conduct will not be tolerated.​

These topics tend to lead to Prohibited Conduct including:

• Stalk, harass, threaten, flame, verbally attack or defraud other members.
• Intentionally interfere with the operation of The Ranger Station or any member’s enjoyment of it, or intentionally post inflammatory statements to get responses (“Trolling”).

While I would never allow a member to be banned based on their opinions, we will ban members for violating conduct rules.

Sometimes people want to defend their action under Freedom of Speech. Our policy on that has been:

• Freedom of Speech - Our house. Our rules. If we came in to your house and was offending you, your friends, or your family, you would kick us out. Likewise, we will do the same.

This rule applies to the Tailgate Forum as well, even though the rules in there are generally much more relaxed.

I appreciate your support and cooperation.