As of recent, we get a lot of threads which are volatile and easily get heated up, result in a flamewar, and get shut down before they explode and the whole Empire gets covered in icky exploded thread guts. There's been no real concluding solution. Some have said "Ban religion/politics/controversial miscellany!" Others have asked for tags to be added. Others have asked for a dedicated section for such material. Atheists have demanded the right to criticize religion as long as they tolerate the people who believe it; the religious have demanded that nobody is able to criticize their ideas. So, what do? Simples. When making a volatile thread, provide balanced viewpoints. If I am, for example, a New Atheist who believe we should have the right to tolerate religion but also criticize, scrutinize and counter it wherever its influence rises, I should explain my viewpoint, explain the criticisms, arguments in favour of it, background info on it, stuff like that. If you all out believe that you viewpoint is the only right one in the world and you spend the thread space boasting about how awesome it is and how wrong everyone else is, you deserve to have it locked. When responding to a volatile thread which you strongly disagree with, simply allow people to know your viewpoint in a sentence and add to the discussion by bringing up arguments which are often brought up against the claim in the OP. So, if I am commenting on a well-written OP arguing that a Judeo-Christian God exists, I could respond "I believe that there is a lack of scientific evidence to show a God exists, and that religion's many conflicts with science on matters like the creation of the Universe and evolution are halting the progression and rationality of society. Arguments against the existence of a God include Richard Dawkin's Ultimate Boeing 747 Gambit, the scientific age of the Universe which contradicts the biblically implied age of the Universe of 6,000 years old, and evolution, which contradicts the biblical hypothesis on how life arose. How do you respond to this?" Notice how I cited my sources, I didn't directly challenge the OP, instead pointing out that there are arguments against their claim made by others, and I didn't let whatever emotions I had about the OP believing in the existence of a God carry me away. Take a look at this pyramid. When writing a response in a volatile thread, cite arguments which keep as close to the top of the pyramid as possible. In a volatile thread, if you see anything which constitutes Responding To Tone or below, report it. If someone posts a contradiction, politely point out they have posted little to no supporting evidence. Any post which is charged with any anger or hatred, including a refutation of a central point, should be reported, although if you are on the side of the poster, it's good practice to reiterate their refutation without the anger once the post has been removed and credit the poster.Also, remember a few extra miscellaneous points. Keep it real. Don't drink and drive. Don't get mixed up with gangsters, drug dealers or oil executives. With the volatile foreign markets, now's a good time to invest in bonds. Lava walls are always relevant. That is all, good day.
You left out the advantages to acknowledging your own bias in your guide(see above). Also not commenting on those threads would completely avoid the problem.
Fair enough, I admit to the bias, but of course it was an example and didn't affect the actual guidelines.
