It would be nice to be able to discuss such matters, but given the open public forum, you can see even in this thread there is some name calling. Frankly, the maturity just is not here all the time. Bring up politics, religion and sex, issues that go to core values in people and you can easily hit a nerve with some, especially in diverse large crowd.
William Bennet note such:
Much has been said and and written about America today, a general coarsening of relations among citizens has taken hold - a good deal of anger, rudness, and impatience. Sometimes it seems as if the old ethic of self restraint has been replaced with a new one of self aggrandizement.
It was not always so. For a long time, Americans observed certain rules of behavior, known as civility. As we have lost the original meaning of politics, we retain an awareness of civility. The word civility comes from the latin root civitas, meaning city and civis meaning citizen. Civility, then, is a behavior worthy of citizens living in a city or in common with others.
Thomas Jefferson noted that by observing the fomalities of civility in daily life - even against our most self regarding inclinations - we learn to control our passions, and we become mindful of how our actions and words affect others.
The art of civility requires constant application, restraining the self and acting with due regard to to others. Our founding fathers knew that universal friendship between citizens would be impossible, which is why they noted that civility is so important.
In a small forum such as here, it is easier to practice civility as we do share an common interest. Going outside of that common bond/boundry to discuss other issues stresses the civility of most people, that is human nature. The question put forth, do we want to open ourselves up to the potential of a forum that can break down the "civility" values, opinions and core beliefs that may clash with others; I can understand why the moderators would not want to open that pandoras box.
As such forums do exist in other places like the OT, I would suggest going there. Allowing the implications and problems that can occur from such interaction in a " bar" directly here could have some nasty results damaging the ties of community to this board.
