Ok, here is where to complain about moderation

[HotTubMan]

Not sure if this is just a thing with you guys in America, but in the UK we believe in freedom of speech. I belong to numerous forums where it is unheard of for a post to be deleted unless it breaks the law or is abusive to somebody.
Certainly over here a board would soon lose it's contributors if it deleted or locked topics just because somebody wanted to bring up a subject such as politics or religion.
Personally, I think the moderator is too quick to act, but then maybe he/she does not mind losing contributors (Chas being a good example). If this is the case, then whatsthebest-hottub.com will probably not survive longer term.
Anyway, my view is, if it is not abusive, does not break the law, then let it go. After all moderators are there to serve the community, not play God.

I hear what yoiu are saying. That said, the political post were breaking the rules of the site. Everyone was supposed to read them and agree to them upon registration. These rules are in place to ensure the content of the board is spa related.

I would suggest it would hurt the board more to lose sponsors, like HS. If the board turned into a political forum, would HS want to run their banner ad anymore? Especially when you consider many beleive this site to be operated by HS. Without sponsorship, there is no board.

I agree with those above that suggest an off topic section would be an asset.

[Steve]

Not sure if this is just a thing with you guys in America, but in the UK we believe in freedom of speech. I belong to numerous forums where it is unheard of for a post to be deleted unless it breaks the law or is abusive to somebody.
Certainly over here a board would soon lose it's contributors if it deleted or locked topics just because somebody wanted to bring up a subject such as politics or religion.
Personally, I think the moderator is too quick to act, but then maybe he/she does not mind losing contributors (Chas being a good example). If this is the case, then whatsthebest-hottub.com will probably not survive longer term.
Anyway, my view is, if it is not abusive, does not break the law, then let it go. After all moderators are there to serve the community, not play God.

My feeling is if you want to discuss these issues, why come to a spa forum? I would imagine there's countless forums on religion and politics elsewhere.

That being said, I beleive Chas had every right to post his harmless post on a military relative and it was the comments that fllowed that gave the moderator the full right to delete the entire thread. That wasn't Chas' fault.

It's not "playing God", it's stream-lining a forum based on spa information. There's plenty of examples of "off topic" posts that are allowed here and that's fine. I commend the way in which this forum is run as do most that frequent here. Like I said... there's lots of other forums for topics non spa related. If you feel strongly about writing topics that don't pertain to the rules set out when you joined, I suggest those forums might welcome your input there.

Steve

[windsurfdog]

Not sure if this is just a thing with you guys in America, but in the UK we believe in freedom of speech.

Gerry,
You may have forgotten this but back in the middle of the 18th century, our forefathers had a little tea party for your forefathers in Boston Harbor.  It wasn't long after this that the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States were written with major references to this same freedom of speech to which you refer.  Looks like it's finally caught on on the island over there.....and that's a good thing!

[wmccall]

Anyway, my view is, if it is not abusive, does not break the law, then let it go. After all moderators are there to serve the community, not play God.

Play god? I'm not sure if that is silly, arrogant, or dumb. I'll think about that some more.  So the board owner should buy another 20gb drive just to make room for your rantings?  Maybe you should send him a check.
Of course we believe in freedom of speech, we also have a saying,  "A place for everything and everything in its place".

I'll close with having you reread the user agreement you OK'd when you chose your user name and password.

[Brewman]

This Constitutional Freedom Of Speech thing comes up a lot when moderators do their jobs.  
The right to free speech protects us from government oppression, it doesn't apply to private forums.'
Brewman

[empolgation]

This Constitutional Freedom Of Speech thing comes up a lot when moderators do their jobs.  
 The right to free speech protects us from government oppression, it doesn't apply to private forums.'
Brewman

uh-oh... now we're on to government oppression, looks like this thread is headed to a war debate... moderator please  

[wmccall]

The thread has served its purpose.