Request for a permaban in one week (monday the 10th)

[Stephen]

Maybe Ashley forgot to get the memo out. Don't you guys know? Mods have a different God.

Ignignokt: You have deeply offended us and our god. And our god is a god of vengeance, and horror.
Err: And action!
Ignignokt: Our god is an Indian that turns into a wolf.
Err: Yeah, that's the Wolfen, man.
Ignignokt: Well... the Wolfen will come for you, with his razor.

[Puguni]

I also kind of feel like complaining about this place is a little unwarranted. Go to any other forum on the internet and then come back here. It's pretty nice here compared to out there, isn't it? XD

We're just saying there's been extra unproductive snark lately, something only a fraction of CAA seems to enjoy.

[Tsukuyomi]

We're just saying there's been extra unproductive snark lately, something only a fraction of CAA seems to enjoy.

If you're refering to the most recent thread with the random images.. That wasn't meant to offend anyone. It was either leaving it as was and letting it turn into a thread of debate. Or, turning it into lulz.

Other occassions, I believe it would be along the lines of the same thing. In a way, things are taken way to seriously here. Not saying CAA can NEVER EVER have any serious threads It's just that, the serious found in most threads turn into hate.. You know what I mean?

[SIZE="1"](Hopes that didn't come out a mean or cold)[/SIZE]

[Mithrandir]

Regarding the OP - as was said before, we really don't like banning people - under this kind of circumstance especially. Please understand. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be saying that you came to CAA, and you interacted with people in a certain manner. God then showed you how you were acting, reacting, and interacting, and how what you did/said/etc affected others. You are now more conscientious of how some things you do affect others. In other words, you are growing. I have a great deal of respect for that - it is often difficult to see, let alone express our own understanding of our growth. Way to go! I can't help but feel a little sad, however, that your response to this discovery is to leave the site. The purely selfish side of me wishes that we attracted rather than repelled people who discover they are maturing. That being said, In my experience, the next step is to try and help others begin to recognize that growth in themselves.

I'm honestly not trying to come down on you, or anything, and I hope it doesn't come across that way. If you feel the only way you will continue to grow is to leave, then I wish you the best and pray that God will bring you His blessings.

Now a few discontinuous thoughts, primarily geared toward the reply posts, not necessarily the OP.

A rather wise person once said, "Things do not change; we change." I'd really encourage everyone who "sees a change taking place" to read that again, and think about it, if only briefly. Are you responsible for any of those changes (positive or negative), or are there positive changes you can actively seek to promote? Pray for Christ to show you how to grow in him; ask him to open your eyes to the impact your words may have on others. Let others know what changes you are seeing, both in yourself, and in them. Don't be condescending or "holier than thou" in your interactions - telling someone they are being childish rarely leads to anything good - but rather point out areas of growth and successes in people's life. I've noticed that, as a "global post-modern society," we are *very* good at blaming things or ideas for our troubles - the government, the man, war, crime, poverty, money, the church, the liberal media, bloggers, modern society, Rupert Murdoch, etc - but if you get right down to it, it's virtually always actual living people whose attitudes are in need of change. In a great many cases, it's us.

From what I can see, the change many of you are seeing is likely the result of the staff having a lot going on in their life (I'm guessing this is also happening to many of you too, right?), and therefore there is less time available to comment on every post, talk about new ideas, etc. There's also the slight "problem" that the site is growing so huge, that there's no way we can know what's going on in everyone's life unless you are actively living life with us.

As I see it, everyone has many choices in their life, and those who are unhappy with CAA now have the following choice: You can be part of the solution, part of the problem, or an observer. Before you read this post, you could turn a blind eye. Now, however, you have to choose.

[DragoonKnight]

I think that the chat should be better moderated. the subjects talked about were not exactly G rated...

[Radical Dreamer]

Excellent post, Mith. I agree wholeheartedly. I wish I had more to add, but you said it all pretty well, I think! XD

[Puguni]

If you're refering to the most recent thread with the random images.. That wasn't meant to offend anyone. It was either leaving it as was and letting it turn into a thread of debate. Or, turning it into lulz.

Other occassions, I believe it would be along the lines of the same thing. In a way, things are taken way to seriously here. Not saying CAA can NEVER EVER have any serious threads It's just that, the serious found in most threads turn into hate.. You know what I mean?

[SIZE="1"](Hopes that didn't come out a mean or cold)[/SIZE]

I don't know which thread you're talking about...? But no, I'm talking about in general. I just don't enjoy coming here as much as I used to, and I've been here for a long time. Either I'm changed, or there's something up.

But then, instead of saying, "Hey, let's all cut down on the snide remarks," you're advocating that we all just stop taking such things so seriously. That it's ok to be snarky because it just means that the other members are just being too serious and it's their problem.

This is what I see. Now I'm going to jump down from my soapbox and stop being so srs or else someone might post an, "internet is srs business" image at me.

But no worries, you didn't offend me or anything.

[Kkun]

We're just saying there's been extra unproductive snark lately, something only a fraction of CAA seems to enjoy.

Instead of unproductive snark, it's META-SNARK!

Also:

[LadyRushia]

I think that the chat should be better moderated. the subjects talked about were not exactly G rated...

As the core of CAA's members get older, the conversations and jokes that go on in the chat between friends may make other members uncomfortable. I don't think it's in the best interests of the admins or the members to restrict what can an cannot be talked about in the chat, especially if the standard is "G-rated." People have different convictions about what they find appropriate and what they find inappropriate. If you find that what is being talked about in the chat to be too much for you, you can leave and come back when there are different members who are perhaps talking about things you are comfortable with. While I agree that there are some things that shouldn't be discussed in the CAA chat, but I've been in a good number of chats in my time and the members here, even the ones who like jokes others can't handle, do a good job of keeping those things out.

Speaking of the chat, I know one thing that helped me feel like a part of the community was the surprise of not knowing who was in there and finding someone new to talk to. I've noticed that while seeing who's in the chat is nice, it's lessened the frequency of the fun chats with a bunch of members in them. Most of the time it's completely empty or has only two or three members in it. That might be due to people being busy, but at least with me I don't go in there unless I see people who are my friends. Perhaps going back to not knowing who's in the chat will encourage more community?

I've gone seriously off topic, but I agree with what Mith said.

[Mithrandir]

And one that note, let's continue to stay on topic, please. This thread probably shouldn't be used to discus the allowable level of "snark" that the FDA should allow in a thread. Even more to the point, let's keep the snark out.

[termyt]

There’s nothing “wrong” with CAA. It’s a fairly healthy community of folks who all mostly enjoy the atmosphere and each other. That’s a good thing. It also simply is what it is.

I don’t really view what anyone here said as a complaint but more of a wish. CAA is a good place, but why can it not be better? It’s already a lot better than most places like it on the web from my point of view, but does that mean I should not want it to be even better?

That’s not going to come from moderators or rules or restrictions on what isn’t “Christian enough” (I have no idea what the means, either). It will come from the membership as a collective, if it comes at all.

That’s not a complaint nor is it condemnation. It’s not even saying CAA is not what it should be. Please do not take what anyone’s said here personally. It’s not an indictment, it’s a call to action. What I want for CAA is to be a place where people can come and be accepted as they are and then grow and mature. I don’t want it to just be a place to have a few laughs, shed a few tears, and then move on to grow and mature elsewhere.

It’s not a right versus wrong, we versus they thing. It’s not time to choose up sides and start lobbing rotten fruit and large and small mammals at each other. It’s simply another time of choice – one of millions each of us encounters. Who do you want to be? Does your persona on CAA reflect that? If so, wonderful. If not, are you working in that direction? Fantastic, I hope the rest of us help you along even as you help the rest of us.

Bob apparently feels that his persona here is not helping him be who he wishes to be, but unfortunately, he can not improve that by staying here. This makes me sad and is the reason for my lament, but it is what it is – neither right nor wrong. I just want to help it be better.

[That Dude]

Bob you shall be missed. I've appreciated having you here and often benefited from your insights. I'm glad that you are following your convictions and putting God above everything else. I'm sad that it means you have to go, but standing up for what you believe in is so much more important. God Bless!