Can We Cut It Out With The Racy Avatars?

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Although I have not read all 8 pages of this topic I feel that I have read enough to voice a bit of a gripe. It seems like there is one guy who is debating fifty. Yet when he states a claim, in a rather intelligent and civil manner, the majority of replies are insults, labels, and accusations of committing the gravest sin of them all, being a liberal. First, stop replying to his claims as “that your opinion” and walk away thinking that you proved your point. That is not a responsible remark. Everything we say when not documented by an outside source as a direct quote is likely to be tainted by one’s opinion, including the statements of “that your opinion.” This is not to say that one’s opinion is automatically wrong just because it is an opinion, but it does mean that your opinion that he is expressing an opinion is meaningless and has no bearing on his claims—of course, that’s just my opinion ;)

Second, if you are going to name call, do it with a bit more understanding as to whom it is should deserve the label “liberal.” In this case, the liberals are the one who would promote the use of racy avatars. Last time I checked, others who invoke their claim to “freedom of speech” when asked to give account for their deviant behavior were not exactly the best representatives for the conservative cause (2LiveCrew, Larry Flint, and various others who would find legal representation by the ACLU for their child porn cases).

Thirdly, it is rather juvenile when someone asked you refrain from expressing yourself in a particular manner to reply by shouting, “hey man, this is my 1st amendment right!” You see, the first amendment comes with great degrees of limitations, ie. Try shouting “fire” next time you are at the movies and wait around for the cops to come and explain to them that you were just exercising your first amendment rights.

The issue (as I see it) is just like the example of incitement above, some people think this stuff is dangerous (“dangerous” is admittedly used loosely), some don’t. Keep to the issues, and if you feel the need to use politics and name calling, make sure that you are not the pot calling the kettle black.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick
They are irrelevant AND they are offensive to many people AND they discourage people who would otherwise participate or participate more AND they cause practical problems for many people AND they create a negative image for knives and the knife community.
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While they maybe offensive to many people, they are not offensive to the MAJORITY of the people here. I think that's what you need to keep in mind.

You say you are so worried about these avatars driving people away from the forums. Well, I believe your thread has done more damage to these forums than any avatar ever could! You have turned people against each other and have distracted them from talking about knives.

Don't you have a peace rally to attend or something?
 
people have admire nudes thoughout history. It is perfectly normal.
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Notice, please, that in this entire long thread I have NOT once said that these women are not beautiful or admirable. I have NOT once said that these pictures are without artistic and/or technical merit. I have NOT once said that these pictures should never be displayed anywhere.

I have said that THIS is not an appropriate place to display them because they are irrelevant to the topic at hand, AND they are offensive to many people who would otherwise participate AND therefore they discourage participation, AND they impose practical barriers to participation, AND they create a negative image for knives and the knife community.
 
Wow, just wow. I'm locking the thread, and will post a response shortly.
 
I don't have time for a long winded response, so here goes:

1. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY: This is an adult site with adult discussions. If you aren't going to be enough of an adult to deal with mature or even PG-13 subject matter, there's other forums down the street where you'll be welcome. Perhaps some self moderation would be in order as well - install CyberSitter and NetNanny and restrict what sites you go to. Then you'll never have to worry about what may pop up on your screen. I don't have time to hold everyone's hand, monitor each avatar, enact a Moral's Commitee, etc.

We need to establish a few acronyms here: MP & YP. MP stands for My Problem, eg, whether I need actually take corrective action about an issue that affects this site & my paying customers. YP is Your Problem, ie: Your kids seeing something on your computer as you are surfing the web, because you didn't read the instructions with your browser on disabling ALL images, or the forums software on disabling images & avatars.

MP: Flaming.
YP: Your kids.
MP: Trolls.
YP: Your virgin eyes seeing two women kiss.
MP: Broken forums.
YP: NOT READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

2. AVATAR GUIDELINES: No porn, no racism. If it's in Maxim / Stuff / Sports Illustrated, or PG-13, and you are all a twitter, shut off your avatar options, or ignore the user. Thus far, I haven't had remove more than a handful of avatars at all over the years - none of the ones I'm aware of currently are over the line.

3. NON-REGISTERED & NON-LOGGED IN USERS: Tough cookies if they don't like it. They can register and turn off the options. I'm not altering the site dramaticly without getting paid for it. If enough gold members start complaining, that's one thing. Until then, I don't see a problem. If you are surfing from work and are worried, stop pissing away your companies resources and do your job already instead of reading the site.

In summation, suck it up already and use some common sense. RTFM is a great place to start - learn how to use the software.

Who knows, maybe I should enact the dreaded "Change someone else's Avatar" pay as you go option. That way, if someone's avatar pisses you off, you can pony up $20 to have it changed.
 
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