I believe this thread has been helpful in delineating what I thought seemed obvious, but which in retrospect I realize might not have been to everyone, regarding our policy of allowing objective criticism but not personal character attacks.
To me there's an obvious line between writing, "I think that bumper is dangerous and ugly," and, "I think you're a moron for building a bumper that is dangerous and ugly."
When someone posts here about a modification, a build project, or a tip, he should expect honest input and opinions about the modification, build project, or tip. He has no reason to expect spurious remarks about his character or intelligence, or sarcastic dismissals void of constructive suggestions.
We try to take every member at face value here, and give everyone the same chance, even if he might have developed a bad reputation elsewhere. If someone proves to be a repetitive source of false or dangerous information, it will become obvious sooner or later, hopefully sooner. That happened quite recently in this very section, and the person in question was banned as a preventive measure, to avoid having an inexperienced Land Rover owner be victimized by bad advice the rest of the members might have missed in context.
Nevertheless, despite the whinging of those who call us Nazis, I believe we have permanently banned fewer people than I can count on my fingers. On one hand. Given 10,000 members, a commitment to remain family-friendly, and, yes, a no-tolerance policy for employing puerile locker-room obscenities as a substitute for vocabulary, we seem to be doing pretty well.
Too much to ask? For some, it obviously is, but that's a reflection on them, not us or the other 10,000 people who have fun here and learn a lot.
