Let's talk POLITICS ( NO FIGHTS)

[Guest]

That's crap though. Lots of people do it.

 

I didn't even know that was a rule.

 

I'd cry 'anarchy' and ask everyone to get that little rule overthrown, but I'm apparently not allowed to state my political beliefs.

[sienna]

 

I just think its important for everybody who can vote, to vote... it does make a difference.

 

The right to vote is not self-evident or required; it is a right that our ancestors have fought for, sometimes with big bloodshed.

In my opinion it is a sign of ignorance to waste this right away because the politicians of the moment do not fit your expectations. You don’t change anything by just remain quiet!

 

Even in my country, one of the most democratic ones, it’s not so long time ago you wasn’t allowed to vote if you didn’t reach a certain income a year, yes, poor people didn’t had the right to vote!

Woman got the right to vote in 1921!

[mandilambi]

That's crap though. Lots of people do it.

 

I didn't even know that was a rule.

 

I'd cry 'anarchy' and ask everyone to get that little rule overthrown, but I'm apparently not allowed to state my political beliefs.

 

I assume they added that whenever I had an avatar about Jesus. So I was spreading "propaganda." What a joke.

[Niki27]

I assume they added that whenever I had an avatar about Jesus. So I was spreading "propaganda." What a joke.

 

No we've done that to avoid fights and abuses. Maybe having a christian avatar or a democrat avatar doesn't seem harmful to you, but if we allow these, keep in mind all the other possible things we'd have to allow too ...

I'm sorry girls, but this is a Mika forum, with people from loads of different backgrounds and cultures and it's quite tricky, and some people have been offended by the past. We're just trying to prevent further misunderstandings and therefore, the best thing to do is keep these discussions in the threads where they belong.

[mandilambi]

I understand that, Niki, but there comes a point where people on this forum are going to feel severely stifled. I know that's how I have started to feel.

 

You know, I find it interesting that politics and religion are slowly being removed from this forum, but sex is an issue that is never hush hush. I was very offended by the "Where Did You Lose Your Virginity" topic a few months ago, but for some reason there's a different standard entirely when it comes to where and how people have had sex. Let me note that I didn't complain. I simply left the topic completely and have gotten past it. But for me to have an image with Jesus' name on it is too much for anyone to take.

 

I'll also add that I am a person that believes moderation is a positive thing. I've been on sites when there has been absolutely no moderation and people were allowed to attack others without any punishments. However, I have felt like the MFC has always been a place where different people can come to discuss their differences and be proud of them. Unfortunately, the MFC as of late has made me feel the complete opposite. This just really makes me sad.

 

Also for future reference you may want to let people know when you have updated the Guidelines. I don't think it's entirely fair to keep adding on without letting people know what's been added in, because that gives the impression that all of these rules have been set in place for a long time and that's not the case with the new additions of your Guidelines.

[BonjourMika1990]

I'm glad someone let me know, because I was ignorant of that rule... but I was kinda in shock...

 

 

I think people will be offended no matter what, but I guess when you're trying to spread a positive message (atleast you think its positive) its a little mind boggling.

 

Me personally, would never think it outrageous to post a pic of Jesus, but I'm a Catholic. I guess one would have to be kind of neutral on here about everything to remain out of the line of fire.

 

For me that's difficult, but eh...no harm done. I wasn't planning on having obama in my sig forever lol...Audrey's prettier:mf_rosetinted:

[mandilambi]

I'm glad someone let me know, because I was ignorant of that rule... but I was kinda in shock...

 

 

I think people will be offended no matter what, but I guess when you're trying to spread a positive message (atleast you think its positive) its a little mind boggling.

Me personally, would never think it outrageous to post a pic of Jesus, but I'm a Catholic. I guess one would have to be kind of neutral on here about everything to remain out of the line of fire.

 

For me that's difficult, but eh...no harm done. I wasn't planning on having obama in my sig forever lol...Audrey's prettier:mf_rosetinted:

 

 

That's how I see it, too, Mel. No one on this forum is ever going to be completely satisfied.

 

For the record...I wasn't exactly crazy about Melanie's signature, because I don't support Obama. But I know she has a right to feel the way she does about Obama, so that is exactly why I didn't complain. I can be an adult and look past it because I don't believe in complaining about every little thing that offends me.

 

And I agree, Audrey is prettier.

[Guest]

I assume they added that whenever I had an avatar about Jesus. So I was spreading "propaganda." What a joke.

I wondered what happened to you & Jess' religious avatars. Jess used to have one that was like "Don't make me come down there! - God" or something like that.

 

I understand that, Niki, but there comes a point where people on this forum are going to feel severely stifled. I know that's how I have started to feel.

 

You know, I find it interesting that politics and religion are slowly being removed from this forum, but sex is an issue that is never hush hush. I was very offended by the "Where Did You Lose Your Virginity" topic a few months ago, but for some reason there's a different standard entirely when it comes to where and how people have had sex. Let me note that I didn't complain. I simply left the topic completely and have gotten past it. But for me to have an image with Jesus' name on it is too much for anyone to take.

I agree. Why is it we can talk about things like sex and abortion in the politics thread, and we can even talk about religion in the Religion threads, but we can't express it in signatures or avatars?

 

I don't remember what thread it was in (probably the religion thread) but a while ago I posted pictures of Krishna. I stated that I wasn't Hindu, but I thought the pictures were pretty, and I didn't get in trouble. How it is different to have an avatar of Krishna or Jesus?

 

It's like I've said before. Nothing you say is going to sit 100% well with everyone. If I say "Go jump off a cliff", someone's going to know someone who jumped off a cliff and died, and they're going to get mad.

 

Plus, isn't Mika all about being proud of who you are and expressing yourself...

[Guest]

but if we allow these, keep in mind all the other possible things we'd have to allow too ...

 

... not Christian or democratic signatures. *shock,horror*

 

and some people have been offended by the past.

 

I know I was outraged when we had that 'Kill Christians and feed them to the lions" thread a few months back.

(Note: we didn't actually have that thread. Because it's never gotten that out of control. I highly doubt a religious or political avatar will lead to that.)

[Niki27]

Mandi, I understand your concerns, and trust me, we have the same. It's hard to find a balance between everyone's wishes and opinions.

I wasn't comfortable with the virginity thread myself (and this is just one example out of many) but the policy is "as long as it's confined to one thread, people can chose to open that thread or not", whereas when it's a siggie, or an avatar, the image/message is forced onto people whatever the thread they decide to read. See the difference?

 

You're right about the fact we should have mentionned the change clearly, sorry for this. It wasn't on purpose that we didn't, really, we just forgot I guess :S

 

EDIT: Deb actually bumped the guidelines thread not so long ago asking everyone to read them again.

[Pam Travers]

im very, VERY offended by the jonas brothers, but many people have them in their signatures, i think we should not allow THAT

 

oh and im offended by the music and the ugliness of many bands people put in their signatures, does it count?

 

seriously, be coherent 100% or not at all

 

its a part of us, what we like and dislike, you cant stop people for putting what they believe in in their signatures...what are we left with then? lolipops?

(can we show broken lolipops or not btw?)

 

oh and btw i was planning to change my siggie (what a coincidence) thing is that i wanted to put a photography of DavidLachapelle from the serie "jesus is my homeboy" unfortunatlty, the christ is represented many times, but this is ART, im not a christian or anything, i just enjoy lachapelle´s work, so?

[Guest]

I don't think too many people would be offended by an Obama signature, or a religious signature.

 

I think as long as it isn't followed by the tagline "Christians are sonsofabitches" or "McCain: The Racist's Choice" it's acceptable.

 

There's nothing wrong with a picture of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, or even a norse god etc., as long as it's not offending another religion.

[mandilambi]

Mandi, I understand your concerns, and trust me, we have the same. It's hard to find a balance between everyone's wishes and opinions.

I wasn't comfortable with the virginity thread myself (and this is just one example out of many) but the policy is "as long as it's confined to one thread, people can chose to open that thread or not", whereas when it's a siggie, or an avatar, the image/message is forced onto people whatever the thread they decide to read. See the difference?

 

You're right about the fact we should have mentionned the change clearly, sorry for this. It wasn't on purpose that we didn't, really, we just forgot I guess :S

 

EDIT: Deb actually bumped the guidelines thread not so long ago asking everyone to read them again.

 

I can understand your reasoning, but personally I just do not agree with it. I think if the moderators aren't careful, this place is going to be so heavily moderated that people will start to move on. Unfortunately, it is your all's job to either be one way or another. I don't know how fair it is to say "This is okay by us....but this over here is not okay." See what I mean?

 

I appreciate Deb bumping the topic, however it would be nice to know what exactly has been added/changed, etc. Honestly, I don't think a bump is going to get people's attention to go in there and re-read the guidelines, but that may just be me.

[artsyfartsy17]

I don't think too many people would be offended by an Obama signature, or a religious signature.

 

I think as long as it isn't followed by the tagline "Christians are sonsofabitches" or "McCain: The Racist's Choice" it's acceptable.

 

There's nothing wrong with a picture of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, or even a norse god etc., as long as it's not offending another religion.

 

What if someone's a satanist? The very existence of that religion offends my religion.

 

I like to think I'm open-minded, but I'm not sure I could handle that...

 

Or one of these in their sig:

 

http://www.northernsun.com/images/thumb/2214.jpg

 

http://www.stickergiant.com/Merchant2/imgs/125/b2240_125.gif

 

That would not go over well. The guidelines are in place so that as few arguments crop up as possible. There is a definite difference between debating/discussing and arguing. If a thread is offensive to you, you can always leave it. The virginity thread, for example, is actually very conservative compared to what it could be. It has nothing in it more explicit then an article you might find in a teen magazine. As I recall, nobody went into graphic detail.

And while the thread may offend some, I would advise on looking through your favorite threads, because there's probably something in there that offends someone else. I was personally a little uncomfortable with the making of the christian thread. My faith is a very personal part of my life, one that I don't like to put out there in such a direct way. It opens that issue up for people to come in and criticize it, make fun of it, insult it. And there was someone in the thread who acted completely disrespectfully, was blatantly insulting, and was not handled as strictly by the mods as I would have liked.

But that's my issue, and I'm coming to terms with it. If I don't like what people are saying in the christian thread, it's easy. I don't read it anymore.

 

I think what Niki's saying is that with signatures and avatars, you can't just leave a thread to avoid the problem. It could follow you. And while you guys might not see anything wrong with democratic or christian siggies and avvies, you might have a problem with something someone else puts in theirs. Talking about different religions and opinions and cultures is all well and good, but it is a public forum, and as has been proven time and again, not everyone who comes on here is as open-minded or tolerating as we would like to assume.

[Niki27]

I think what Niki's saying is that with signatures and avatars, you can't just leave a thread to avoid the problem. It could follow you. And while you guys might not see anything wrong with democratic or christian siggies and avvies, you might have a problem with something someone else puts in theirs. Talking about different religions and opinions and cultures is all well and good, but it is a public forum, and as has been proven time and again, not everyone who comes on here is as open-minded or tolerating as we would like to assume.

 

That's exactly what I meant, artsy. I agree with everything you said above. What if someone started having a siggie promoting the extreme right party you gals mentionned earlier? Or a sect? Or whatever more controversial than Obama and christianity? It would be their right just as the christians' or democrats'. Some may react cool but some people will be deeply offended and therefore react with their guts, which I would perfectly understand. ==> fights, drama, tears...

 

We want to avoid this. Moreover, this is, after all, a music forum. We're very opened and we let many subjects opened to debate altho they don't really belong here and there are plenty of religious/political forums elsewhere where you could discuss these issues. Try to open a "Mika thread" on some "vote for Obama" forum, I'm not sure of the mods reaction :naughty:

 

All this to say that we're not in favour of censure, not at all, but we try to keep the peace on this forum, and asking for "neutral" signatures and avatars because these can't be missed by people who don't want to see anything connected with religion or politics is not a big deal, is it?

[Guest]

Or one of these in their sig:

 

http://www.northernsun.com/images/thumb/2214.jpg

 

http://www.stickergiant.com/Merchant2/imgs/125/b2240_125.gif

 

 

Those would be offensive because they took something that was Christian and are changing it to suit themselves. The fish is (or at least was) a Christian symbol. By adding your own word to the inside such as Darwin, satan, or even cupcakes, it's changing what was once a Christian thing. Like taking a picture of Mika's face on Jesus' body and putting "Mika is my Homeboy" is severely inappropriate.

 

As far as just having a Buddha (Did I even spell that right?) in their signature, go for it. I really couldn't care less.

[A. Clay]

THAT IS SO WRONG!

[A. Clay]

[Guest]

I like how celebrities keep saying to 'rock the vote' EVERY election.

 

I always feel like a little kid dragging my feet and whining 'Didn't we rock it hard enough LAST year?:huh:"

[nico_collard]

yeah, I had a quote of his too...and "Barack the vote"

 

So, I guess there's something in the FAQ about not putting your religious or political beliefs (something like that) in your sig. or avi.

 

Sooo, say hello to Audrey!

 

Hello Audrey!

 

im very, VERY offended by the jonas brothers, but many people have them in their signatures, i think we should not allow THAT

 

So am I... I'm mostly offended by the fact that they compared themselves to Hanson... They're nowhere near as good as Hanson (in my humble opinion of course!)

 

You know what else I'm offended by? Mika sigs... esp those ones that have a dozen concerts that people have been to... but I just ignore that... because if I whinged about absolutely eveything I was offended by, I'd be whinging about a lot of stuff a lot of the time...

 

I think as long as it isn't followed by the tagline "Christians are sonsofabitches" or "McCain: The Racist's Choice" it's acceptable.

 

There's nothing wrong with a picture of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, or even a norse god etc., as long as it's not offending another religion.

 

 

 

What if someone's a satanist? The very existence of that religion offends my religion.

 

I like to think I'm open-minded, but I'm not sure I could handle that...

 

Or one of these in their sig:

 

http://www.northernsun.com/images/thumb/2214.jpg

 

http://www.stickergiant.com/Merchant2/imgs/125/b2240_125.gif

 

That would not go over well. The guidelines are in place so that as few arguments crop up as possible. There is a definite difference between debating/discussing and arguing. If a thread is offensive to you, you can always leave it. The virginity thread, for example, is actually very conservative compared to what it could be. It has nothing in it more explicit then an article you might find in a teen magazine. As I recall, nobody went into graphic detail.

And while the thread may offend some, I would advise on looking through your favorite threads, because there's probably something in there that offends someone else. I was personally a little uncomfortable with the making of the christian thread. My faith is a very personal part of my life, one that I don't like to put out there in such a direct way. It opens that issue up for people to come in and criticize it, make fun of it, insult it. And there was someone in the thread who acted completely disrespectfully, was blatantly insulting, and was not handled as strictly by the mods as I would have liked.

But that's my issue, and I'm coming to terms with it. If I don't like what people are saying in the christian thread, it's easy. I don't read it anymore.

 

I think what Niki's saying is that with signatures and avatars, you can't just leave a thread to avoid the problem. It could follow you. And while you guys might not see anything wrong with democratic or christian siggies and avvies, you might have a problem with something someone else puts in theirs. Talking about different religions and opinions and cultures is all well and good, but it is a public forum, and as has been proven time and again, not everyone who comes on here is as open-minded or tolerating as we would like to assume.

 

The first one I found amusing actually... and it's surprising cause I am Catholic..

 

It is a very personal part of a lot of people's lives... if they don't want to share, that's perfectly okay... I share my beliefs cause I'm interested in what other people believe and I want to see if they believe the same thing...

 

But if people want to criticise other people's religions, then that's their choice... but they have to expect that religious people won't stand for it, and should have the right to stand up for what they believe in...

 

Anyways, I didn't mean to turn this into a religious debate...

 

THAT IS SO WRONG!

 

Yet so funny!

 

I was watching Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin (I only caughty it on Entertainment Tonight) and all I can hear is "I can see Russia from my house!"

[Guest]

BORNNNNNNNNNNN in the USA.

I was BORNNNNNNNNNN in the USAAAAAAAA.

 

They played that song at the Bill Clinton rally I went to. It got me excited. I jumped over a bunch of bleechers and ran for the stage. Woooo!

[A. Clay]

Hello Audrey!

 

. . . I was watching Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin (I only caught it

on Entertainment Tonight) and all I can hear is "I can see Russia from my house!"

THE WHOLE THING . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xEJ-lGneso&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1

[A. Clay]

[nico_collard]

THE WHOLE THING . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xEJ-lGneso&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1

 

Oooooh! Cheers!

 

 

I'll watch it when the internet isn't being a cow and going so slow...

[kk448]

I like how celebrities keep saying to 'rock the vote' EVERY election.

 

I just love how Paris Hilton was big on all that and then she never voted because she didn't know she had to register.