I have run several other forum sections like this throughout the years. I used to call them "The Dinner Table" to give an idea of what type of behavior was acceptable. However, I realized this was not analogous to what I wanted.
A Dinner Table implies that you be extremely civil because you have to find time between arguing to chew your food with class. You also have to be careful to not annoy your host. A pub has no host to annoy. Everyone you are sitting with tacitly agrees to have their opinions and beliefs questioned when they sit down at a table engaged in debate.
If you don't want to have your ideas thrown into the fires of discussion to be reforged stronger and more resilient with the strength of deeper perspective, just sit there and sip your drink. You can still learn, but not as much as if you participated and put your world-view on the line.
The Pub is for talking about big subjects, touchy subjects, and personal and life topics. The kind of stuff that may only come up over a beer.
Here are some hard and fast rules:
- Flaming and blatant hatred will not be tolerated.
- Try to express yourself intelligently (it will go better for everyone involved)
- Keep an open mind; even if you don't agree, you can still be civil.
- Remember that these people are friends; this is a community. After this, you still have to drink with these people.
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