Rowan, while my post here was triggered by your splitting off the posts in the Bridge Building thread, it was not intended to be a direct criticism. If it were, I would've mentioned you specifically. Mostly, I saw what could become a dangerous repressive tool in the wrong hands (again in general, not yours specifically) and it occurred to me that the Charter needs to provide some protection.
I feel that any ideas can be discussed on the messageboard, ad nauseum and until grass grows over the dead horse. That includes posts that are critical of the messageboard governance, actions of the Rangers in the official capacity, the board philosophy and other subjects where disagreement may be upsetting to some or even majority of members, inlcuding politics and religion.
Posts disparaging someone's personally, insults and character assassination, and IMO malitious gossip not backed up by hard facts (not to say that it happens here, just giving an example) are an entirely different matter. I assing no value to them. However, those things are in the eye of beholder, which is why moving them to BikeRacks is usually better than a Ranger edit or outright deletion.
The BikeRacks are also a valuable tool for resolving interpersonal conflicts without being poked by 20 people. Last time I peeked in, I saw a stellar example of its use by TH and Impy, where they were able to get enough peace and quiet to figure out that what transpired was a simple matter of
semantics.
I also object to referring to any group of posters here "as a class", although I would be proud to be classed together with most folks on this board.