I was not trying to eliminate debate from the board or censor anything, I was just trying to provide a place for support for people when they really need it.
A scolding a child for doing something bad is beneficial, but scold a child too much and it becomes harmful. As it says, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart" Colossians 3:21, and, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" Ephesians 6:4. And there is a very big difference between scolding and attacking.
Besides, sometimes people want to be surrounded by like-minded people for a little while. I'm not suggesting we do this all the time, but simply provide a place for when it is needed.
Yes, hot topics are what make this site interesting, and I am not trying to eliminate them, but when someone asks for support and they get a hot topic full of arguments and attacks instead, that becomes a problem.
Obviously this idea is not receiving much support, but due to the fact that so many people have seemed to misinterpret what I am trying to do, I think I may still try to implement it anyway. At least, I feel I am being led in that direction. "If you build it, they will come." That's what I'm hoping, anyway.
To Fred: I am sorry I did not see your post about private topics. I think a lot of people do not create private topics right now, simply because they are not familiar with enough people on the board to know who to include and who to exclude. This is a way to solve that problem and make the private topic function easier to use.
