I have been insulted repeatedly. Slim insults me, ViceKid, and MikeYank on a few occasions. I don't like what they said, it offended me, but dammit they have a right to say it, even if it does offend me, insult me, and piss me off. Are you going to "ban" them because I feel "insulted"? Rubbish. How ridiculous that would be. I say three cheers for them for having some balls and speaking their mind. We need more people like that, not less.
This talk of "banning" could have a chilling effect on the forum, it will reduce the discussions to no more than idle chit chat on topics like the weather. Any intellectual benefit will be lost and worst of all, it would become boring and useless. You don't want to scare people to the point that everybody is afraid to say anything. You can always, always, find somebody who will say they are "insulted" or "offended" by something somebody said, no matter how innocent or innocuous.
A forum is for robust, uninhibited, and at time, fierce debate.
And what is an insult to one man is flattery to another. What is an insult? You can't say that an insult is anything that offends the other party? That is totally subjective. You must have an objective standard by which to measure. But so what if it is an "insult." If this idea, banning anyone who "insults" somebody, were applied to Congress then we would have no government left. Do you watch the news every day? Those politicians say some nasty, ugly stuff about each other. Buy hey, that is all part of the game. We are not children or old ladies. We are adult men.
When I was a kid we used to say "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." I think everybody needs to take that to heart. If one is that sensitive, go somewhere else and chat. Join a garden club or something. Jesus.
