The White Council

Re: Welcome (Re: Numenorean Nazgul????

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : We have hardly any "attacks" on this board. When we rarely do, the messages don't last long. I have had messages removed that while not an attack, were provocative enough that they might have induced an attack. The board monitors are strict, some might say too strict, but things run smoothly without the attact/counter-attack you see in newgroups.

: : What did you do? I have no idea. However, I can suggest what you not do. You can go after a person's interpretation or theory with fang and claw, just do not go after the person. Don't get into a "you attacked me/ no I didn't" debate. Doing either of these will guarantee that you messages disappear into the void.

: : We have had other female posters on this board, and I have never seen gender bias. This just may be the place you've been looking for. : : ~Aelmer

: Well, if you look at the few messages preceding this one (there were several others, one by Robin Hood) you can see a bit of it. Two people were having a debate. One was Jim Gregors, the other was Michael Martinez. It was quite good and showed that these two guys know their stuff really well. It had gone on for a good while and seemed to have come to an empasse. It also seemed that the one person, Michael Martinez, was getting upset, at least the other guy said "I didn't mean to upset you. . ." I jumped in and posted the message you see in the list above. I did it kind of like a boxing match--it was supposed to be humorous--and declared Jum Gregors the winner after a great fight. I didn't want to see such a good debate fall into a real fight. And then, as you can see, I was told by the same Michael Martinez, "Nope. Don't ever jump into the middle of a discussion and say it is over. It is a just a waste of time." I really thought what I posted was funny, and I just wanted to add my support to Jim Gregors. I can't believe I was told "Nope." Who says that? And to never jump in the middle of a discussion? I was really liking this place too. If I hadn't been using the name Old Man Willow I would have just taken it as another sexist crack, which are unfortunately not rare among the Newsgroups. But wow, to be told "Nope" like I was a little kid. And the messages that were lost included one by Robin Hood saying asking Michael Martinez if he was a little upset (that one was in response to his telling me "Nope" and "Never"). Robin Hood also said that Michael Martinez has been guilty of doing the same thing he was accusing me of: jumping in I guess. The messages of mine that were deleted were me expressing my shock at being "Noped" and another asking for help and wanting to know why I was snubbed. So there you have it. Any help or suggestions or insights?

Don't worry about it. These guys just get pretty heated when they talk Tolkien. Just to be on the safe side I wouldn't piss off Michael though. Not only does he run the board but he also knows a great deal about Tolkien and can help you if you have any Tolkien questions (not saying you need help). He has helped me several times and for that I take my hood off to him.

Thorin