I pretty much have to agree with you, Dennis.
At the end of the day the mods have to make judgement calls, very often quickly, about where their instincts tell them a certain thread is going to head.
If sometimes a thread is closed too quickly, well, that's erring on the side of caution. I'm sure Mike or any of the mod crew, if you had a chance to chat with them about a particular thread, might agree that perhaps they could have let this or that thread go a few extra posts, but what for? Yes, it might stay on track and self-moderate...and eventually reach some kind of rational conclusion. But it might also blow up big time. And they are called on to make the decision, in the face of what a blow up might look like...and this site has worked long and hard to appear moderate, and 'family friendly'. So, why risk blowing it for the sake of a circular political or religious stoush which most likely will not resolve anything?
They (the mods) have to make a decision at some point whether to nip something in the bud before it gets silly, and be able to walk away and take care of their own business with family and work as they are entitled to, or sit there....hovering over their laptops....for hours....waiting until someone offends (or not) and then to make a decision, or not!
And let's be honest...this is a very heated issue,based in the socio/political sphere, which is likely to draw some very strong opinion. As others have said, you can express that as forcefully as you like at a myriad of other sites. Not doing so here does not diminish in any way the strength and quality of discussion which takes place on so many other issues across so many broad boundaries.
At the end of the day, it never ceases to amaze and amuse that some members here at IIS have an expectation that the mods should never make mistakes, simply by virtue of their position. These people are human.....they do their best
