The Mueller Report thread

[Bengalzona]

"Personal"

What is 'personal' in the world of politics and religion?

If a poster criticizes a politician and someone else is a supporter of said politician, is that a personal attack? Speaking on behalf of the mods and admins, no. We do not consider that a personal attack or insult on another poster.

And the same thinking generally goes with ideologies. If you are, for example, Mormon and someone else posts their criticisms of the Mormon church, that is not considered a personal attack on you. Now, if that poster also used derogatory slurs and insults in their criticisms of the Mormon church, that could (and probably would, depending upon the comments) be considered as offensive language and could be disciplined. And, yes, we have had examples in the past where offensive language such as slurs and insults against groups of people have been found to actually be insults against individuals. In general (and outside of the Smack Talk forum) slurs and insults will get you into hot water on this site, whether they are against groups or individuals. Most of you know this already and do not do it.

Obviously, people feel their political and especially their religious ideas are very personal to them. Someone disagreeing with those ideas is not innately attacking the other person personally. That said, the language used to disagree could turn the disagreement into a personal issue.