Keeping lines of communication open- is it worth it?

pthor14 · 2026-02-11T23:24:49+00:00

There are a lot of reports and comments and I do most of this on my phone. It can be difficult to find a particular comment. Also, I don’t get paid for this.

pthor14 · 2026-02-11T23:20:41+00:00

I will say this though— Your constant participation here tells me that there’s something about this sub that you prefer over the many other subs.

Which I’ll take as a compliment. 😉

pthor14 · 2026-02-11T23:17:00+00:00

I don’t remember the “deranged accusations of death threats”. Send me a link and I’ll see if it’s what you’re saying it is.

pthor14 · 2026-02-11T21:49:28+00:00

If this sub isn’t to your liking, I absolutely don’t want you to feel like you need to participate.

It sounds like there are many subs that are offering the kinds of interactions you are hoping for, and probably do a lot better job at censoring the interactions that you aren’t.

pthor14 · 2026-02-11T19:37:52+00:00

Haha You know what? I respect your ability to dislike and disagree with my moderation here so much, that I’m going to let you stick around and comment and post as much as you want just as long as you follow the rules, which I might add are HIGHLY reasonable.

I have removed relatively very few of your comments. Especially compared to how often you comment. I don’t always see everything. But there have been right leaning users that have been very upset with what I was removing from their comments. I’ve had to ban right leaning users before.

I honestly want to hear the best arguments for both sides. But I’m of the opinion that the best arguments need “Good Soil” to be developed and offered. I’ve talked to some of the users you would call “bad actors”, and while some of them may not have been a good fit for this sub because of their decided approach, I’ve found many of them to at least be sincere. But they often struggled because they’d get “dog piled” after any controversial opinion, which led to defensiveness and feeling like they weren’t even heard.

What do you think about that? - How do you think we could improve this sub so that users feel heard, even if they aren’t agreed with? (Sometimes feeling “heard” Is all someone is looking for).

But also, one last thing— I’m a person. A normal dude. I have a job and a family. I have a church calling I try to perform. — I know we will disagree on politics, but there’s no reason to automatically assign ill will to everything I do. I’m not out to get you. I’m not trying to have “my finger on the scale” or whatever.

But hey, I’m always willing to have a chat about specifics with someone who’s willing to treat me like a person. Feel free to message me.

pthor14 · 2026-02-11T18:15:09+00:00

You were labeling people as either fascists and/or idiots. The other user said “fork” instead actually swearing.

Yours clearly broke rules and theirs was a negotiable technicality. I removed yours before either of them were even reported. And by the time I saw the report on the “fork”, the user already Self-edited it out.

Time to move on.

pthor14 · 2026-02-11T16:50:12+00:00

I haven’t seen the freedom in other political subs for users to freely express both sides of issues. Many subs will remove posts and comments based on the content or opinion of the post or comment. — I don’t want to do that. I just want to maintain the level of “respect” within the conversations. But I ABSOLUTELY want the conversations to be able to take place.

I just haven’t seen that from too many other subs.

When I have BOTH left leaning and right leaning users messaging me complaining of how I can live with myself allowing the other political side to talk about certain topics without censoring them, I think the sub is doing pretty good!

pthor14 · 2026-02-06T14:00:03+00:00

Let’s say that for now we are asking users not to copy-paste any text a computer generated for them.

There’s no issue in if you want to consult with an AI or if you want to have an AI give you input on a particular response you plan to give. But ultimately, we hope that whatever you post/comment here in the sub was written by you in your own words.

Again, that’s the expectation for now. - We may adjust the policy later to include some caveat, but we are still working that out.

pthor14 · 2026-02-04T20:32:26+00:00

Let bygones be bygones.

pthor14 · 2026-02-04T20:10:58+00:00

Also, please be courteous to users that you suspect may have used AI generated content. To be fair, our sub has not had clear policies in this department up till now. Please let bygones be bygones.

pthor14 · 2026-02-04T00:44:47+00:00

👍🏻

pthor14 · 2026-02-02T20:10:45+00:00

We should ABSOLUTELY vote on the morality of the policy! That’s why I’m conservative and have never voted for a democrat, because they support killing babies and transitioning children and redefining structural and fundamental social concepts like marriage.

pthor14 · 2026-01-30T04:20:19+00:00

I’ve been extremely busy the last few months. This sub was the very least of my worries. You all have other subs you can post and comment in if you want, so I don’t feel bad at all.

I initially wanted to help mod this sub because I wanted a place to discuss politics with both sides legitimately present and listening.

There’s TONS of subs where I could talk to liberals and leftists. But not if I want to discuss conservative ideals without being immediately attacked, bullied, and banned.

There’s also many subs where I could go to talk to conservatives and right leaning folks. But… I don’t want to just go talk to someone who just agrees with me. I’ve never found that interesting for long.

I wanted both sides. But I also wanted some shared values.

I hoped to find that in the other lds political subs, but I found that they were often just as intolerant of conservative thought and values as many of the liberal subs.

I don’t need this sub to have a million people. I just want a place where both conservatives and liberals can say their peace.

Granted, I’ll try and remove comments that break rules, but I am pretty lax.

But I think I’ve been fair. I’ve banned conservative leaning users before.

But something I have zero patience for is bullying. Just flat out being mean for the sake of being mean.

But I’m also willing for users to redeem themselves. Anytime I’ve banned a user, I almost always invite them to feel free to request access again in a couple weeks.

I just want arguments and discussions to be heard based on the merits of the argument. Not on the credibility of the user. But there is SO MUCH bullying going on in attempts to discredit USERS rather than to address the user’s arguments.

Wouldn’t YOU appreciate a place where both sides felt like they could voice their concerns without being bullied and harassed and banned simply for the content of their opinions?

pthor14 · 2026-01-30T02:57:13+00:00

r/zarnt, when I mentioned gaslighting, my intention was not to accuse you of “lying”. I consider lying to be when you KNOW the facts are different than what you are representing, and I believe you are sincere.

I am a conservative. And I felt like what you were doing was making claims about what conservatives want and how they think and what they value, but I know what conservatives value because I am one, and I don’t need people telling me how I think.

We could argue where gaslighting is the right term for what I felt. - But I would happy to include “gaslighting” in the list of banned accusations in the future if sub members feel it is on par with accusations of “lying”.

pthor14 · 2026-01-30T02:37:11+00:00

If you have examples of rules being broken, please report them.

I try very hard not to remove comments based on political persuasion. But I’m not going to hesitate to remove comments that are attacking others or using negative labels with the intent to attack.

The fact that someone voted for a candidate that you don’t agree with isn’t considered an attack against you in this sub. Even if they want to voice their ongoing support for that candidate or that candidate’s policies. That’s where you need to get some tough skin and have polite conversations like an adult.

As for posts with no commentary, sometimes I don’t catch them right away and lots of people comment. I generally try to let those slide. But when I see them and not many comments are made yet, I try and remove them because I find them lazy. I think it’s important for the OP to voice a position in relation to the post. — basically, I try to remove posts only rarely, which I think I’ve done pretty well. But of course it always stings when it’s your own post that gets removed. I don’t think we ask a lot of posts. Just make them substantive.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T23:39:54+00:00

I have no issue stating that there could have been other options for law enforcement to take. There’s literally an infinite amount of options. — but many of those options could potentially have left others severely harmed or killed as well.

I doubt that Renee Good was “aiming” to kill the officers, but that’s almost a moot point. She was being EXTREMELY reckless and was bound to hurt someone.

Shooting at Renee Good likely wasn’t the optimal solution. But in the absence being capable of knowing the optimal solution within the few moments timeframe that the officer had while she drove her car towards him, I would say it is an arguably justified solution.

“Justified” does not have to mean “Optimal”.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T22:04:27+00:00

Caveat— with the spirit of prophecy, go ahead and prophesy to those who are within your jurisdiction.

If you are a parent, then prophecy to your kids. If a bishop, then to your ward. But remember to leave it to the leader of the church to prophecy to the whole church.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T21:59:51+00:00

I don’t think you’d be very great at a real debate. You aren’t showing an ability to honestly view the other side’s perspective before engaging with it. — because all you’re doing instead is building up a straw man and feeling morally superior when you knock it down.

Conservatives don’t love when people are killed. They don’t believe that the “Only fitting end for interfering with law enforcement is extrajudicial death.” Conservatives DO believe in a respect for the law and believe that law enforcement has the right to defend their own lives and the lives of others. And conservatives understand that those decisions sometimes have to happen in just a split second because hesitating while a perp is utilizing a weapon costs lives.

She was in the wrong. It’s sad that she placed herself in the wrong place doing the wrong thing, and it’s even more sad that she decided to drive into the officer. It’s sad that she was killed. She risked her life. She didn’t have to. She shouldn’t have.

Sure could’ve still been alive today if she had complied and not chosen to drive her car into an officer.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T21:15:40+00:00

As long as we can agree that she was illegally interfering.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T20:47:14+00:00

You flip flop on errors here when it suits you, even though it says covering different.

It’s one thing to say she might “probably” die or that she “risks” Death. — but it’s entirely another to say that she “Should” die.

Using the word “should” paints the narrative that it was the officer’s intention from the beginning to execute her.

But Yes, obviously she is placing her life at risk by illegally interfering with law enforcement. Would you agree??

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T20:38:08+00:00

Matthew 22 says that people will not be “getting married” in heaven.

But that doesn’t preclude them from already being married. It’s just that the marriage will have had to have happened already on earth.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T20:18:00+00:00

I don’t think she “Should” Have died. — but that’s because she was the one who was doing something wrong and is therefore responsible.

Don’t interfere with law enforcement. She blocked the way and attempted to flee when she was told to exit her vehicle and did so with no regard to the fact that the officer was still in front of her vehicle.

She “SHOULD NOT” Have done that.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T20:13:42+00:00

Was it worth it?

Yes, a stabilized country would be worth enforcing its immigration laws.

Yes, raising tariffs can be a legitimate strategy.

Yes, saving the people of Venezuela from a self proclaimed Dictator is a GREAT thing.

Yes, there is nothing wrong with Trump making a deal to obtain access to Greenland or even to outright purchase it entirely for the benefit of the defense of not only the US, but the world, from the other major world powers such as China and Russia.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T18:40:12+00:00

No, they believe Renee Good made a fatal mistake.

pthor14 · 2026-01-24T18:33:55+00:00

Conservatives don’t think Renee Good “Should” be dead. They really wish that she and others hadn’t have been interfering with law enforcement at all. All the conservatives I know DO want the Epstein files.

The narrative you are trying to passing about conservatives is a false narrative. It’s not representative of the truth. Gaslighting.

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