As many of you have already seen, yesterday the Fire Society staff made the hard decision to ban some of the members of the community.

This move was not made to silence anyone, it was done in order to bring peace back to Fire Society, so that as a community we can make progress in fulfilling our original goals.

I've had multiple posts about “Tone” on the site, and even sent out several newsletters on the subject as well, asking the members to think before posting, realizing that text does not communicate the body language and tone of voice that tends to solidify how things are meant to be taken.

Unfortunately a small few of our members did not understand this, they continued to attack anyone who thought differently than them. They attacked the hard working volunteer moderators of the site, and reveled in baiting them to response.

We asked them to be civil, and were greeted with only extreme views and statements.

After the bans yesterday I received my share of email from them and others, most of it supportive of the hard work the staff of Fire Society does, and some from those who were banned.

Unfortunately the email I received was not the well thought-out petitions I would expect from someone making an effort to get there position restored in Fire Society. They once again went to the extreme.

“I guess the supporters of preemptive nuclear strikes on countries with no standing armies or air force are more than welcomed to have their say. I guess people who enjoy being the chattel of bankers (federal reserve, IRS) and working for them for three months out of the year like a bunch of educated serfs can be there all day and night declaring their love for big brother and being micro-chipped like mischievous puppies. “

As we stated in the ban announcement, all views are accepted and allowed on Fire Society. The difference is that those banned went too far, name-calling, baiting others on the site to respond in kind, then trying to get those individuals removed for 'trolling.'

We need a community based on respect, and they only 'respected' those that agreed with them. The moderators have differing views. We don't all agree on the same issues, however we all have respect for each other, and we've debated in the moderator forums about these issues without the name-calling, biting, attacks that I've seen from those banned.

One of the moderators recently came out in favor of some of Guiliani's ideas and views. She had not said she was voting for him, just that she liked "some of his views." She was immediately attacked for being a "card carrying CFR, Neocon." This kind of rhetoric will not be tollerated.

Now that the bans have been issued and those causing the most trouble have been removed, I can only hope that as a community we start progressing forward towards a better Fire Society, and a better America.

Let's band together and start affecting real change.

Sean Ivy
Fire Society Editor