I will avoid a specific subject in order to make the moderators' lives a little easier and mean this as a sincere topic.

How does a group like this manage to avoid slipping into a state of "lowest common denominatorism"? I know that it can be argued that this is about PD but it is obvious that we talk about everything that affects us as well. And I am sure that it is not just us since the same problem would surface in any forum. I don't think we want to slip into the "Ask the Doctor" mold or the "Pity Party" one but for the life of me I don't see how to maintain community without disagreement.

Given the way vBulletin operates this place is kind of like a big house with a lot of rooms and so should have a place for everybody. But the rooms have no doors so people wander down the hall, stick their head in, and get upset.

Does anyone know of how this has been successfully handled anywhere else? Or is the choice between a cruel barbarity where people's feelings get hurt regularly and a bland world where no one engages?

OK, one idea- Perhaps when a thread wanders into a taboo area the moderator could flag it as "closed" rather than "locked". Anyone wishing to enter a "closed" thread would have to PM the moderator and know that controversy lay ahead. Best I can do, but it surely isn't just us.