Wow...I've been away the past few days. Alot has developed here since then!
I read the new rules and have to say that I agree with the others. I became a member here because of MNK and being able to express my thoughts, opinions, and frustrations as a CFer in a child crazed world. Now, I feel very censored....a little lost. What DO I post now? If we only talk about the nice things, then we have no discussions leading us to explore and understand how to deal with the negative aspect of being CF. I go all day every day censoring my feelings about this topic. I don't want to come here and also feel censored. I understand that Bella doesn't want the "hate" language and hostile environment and I agree that there needs to be a happy medium. However, we also need the freedom to respectfully vent our frustrations (without worry that we�ve broken a rule) in addition to discussing the positive aspects of the CF life. It is human nature to use stronger language when venting frustrations, so I�m sure that now, many of us feel that they can�t express themselves openly and honestly as they had before. At least I do.
This forum is certainly not hostile compared to others. I actually haven't joined most other forums because their atmosphere was too hate filled. I do not "hate" parents or children and do not fit with those other hostile environments. The people who have gathered here are intelligent and for the most part respectful. This forum was a safe place to learn about other CFers' experiences, connect with other CFers, vent when I am frustrated, cope with losing friends who become parents, etc. We are a great community of friends who support each other every day.
As for educating others by posting in the forum�I am not here to do that, but if others can be educated by what I post, great. Maybe someday parents will be more tolerate of CFers. Yet, my definition of being educated is learning about all of the facts. For others to truly be educated by reading our forum, they need to read posts about the positive aspects as well as the negative aspects (i.e. our rants). Otherwise, they only learn about one side of the coin. Others (parents, want to be parents) need to learn about how they make us feel � weird/strange for not wanting children and why. Many of our posts can show them that.
So, to make a long post a little shorter, I don�t think the answer is censoring us more than before. I think a PM from the moderator/co-moderator to alert the poster of their unacceptable language is a good idea. That way, we can learn from our own mistakes (in private) what exactly it is that Bella considers unacceptable language.
