As of now, I am banning any references on our Boards to Personal Messages. If any of you ever sees a reference to a Personal Message in a post, even if benign, please let me know and I will delete it. I have no control at all over the quality of interactions that occur off the Boards and am not willing to continue to have to deal with the repercussions here. I don't like the feature and never have because there are those who misuse it on a regular basis. Somehow I am held responsible most of the time because it's part of my site. Members have used it to bash each other and me and to start wars. It was intended to foster friendships beyond WWU by allowing people to exchange personal information like email addresses and to share confidences, not backstabbing.
If you don't like a Personal Message, IGNORE IT! The person will stop if you don't respond. An argument takes two. Consider it SPAM. You don't respond to that, do you? Do not...I repeat...do not report it to me via Personal Message or on WWU via a post.
I monitor my board as you all know and you are responsible for reading and agreeing to the Modified Agreement on the Home Page under Read Me First. If you don't find it to your liking, it's not up for discussion. Move on. It's my board and it takes me several hours every day to manage. It cost an arm and a leg to build and another arm and a leg to maintain (donated by my son, Kirk.) It was created for adults; to support each other, to be heard and understood, often to reach a better understanding by sharing and it has brought amazing healing to those who were ready. I have literally hundreds of testimonies to that effect.
Disagreement is natural and necessary. We can learn a lot by listening to other views. Controversy can be done with courtesy and respect. I have, however, zero tolerance for rude and crude and I am the one who defines what fits that description. We can vent here but not attack. There's a huge difference.
Anyone can build, monitor and maintain a Web-forum. If you don't like what you find here, have at it.