Theravada for beginners

[Volo]

In the "Theravada for beginners" sub-forum all posts are premoderated, which slows down the discussion tremendously. After moderator approves my post, but I notice a typo and correct it, my post disappears again, and again I have to wait till the post is approved anew.

I find all this care to be utterly excessive. In the ocean of idiosyncratic interpretations of Buddhism which we find on this forum, it's even difficult to understand what are we trying to protect the newbies from. I think people create topics there simply not understanding how much they slow down the discussion of their questions. Did it ever happen that the post wasn't approved?

I suggest to remove premoderation in that sub-forum. What do you think?

[SDC]

I'll start another thread among the mods and admins. I've had mixed feelings over the years about that section. I think many newcomers who post in General Theravada get the same quality of responses, so it is hard to say how necessary it is. And, yes, with the myriad of interpretations out there, it is really impossible to have a standard criteria.

[SarathW]

I think you have to have a certain reputation to automatically approve the post.
I understand your frustration Volvo. I like your answers and they are very helpful.
However, as you are a newcomer the same rule applies to you.
I am not sure whether it is possible to overrule this restriction for the selected person.

[Kim OHara]

I'll start another thread among the mods and admins. I've had mixed feelings over the years about that section. I think many newcomers who post in General Theravada get the same quality of responses, so it is hard to say how necessary it is. And, yes, with the myriad of interpretations out there, it is really impossible to have a standard criteria.

The idea of the pre-moderation was always to filter out really bad or misleading replies, not to enforce a party line.
Bad replies include put-downs ("You're so dumb you don't even know this?"), oddball responses ("The Buddha taught this because on his home planet of Krypton he saw that neglecting it caused immense suffering."), non-Theravada responses ("Rebirth in the Pure Land is not taught in the Pali canon but is the ultimate aim of all practitioners.") and, less obviously, overly technical responses.
I think it's worth retaining.


Kim

[SDC]

I think you have to have a certain reputation to automatically approve the post.
I understand your frustration Volvo. I like your answers and they are very helpful.
However, as you are a newcomer the same rule applies to you.
I am not sure whether it is possible to overrule this restriction for the selected person.

Hi Sarath, just so everyone knows: no matter how good your reputation is, the post can still be disapproved.

[SDC]

The idea of the pre-moderation was always to filter out really bad or misleading replies, not to enforce a party line.
Bad replies include put-downs ("You're so dumb you don't even know this?"), oddball responses ("The Buddha taught this because on his home planet of Krypton he saw that neglecting it caused immense suffering."), non-Theravada responses ("Rebirth in the Pure Land is not taught in the Pali canon but is the ultimate aim of all practitioners.") and, less obviously, overly technical responses.
I think it's worth retaining.


Kim

Yes, but questions are rarely framed in the manner you suggest. Furthermore, if someone were to spout notions of Krypton or anything Mahayana anywhere aside from "Connections to...", it would be dealt with accordingly.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Volo,

Please keep in mind that you see only that which a moderator has allowed through.

Over the past few days I have disapproved or trimmed back posts which were...

- Personal opinions which are opposed to the suttas
- Vague "Zen master" style riddles
- Well-meaning posts that were Vajrayana in origin

IMO, the solution is to do what we do now... filter out non-Theravada responses (by which I mean anything that doesn't represent "a" Theravada perspective... no one is concerned with "definitive" responses), and move topics out of that section, if they don't necessitate such filtering (e.g. "What do you guys think about?...", more advanced questions, personal experience topics).

Theravada For Beginners isn't designed to be lightning, fluid conversation... It's intended to enable OPs to get responses they can place a degree of faith and trust in, not currently possessing the knowledge or frameworks to differentiate between that which ought to be understood, and that which ought to be set aside.

If "beginners" come back and tell us it's too slow, or in some way deficient, then that's another matter altogether...

Metta,
Paul.