I dunno. I think there may be too much effort spent trying to control what people say here, and how they say it. If somebody uses Islam as an example, why question that? If you think something else should be used as an example, use it - but don't try to suppress what somebody else has used.

If somebody goes a bit off track in a thread, so what? In general, we have expected people at Mudcat to have one and only one active thread on any given subject, and we combine threads if they are too similar - but that means that threads should be broad enough that people can say what they want to say without somebody telling them they're not on topic. In this thread, certain people have wasted a lot of energy telling other people they're off topic - well, at Mudcat, the tradition is that threads are very broad so that people can say what they want to say. In the Outer Banks thread, an unnamed Guest questioned my posting a description of my impression of the Outer Banks, instead of sticking to discussion of the hurricane. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine what rule I broke...

So, yeah, Mudcatters are getting older - although I'd guess the median age is 60-65, not 70. And yes, that may have some effect on how Mudcat develops. And yeah, Mudcatters generally seem to like traditional or traditional-style songs over singer-songwriter stuff. And yeah, some Mudcatters can get completely anal about the 1954 definition about folk music. But what the heck? If people can talk without putting each other down, that would be a wonderful thing - and that's the only thing I think we should be working toward: free, friendly, nondestructive discussion of anything and everything.

-Joe-