In my opinion this might be one reason why FReepathons last so long. It's impossible to get new members when they are treated like dirt for having an opinion. Old FReepers get disgusted and quit or get banned for idological impurity. New ones don't stay because they are treated like crap for having a sign up date less than ten years old. Hell, half the stuff I believed ten years ago would get me banned now, but I learned from some good FReepers willing to teach me instead of treat me like dirt.
Well said. I understand the need for caution but too many potentially good Freepers are made to feel unwelcome. Ironically, we let the trolls win by being overly preoccupied with them. A certain paranoia has crept in.
Things have definitely changed here over the years. Used to be you'd come here and encounter a fairly wide spectrum of non-liberal opinions, but increasingly that spectrum has narrowed. It's gotten to the point where i feel i have to go outside of FR more often than i used to in order to get a better sense of what the average non-liberal person is thinking.