See the movie Conclave.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Have been avoiding this thread, but will make a few short comments. For starters, you've been a member here long enough to know that DVinfo doesn't allow political discussions and I think a thread about religion creates some of the same types of problems. DIscussing controversy about Donald Trump is clearly politics though.

Although I'm still listed as a "wrangler", I don't have any moderator capabilities anymore and it seems like there's very little moderation of the forum now, which is fine because there are so few posts these days.

Anyway, I respect your beliefs and am happy that you find this topic so fascinating. I'm a big supporter of freedom of religion, but the flip slide of that is the freedom *not* to be religious. Color me that way, I'm just not interested in anything about the Pope. Too bad that the old one died and best wishes to the new one, but I'm tired of seeing the non-stop coverage on the news. "It is what it is" however, and obviously there are many people around the world who are interested. So, enjoy the discussion.

But I have to push back a little on being admonished to "see the movie Clonclave". I'm not going to see it, I know what it's about and I'm not interested. I could probably suggest some movies that you wouldn't want to see as well.

I'll just leave it there because I don't want to argue about something as personal as religion. I will say however, in spite of my lack of religious beliefs, that photo of Donald Trump still offends me. And that's as far down the politics road as I will go....

[Allan Black]

Hi Boyd, I appreciate your reply. When I first posted the title it was to alert forum members that this was an absolute masterpiece in movie making regardless of the subject, and to start a discussion on its finer points.

Since then the death of the reigning Pope has drawn more readers attention to my thread maybe because unfortunately, there’s not much else happening on the forum.

Yes people who are not interested in the daily happenings in the actual Conclave wouldn’t follow this thread but this was in our news bulletins around the clock, so it seemed obvious to keep up with it here.

I had no intention of posting the Donald Trump cartoon to start any political discussion whatsoever, but from some devout Catholic friends in San Francisco, they emailed me to say this was total sacrilege, the final nail in the Presidents coffin and will slowly fester and blow up in a big way. I’m not Catholic but hence my comments with his cartoon.

[Andrew Smith]

I'm not a Cat-a-holic myself and ordinarily wouldn't give a second thought to what the pope is or isn't doing, but I do enjoy a good meme from time to time. Especially the ones that I posted. The thread may have technically strayed from the guidelines in the last few posts, but it was still a healthy one.

Come to think of it, I don't know that I have even read the rules since joining in 2009. Couldn't recite them to save myself.

Andrew

[Chris Hurd]

Howdy Boyd,

It's great to hear from you. As always, I sure appreciate your input.

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

I don't have any moderator capabilities anymore and it seems like there's very little moderation of the forum now, which is fine because there are so few posts these days.

Indeed. Currently I'm the only bad guy.

These days I try to do my level best at not interfering with the posts that our members make. Instead I focus on keeping out the spam. Hopefully (if I'm doing a good job) it's not too obvious, but the number of bot registrations and attempted spam attacks has only increased over the years. It's never gone down.

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

I'm a big supporter of freedom of religion, but the flip slide of that is the freedom *not* to be religious.

A lifetime ago when I was in school, a very wise civics professor explained to our class that the First Amendment protections of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom *of* religion... but not freedom *from* religion. I always thought that was a very interesting take. But that's as far as I'll go here with that notion.

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

I will say however... that photo... still offends me.

I have removed it. Hopefully Allan will understand.

[Chris Hurd]

Howdy Andrew,

Originally Posted by Andrew Smith

I don't know that I have even read the rules since joining in 2009. Couldn't recite them to save myself.

Shall we say it's somewhat nuanced. The rules I had posted created a bit of a problem when they were addressed with zeal by some, ignored by others and turned around on me by a few. Since then I've simply gone the route of "you don't talk about Fight Club" and the hedges are simply pruned quietly.

For the most part it's just common sense and basic civility. Verboten subjects are politics, sex and religion. Allan's original topic is a movie. I love talking about movies. Not only is that fair game here; I wholeheartedly encourage it as well.

We could discuss the 1962 John Frankenheimer film "The Manchurian Candidate" compared its 2008 remake. That would be another topic about movies. It passes through the filter of politics. We could approach Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" from the standpoint of filmmaking. That's fair game.

Perhaps it's easier to say what is allowed rather than what isn't: the purpose of this forum is to discuss visual media and all aspects of its production, post-production and distribution. There are certain meta-discussion areas like this one -- Awake In The Dark -- and others, like Show Your Work, where we talk about the final product, or the Neighborhood forum where we talk about ourselves and each other. If it doesn't fall into the realm of visual media or its peripheral areas then it probably doesn't belong here.

That's when I remove something from public view (which is not the same thing as deleting, but that's another story). The image I withdrew from Allan's post above is the first time in a long while that I've had to anything like that.

Does this help? I hope so.

[Andrew Smith]

I was almost going to mention the 'common sense rules' in my last post but that would have required more typing.

Hey, it's just so good to see you here in the forums again. So good to have you back.

Andrew

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Instead I focus on keeping out the spam. Hopefully (if I'm doing a good job) it's not too obvious, but the number of bot registrations and attempted spam attacks has only increased over the years. It's never gone down..

Hey Chris - really great to hear from you! I'm a moderator at MacRumors now and with over a million members and 10,000+ posts a day, there's never a dull moment! Constantly tweaking our spam filters, but some still get through and every now and then we have a literal flood to deal with.

Also a mod at a small local forum where the spammers rarely get through our (very aggressive) filters. Then, I'm the only mod at gpsfiledepot. Smartphones have pretty much wiped out dedicated GPS units and almost all new posts are from spammers. That can get frustrating, but not really a problem.

Anyway, you're doing a great job here - haven't seen any spam at DVinfo for years!

[Chris Hurd]

Howdy Boyd,

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

I'm a moderator at MacRumors

Well done! I've met Arnold; he's a great guy. He and I are members of a small group of fellow forum owners.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Cool! Have never met him myself but he is a bit of a legend. Coming up on my 6th anniversary as a moderator there next month.

[Allan Black]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

I have removed it. Hopefully Allan will understand.

Hi Chris. No I’m not upset with you removing the Trump Pope cartoon, most everyone has seen it elsewhere.

But as I said I’m not religious but after the 2 Conclaves, it does make you think.

A few years ago on a cruise from Doha up the Suez Canal we stopped for a day at Ashdod in Israel. For the day excursion from the ship, we had 3 choices, the Golan Heights, the Dead Sea or Jerusalem. My wife and I figured the Golan Heights might be too dangerous and as much as I wanted to lie on my back and float on the salt in the Dead Sea, we chose Jerusalem.

Along with about 30 other passengers we left after early ships breakfast for a coach trip of 2hrs to get to the ancient city. There we had a guide walking around the sights with his commentary guiding us along. For lunch we were booked into the Hilton Hotel dining room and I remember the head waiter wouldn’t pass the menus around, till we could all point out the direction to the bomb shelters.

After lunch we saw the wailing wall, and the room where the Last Supper supposedly took place, click the photo. It was very moving and during the late afternoon return trip in the coach to the ship everyone was quiet.

I have 5 grandchildren and I wonder if the youngest ones will ever find out, what’s out there, I mean way way out, just keep going. We can’t be the only ones, and maybe one day curious young Sam will find out. Yes the Conclave movie does make you think.