"I think you're confusing the word forum with the word thread. We are in the GOTD forums here but the various topics we take part in are threads."
BK, GOTD Forums is comprised of more than one forum:
General discussion
Technical problems
Software Talks
....
Talks
Each of those forums has topic threads on them. For example, General discussion currently has threads of such topics as the one we are currently talking on - Forum Chat. It also has the now-closed The Thread Hijacking Thread... on it.
It was on the Talks forum (http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/forum/9) I was proposing we do our chit-chatting on. Now, I will admit to a moment of insanity where I just deleted my defense of having religious and political threads on the Talks forum. After I had typed it all up, just to be sure of things I went to BuBBy's Forum Rules page, where I read this:
"The forum rules - brief and to the point.
There is an expectation of courteous and friendly behavior and language from all users in these forums.
Users of all ages, walks of life, cultural backgrounds and computing skills visit and contribute in these forums. Not all users have english as a first language.
We exist to discuss software, share tips and help one another.
Discussion and comments on Politics, Religion, or other topics that result in tears and yelling don't belong here. There are other websites that want to hear your political or religious views.
These rules may evolve over time - but the general feel and purpose will remain the same. Any comments on these - feel free to PM me."
Therefore, (says Sue) I will take this moment to regain my mental faculties, aka sanity, and say I think including religion and politics on this site's forums would end up a disaster. I belong to a cross stitch MB, where all kinds of OT subjects are allowed, and believe me, *anything* can turn nasty on even the most innocent of them. I would NOT want to moderate those types of threads. I have learned, in fact, to stay out of them, rather than risk adding my own flamage to the flames already going on in them...lol.