Twilight Sparkle invites you to her Soapbox!

[Sir Hugsalot 8,621]

(source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2254167 )

Greetings, everypony!

Today I bring a new, club-related announcement. I received a message from Twilight Sparkle herself and she has an invitation to those of you, who wish to discuss matters most delicate, ideological or otherwise intellectual. 

From her cooperation with our own Killjoy, Destroyer Of All That's Fun and Happy, Master and Teacher of the "Math Blight" @Cash In, @Simon, the Unfair came a brand new, private club. A club with a humble name. The name being...

Twilight's Soapbox

The purpose of the club is simple. This is a new place, where all sensitive matters related to worldwide events or advanced, intellectual discussions shall take place. Club's contents shall be availible only upon request and each person requesting membership is expected to first read the rules they are obliged to follow when within it.

The rules for membership in Twilight's Soapbox are the following:

Spoiler

1) As always, all forum rules continue to apply in this section with the only exception being that you are (of course) permitted to discuss the more serious subjects that are not otherwise permitted to be discussed / debated on MLP Forums like politics.

2) No NSFW content or discussion is permitted - no exceptions. This is still a 13+ group.

3) Be respectful of one another's differences and opinions. This is a place to share your beliefs and opinions, to understand beliefs and opinions of others, and to discuss why your opinions are different from those of other people in the club. This group is not about whether a belief is right or wrong, it is about sharing with, understanding, and learning from those you disagree with. 

4) No personal attacks whatsoever. The only discussion which belongs in this club is the discussion of ideas. There will be zero tolerance of attacks against people, whether they are your fellow forum members or a notable world figure. You may discuss things like why a notable figure's beliefs are something you agree with, whether you would vote for a certain politician, and what harm you think the actions taken by a world figure are positive or negative; however, general attacks against a person or ad hominems are not permitted under any circumstances.

5) While we respect nearly all viewpoints here at Twilight's Soapbox, there is an absolute zero tolerance policy on hatred towards any group of people. This goes for anybody and everybody. Hate has no place here - even if the group that hate is directed at is guilty itself of violating this rule. Any threads or posts intended to attack a group or spread hate for a group will result in an immediate and generally permanent ban from Twilight's Soapbox.

6) Know when to step away. We all have limits of what we can handle. That's okay! Recognize when a subject is too personal or meaningful and is not something you can handle opposing viewpoints on.

7) Make meaningful posts. Twilight's Soapbox is for discussions. Simply stating you agree or disagree with someone is not a discussion. If you simply show that you agree with someone, toss them a brohoof or add to the discussion by sharing your own unique viewpoints on the subject. If you want to tell someone you disagree, reply with a meaningful and respectful post as to why you disagree.

8) Read! A meaningful discussion only happens when you actually read your fellow club-member's posts. Please be sure you are actually reading and understanding the posts made by other members before you post your own opinions.

9) Stay on topic. In order to keep threads civilized, please make sure you're limiting your discussion to the subject matter from the original post in that thread. While discussions may organically grow, posts which appear to be attempting to divert or change the subject will be removed.

10) All content and membership of Twilight's Soapbox is subject to the discretion of the club moderators. There's not always a rule for every situation and sometimes the staff has to use their discretion in deciding whether content will be beneficial to the overall goals of MLP Forums and Twilight's Soapbox. In other words, just understand that if the moderators feel that your thread or post will cause drama, we might remove it even if it does not clearly violate a written rule.

---

These rules are subject to change with time. If you disagree with the rules of this group, please contact a club moderator and request to be voluntarily removed from Twilight's Soapbox.

Opening this club is an act of trust from MLP Forums staff. Don't mistake my light hearted tone for permission to cause problems upon joining the club. Moderation there will be stern (Simon's about to really embrace "The Killjoy" in his title) and we expect behaviour there to be that of level-headed people, who really hope for an intellectual discussion.

Spoiler

Look at Simon here. This is who will go after you, should you not behave. Do you think you can handle it? Do you think you can escape his wrath? 

Please be aware that this club is the only place, where discussion about sensitive topics of political, ideological and religious kind is permitted. We do not permit discussing such topics anywhere outside Twilight's Soapbox club, within our forums. Attempts to do so shall be subject to moderation and possible warnings or, in severe cases, bans from the community.

You probably noticed disappearance of names like "Tartarus" or "Pit". We expect, that upon removing such unpleasant names gone will also be the behaviour that led us to closing the Debate Pit. This is a chance for all the members who take interest in more difficult topics to discuss them. Let's not waste that chance by turning Twilight's Soapbox into a mess, shall we? I may be merciful, but trust me, Simon won't be

If members will continously cause problems due to existence and discussions occuring in the Soapbox, MLP Forums staff may permanently lock it. Should such a thing happen, there won't be further discussions about opening similar sections on the forums.

 

https://mlpforums.com/clubs/45-twilights-soapbox/

[Reiki Knight 13 1,461]

To whom do I have to communicate with to join the club? I have read the rules, and Pg-13 level is fine for me. 

As far as keeping mature about any given subject I can do that as there is probably no odd  belief on earth I have no heard discussed before.

So yeah,  I'm cool as ice homefry. 

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Earth Prince StarHeart
Fixed spells and spacing errors

[Simon 4,554]

55 minutes ago, Earth Prince StarHeart said:

To whom do I have to communicate with to join the club? I have read the rules, and Pg-13 level is fine for me. 

As far as keeping mature about any given subject I can do that as there is probably no odd  belief on earth I have no heard discussed before.

So yeah,  I'm cool as ice homefry. 

 

There's more information on the actual club page here: https://mlpforums.com/clubs/45-twilights-soapbox/ including a page on how to join, but to put it briefly - just submit a request to join on the club page and we'll review the request.

[Shiny Silvermoon 2,998]

This is the kind of club that I must avoid if I don't want to make half of Equestria angry after me! 

[Iforgotmybrain 3,517]

Should be nice for people who wanna talk about more controversial stuff. I don't think I'll be participating though, I get enough debate brain rot from Twitter as is lol.

[Trot Shuffle 3,599]

I wish Twilight Sparkle all the best in her soap business 

 

but seriously....

Taking a breather is definitely a great rule and reminder! You don't have to respond straight away, so take a step back, compose yourself, and ensure what you wish to say is proper. I recommend reading it from the angle of the person or people you are responding to, just to make sure the correct tone and message is coming across. Wording, punctuation and the likes might need to be changed to give your words more or less weight, depending on the context. Again, it doesn't need an immediate response. It just needs to be civil. 

 

[Evil Pink One 13,000]

Whats this?

A place.... for mwah?

I have read the rules.... and i shall make sure that i will find loop holes for you to fix muhahahaha

That is helpfull in a way no?

Trollish but still helpfull yes?

No? Maybe?

Edited September 27, 2023 by StrawberryMilk Simp

[Treeglow Flicker 13,035]

May those who venture within keep level heads and not be banished to the waters of the Stream of Silence.

Also, I would like to trade in my invitation for a free Hayburger and fries.

[North Star 4,540]

yay get to see ponies debating stuff again :3

[Simon 4,554]

Time for a friendly neighborhood modpost:

This thread is to discuss the new Twilight’s Soapbox club. This thread is not the place to actually discuss controversial subjects and it is not the place for off-topic discussion including discussion of other clubs.

There are separate announcements for clubs in general if you want to discuss other clubs and there are plenty of places for random off-topic banter.
Please keep this thread on topic. 

[North Star 4,540]

to the members of this soap themed club, I propose that this comic be seen and praised. Furthermore, I propose that the phrase "Oh Butterbeans" be recognised for its cute and adopted as club slogan.

(by lost marbles)

[Verdant Shy 949]

I will try to be no toxic and respectful and understand different perspectives as much as possible, but I usually end up saying stupid stuff and using stupid arguments and uneducated nonsense and sometimes I trust wrong people, I hate Twitter lol.

23 hours ago, North Star said:

to the members of this soap themed club, I propose that this comic be seen and praised. Furthermore, I propose that the phrase "Oh Butterbeans" be recognised for its cute and adopted as club slogan.

(by lost marbles)

This

[SparklingSwirls 21,261]

My debating days on the forums are long gone but I'm glad to see another attempt for those interested, hope it goes smoothly!

[DubWolf 16,621]

31 minutes ago, SparklingSwirls said:

My debating days on the forums are long gone but I'm glad to see another attempt for those interested, hope it goes smoothly!

I don’t recall you were there very often  .

 

 

Jk I dunno  .

[Twilight Dirac 720]

How does one go about joining this club?  I attempted to join the club through the "Clubs" tab but I have been stuck in "pending" for over a month now.

 

Thanks for the assistance.