Just an idea,
Some forums have an R&P section that are allowed via request only. You must abide by the rules of no name-calling, personal insults, etc. If not, you get the boot from that section, not the entire forum.
It stays surprisingly civil if threats of getting the boot are understood.
See
www.techreport.com forums for example. Their forums are moderated very much like these (and why I enjoy coming to both!) but their R&P forum is a great place to exchange ideas that normally fall into delete/locked categories. I don't go in there often since some folks on there are far smarter than I in politics and I just get wound up because I am dumb that way. I only go in R&P when it is a subject that I am interested in learning more about such as gun control. Amazing resource it is because like-minded people can bring a lot of far-reaching information to the table to digest.
The arguments for the most part stay low-key, sometimes not, but for the most part, nothing like the comments at the end of new articles.
Asbestos suit required!
It also makes a great location to move threads that sometimes fall into R&P land to let discussions continue, but in a room with wall padding and flame retardant.
And no, I was not around for the first forum. To be frank this site is hard to find unless you have a leaky pond, otherwise I would have been here long ago.
