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Originally Posted by drac2k
After much deliberation, I feel compelled to write this thread ; I do so because of my great respect for this forum.
I wish to state that I am not trying to embarrass anyone(other than myself),especially the moderators, who do a thankless job very well, however in the case of Vandoo's post on bullfighting weapons,I feel they made a mistake by ending it.
I believe very strongly that the stoppage of Vandoo's very informative thread, based on complaints from several forum members about animal cruelty was extremely hypocritical on their part.We discuss weapons that fillet, flay, slice, dice, slash, cut, mince, smash, bash, crush, execute, impale, and shot humans ; can we not elaborate on the historical aspects of this practice with a bull?Will we be banned from postings of shields made from animal hides, daggers with handles of bone, ivory, or horn, sheaths made of leather or lizard skin and so on?This is a dangerous precedent that you embark on and as such, could destroy the forum.
Next,can we discounted a practice that dates back at least 4000 years by the Minoans and other ancient cultures and still exercised in Spanish, Portuguese, Central and South America countries and as I have recently learned, thanks to this post in some Middle Eastern places as well.We may not like the "sport," but do we have the audacity to tell millions of people that they are wrong and we are right ?
Finally,if there are those who find a certain thread objectionable, please do what I do ;don't open it and don't read it, but I would not want other's freedoms to read it curtailed, based upon my opinions!
In conclusion, I have only written the above based on the demands of my conscience and the respect for the members of this forum.
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Drac2,
I very much appreciate your well written and well thought out appeal here, and very much understand your concerns. While these matters are best handled privately and directly posed to the moderators, I would like to note that there has been considerable dialogue on this thread and the topic of bullfighting among staff as well as certainly with you guys.
In the many years here, this very topic has been brought up before, and unfortunately resulted in like circumstances, as it seems too many members cannot set aside the rather understandable emotive reactions. This was the reason I wanted to express my concerns on the original thread in hopes of keeping to the subject of the weapons alone, and to leave the rest of the obvious controversy on the bullfighting issues out of discussion.
This is a discussion forum, and we have fantastic dialogue that reveals a great deal on weapons and the cultural and historical aspects. I must admit that my lifelong passion for the study of weapons history, I have always rather turned a blind eye to their inherent purpose and focused on their character as far as decoration, markings, style etc. They are to me material culture, and seen as that alone, without augmentation as purposed for death, battle and such.
In our pages, I think of course that we should have the latitude to use good judgement in presenting arms which we have interest in and wish to learn more about . I have an interest in these very bullfight swords as I have long studied Spanish swords, and these happen to be one of the more esoteric groups in the spectrum. Actually, these very swords are found in various reference books among other weapons, and have even come into consideration in certain studies of swords evaluated in further design issues for military use, a most surprising and unusual case.
With that very perspective in mind, I think that if the discussion would remain objective and focused, on historical aspects of the swords and/or knives and examples as applicable, leaving out graphic and dramatic analysis of their use.....we might have grounds for continuing the discussion.
I have seen this very topic on these swords attempted in discussion on other forums over the years, with the same resultant disruptive oratories and heated debates ending in arguments and regrettable ends .
I think our membership and readers can handle this topic objectively, staying to the weapons alone, avoiding the other issues surrounding their actual use. I think the comments here reveal that character among you, that unpleasant aspects that one finds disturbing can simply be avoided.
I very much applaud and respect the solidarity and respect among all of us.
Having said that, I would ask that any issues such as this needing attention and concerning moderator action or forum business be channeled privately in the future.
Thank you guys!
Jim
PS David we crossed posts