Should Gransnet be used as a political platform?

Apologies; I thought overtly and 'too' were similar words. Also having a bad brain day.

Thanks Jingl. I looked at the link and the poster does seem to assume that only people opposed to the bombing should contact the MP. Not so, we all should whether for or against. This issue is too important not to make our voices heard.
The link to doing this is the best bit of the post and I have now written to my MP to make my views known to him.
Troubling times indeed. ?

Tegan OK

www.theyworkforyou.com/

You can write to your MP about anything you like using this link. You can also find out if they are representing you as you want them to.

It's called democracy.

You can read what your MP has asked, in both written and oral questions, and what the response has been.
You can write to your MP about the response if you do not think the question has been answered properly.

You can also donate to the site, as it is all charitable.

Anya , have you never noticed that politics is about stating opinions?
Sometimes those opinions are based on "accepted wisdom".
Unfortunately we are still, still, still waiting for Sir John Chilcot to report on his findings re the Iraq war.
I think the majority of people of all political persuasions now agree that Blair took us into Iraq without UN backing because he wanted to maintain "the special relationship" with the American president Bush, who had, declared a "war on terror" a couple of years previously and decided that Saddam was the living embodiment of that "terror". Happy to discuss any alternative theories but I don't think they abound.

Jingles
1. Writetothem.com is not a petition. It is a useful way of writing to your MP, whatever you want to say.
2. Nothing wrong with petitions, or controversial threads, as long as they are legal and stay within GN guidelines.
It's a public space and rules that apply to public spaces apply. If you don't like a thread then there are plenty of others to choose from.
It does not seem to me to be such a tricky ethical issue that you have to start a thread about a thread? To some extent preferable, I'll grant you, to derailing threads by picking on some irrelevant detail and worrying away like a dog trying to kill a stuffed toy.
But on the other hand if you want to pick a fight with me... well by starting a different thread I might have missed it and that would be a pity.
If you think I, or anyone, is transgressing GN guidelines then report the post.

Petition or not, the way you posted definitely encouraged only posters agreeing with your anti-bombing viewpoint to use the link.

I'm sorry, but this vote is just too important to allow you to get away with this unchallenged.

I should have posted under Site Stuff. Then we might have had the usual wishy-washy comment a point of view from GNHQ.

It would seem that only you are confused about all this jingle. Have a nice weekend.

It does seem that many here disagree with you though. Even if they do not agree with the OP re not bombing- all seem to agree that she has the right to post, express her opinion and ask others to petition your MP - even if they disagree with her about not bombing. We are all grown ups and quite able to decide what to do with her request- agree, ignore or counter.

And in that I totally agree with whitewave re:

If you think about it jing trying to limit thought and political persuasion is exactly what IS is doing.

Where I live, most important decisions have to have a popular vote open to all in the form of a referendum- now that is true democracy (even if that even has its problems... but this for another thread perhaps)- if you have a political system where MPs are elected (and Lords that are NOT)... then it is paramount that you have the right to tell them how you want to be represented, surely.

Especially if your MP wasn't voted for you and are therefore not necessarily representing your views.

If you disagree with OP's line of discussion, what's to stop you using the link to write to your MP to tell him/her your opinion?

"It does seem that many here disagree with you though"

I've counted eight posters that disagree.

mcem missing the point.

Yes, mcem, we should use this link and thank you Jess for introducing me to it.

Not missing the point at all. Simply disagreeing that it's an inappropriate post.

It is quite easy to email your MP without going through that link

And you should get a personal response if you do that.

If anyone doesn't have that direct link, this is an easy and non-partisan way to make contact by email and virtually guarantees a reply.

Thank you for giving a link to the post jingls as I was also wondering which one you meant.
I am another who does not agree with you that there is something objectionable about that post.
Much of what we read and hear as news is only opinion and we always have to make up our own minds whether we believe it and what we want to do about it. That OP was no different.
The thread continues with many other people giving their views, as it should, and I see no problem with it at all.

Really Jess? That's the best you can come up with?

I had to teach the difference between fact and opinion so that young people learned to question and discern. It's very common abuse of language in debate.

Oh come off it Jingle. I don't think any of us are that naive that we sign a petition just because its on GN. We can all make our own judgements.

If anyone on here wishes to promote one of these online campaigns why not. We don't have to read it, we don't have to sign it and we do not have to let anyone else know if we have signed.

I have been pleased that someone has brought some of these to my attention.

I use those links all the time, to write to my MP. I always get a personal reply. In fact my postman wants to know why I get so many letters from my MP.
I am going to write one tomorrow about teaching assistants.

www.theyworkforyou.com/

They work for you has a survey at the moment.
If you think it's not worth using or should not be used in this way, you can say so.
Of course, you might use it and think it's a brilliant site and will use it more often.

Again we have this claim that people on the "far left" are frightening off other posters.

What is there to be frightened of? All posters are anonymous. You might get your feathers ruffled but you won't get frogmarched out of your home and locked up in a secret prison.

As to the example given of JessM's post, it was quite obvious that she was expressing an opinion. I far prefer that approach to the approach of some posters who feign political neutrality when it is clear that they are anything but neutral.

So what if Jess or anyone else gives a link to a petition or informs people as to how they can easily contact their MP? If you don't agree with the petition or you don't wish to contact your MP you don't have to do so - but for some people these links and information are welcome.

What is "political neutrality", eloethan? Do you mean apathy? or open-mindedness about a particular topic because one doesn't feel knowledgeable enough about it to come down on one side of the debate or the other?

For example, I've come across several well-written articles (not on Gransnet as it happens) by people who can see both sides of the issue about bombing Syria, and who cannot decide whether they think it's a good idea or not.

I'd appreciate it if you would explain what you meant by the term "political neutrality".