Not a lot of love for the mods? I am (believe it or not) a mod on a (football) forum, the politics sub section is a nightmare, it takes up so much time trying to keep the peace and all the time, you just want to enjoy the forum yourself, but cannot.
I’ve been in this position as well, helping to administer a football forum. Dealing with political topics, religion, racism etc. is a complete and utter nightmare. It does not matter what stance the admins, not mods, take on the issue there is always a section of the forum membership who insist on their right to freedom of speech.
For years the forum I worked with tried to accommodate these members; it cost lost quality posters, numerous mods left and reduced the overall quality of the site.
After a final crackdown those who wanted these discussions left and set up their own site. Since then moderation has become a thing of the past, the tiny amount of non-football discussion is civilised and without insult and the members concentrate 99% of their time on football.
On an Internet forum there is no such thing as freedom of speech. There is a freedom to discuss in a civilised manner the areas the administration feel appropriate to the site. If people wish or need to have these political discussions I imagine there are plenty of other places to do so.
My only awareness of political debate on here is a vague notion of a sub forum one must opt in to. A sensible approach in my view. If however admin feel this no longer works and have taken action to resolve the issue for the overall benefit of the site and it’s membership the action has my complete support.
I come here to read about cycling, the abscence of political posts, and possibly those who make, them will have zero impact for me and I suspect the vast majority.
Shaun and the mods provide us with somewhere to learn, advise others and have fun - all for free. We should support and thank them for this.