Am I the only member of the forum who holds the substance of what you're saying to be more important than the tone?
It's belittling to tell Mike Portnoy that he needs to censor information for himself or that he should live his life in a less proud manner, regardless of how you phrase it. And that's not because I disagree with it. And in fact, even though it's belittling, I would have NO problem with that being allowed on the forum. I'm only pointing out that according to the forum rules, it really isn't allowed because they do NOT say that criticism has to be constructive; they say that it must NOT be belittling (which I find most constructive criticism in a scenario like this to be).
And if you don't believe me- In fact, look back just a few posts at how I first contributed to this argument, and I was supporting someone I thoroughly disagreed with substantively.
That's because I would rather have a discussion with group of stable and proud people even with points that I disagree with, than have one with a load of wimps who are afraid to say what they mean because they'd rather patronize the person who is our subject matter.
I'm not even claiming to be the most eloquent speaker, but I will tell you for a fact that I am NOT disrespecting anyone, nor am I unconditionally loving anyone. Truth is, I've said very negative things about Mike Portnoy plenty of times on this forum, you're just choosing not to see it.
And yea
I'm gonna shut up about it now.
I changed my mind. Maybe this time.