Fred Bauder wrote:
We allow anyone, even anonymously, to edit any
article, but if a
serious question arises, would deny them an opportunity to air it
out here; doesn't make sense.
No one has suggested that the purpose of moderation would be to
prevent airing out "serious questions"? To the contrary, it seems
that the purpose is precisely to permit more discussion of serious
questions, by striving (with a light touch) to gently improve the
civility of debate.
The wiki way is partly the idea that we approach each other with good
will and the default assumption that even people who are in deep
opposition on a particular point share a common goal, which is
improvement of the wikipedia.
I can see how light moderation can help to defuse some of the flames
that lead us to fight rather than work together. We've all been
guilty of injudicious remarks sent in the heat of the moment. But
these flames detract from "serious questions".
--Jimbo