I am worried as well. With the decline in quality of television shows, which I blame on reality TV, off topic forums are my fav entertainment
Quality of topics in decline

I have learnt from the OP...
A poem....
~~~~~ IN THE BEGINNING ~~~~~
In the beginning, there was
nothing but love,
A kiss from the sun, and the
stars up above.
~~~~~~
.... to be continued :)

... ok... 2nd stanza... *about the bees :)
~~~~~~
A song sang perfectly, by the
birds and the bees.
Everyone was healthy, no war
or desease.
~~~~~~~
....to be continued.

3rd stanza....
~~~~~
But then something changed,
Chess.com took a turn.
There were people to hate,
Trolldom to earn.
~~~~~~
4th coming up...soon

4th stanza
~~~~~
I had forgotten that chess
could be so cruel.
Can't trolls just realize, that
chess is a jewel?
~~~~~~~
hmmm... more? ... ok

5th stanza...
~~~~~
And the fact I usually, leave
out of this,
Is a fact I'm not proud of, a
fact I don't miss.
~~~~~~

6th ...
~~~~~
I'm guilty of all, the things that
I say.
But I'm learning slowly,
Something new everyday
~~~~~~

Last stanza :)
~~~~~
And if you don't hear, the
message I send,
Then my next poem's title, will
be "In the end"
~~~~~
(the end )

A beginning and an end,
A conundrum at the bend.
To be a poem or to be a bee,
Both are needed when moon meets sea.

the bishop tries to jump the rules
The knight can't slide to get the jewels
My queens are sluts, for riches driven
But soldier pawns will end in heaven
This mysterious decline is getting to be a big worry!!!
I was surprised and delighted to see this topic as I have been thinking the same thing. While my opinion on this may be contriversial I will give it anyway. The restrictions of "no religious or political debate" (though often times ignored) neither prevent nor police the number of mean spirited people or comments on this site. It seems that some (many) people here delight in making insulting or hateful comments to people instead of entering into a reasonable, though passionate, debate on a subject. I seldom post comments but when I do they are often answered with insults. In reguards to the religeous and political debates, what makes them any different than any other contriversial subject? I believe those restrictions should be lifted. It is through open debate that people learn about others and other things and grow spiritually and intellectually. Also, mean-spirited people will still be mean-spirited reguardless of the topic and there will still be topics that seem to have no redeaming value whatsoever. There is way too much "politically correct" influence in our world society. I think that is the root cause of the decline in quality topics. Too many people want to restrict our freedom of speech.
Obviously those two topics are closely related. Could you ask soir at for some more poetry?
Her poetry is unique.
I will try and recite it here... from other topics.
In the meantime... back to the bees!!!