Suggestions

[Vipershark]

They theoretically possibly might be able to be done (technically!) within the General Discussion board given the forum's structure and more sensible forum culture. Unfortunately, with the new relaxed rules in GD as well as GD historically being more of a casual area to talk about hobbies, it's difficult to talk about actual world issues while maintaining an intelligent perspective. It's happened sometimes, with Koopaul's new Male Gaze thread and Sengir's Real Life post regarding transgenderism in the modern world.

Creating an actual subforum

• automatically sets a serious tone for the posters and posts
  
• this reassures posters that their topics won't particular be shitposted in (and we all hate shitposting, right? that's why there's no lounge)
  

A Serious Discussion subforum,

• allows for intelligent discussion, not arguments and fights (if you're getting mad over an actual debate that's pretty stupid, sorry).
  
• and all this serious discussion actually creates a stronger bond between the community
  
• it also ensures that the community is a little more knowledgeable on world issues (we can probably tell you that Israel and Palestine don't like each other, but no one here could tell you why. And probably 1 in 4 of us don't even know or care about it - and that's an issue)
  
• Users will be able to empathize better with one another on personal issues as well, (THIS is actually a big one - particularly on LGBT issues in 2014) and really allow some posters to shine
  
• Discourages groupthink within the community
  

With a subforum though, you could assign a moderator specifically to ensure that things don't get out of hand, and if they do, exercise a zero-tolerance policy. Currently if we did that in GD, you'd end up having additional responsibilities as administrators (and moderators, too) to ensure serious topics go smoothly.

I kind of feel like I'm stepping out of line by replying to this, but since I'm an administrator now I figure I should put in my two cents and leave the final decision to Dazz and/or Petie.

That being said, I'm pretty strongly against a "Serious Discussion" forum.

Those sorts of posts can go elsewhere as already talked about (the number of topics that realistically would be in there is pretty low so there's no need for a dedicated subforum) and General Discussion or Real Life are already good enough candidates for them. If it's a current event or news story (Israel vs. Palestine or a mass shooting or something as Jetters said) then it can go in GD, while discussion on *isms and such can go in RL since they're much more personal topics.
Considering that they're completely different topics which are relegated to their own threads, I don't see the issue of having both the funny images topic and a serious discussion thread next to each other. That's the point of General Discussion; there's not just one particular thing that goes there. Those topics won't be overlapping anyway so it won't be an issue.
As far as your concerns of shitposting go, the report button is still under every post as it has always been. If someone shitposts, report them and they'll be dealt with accordingly.

Regardless, I'm pretty uncomfortable with creating an entire subforum specifically for hot-button topics. While I believe these sorts of discussions should happen, I don't believe that VGR is the place that they should happen in. You know that saying about how you should never talk about religion and politics and stuff in public? ...That's basically exactly what you're asking for.

As far as your point about groupthink, in my experience I've... actually seen the complete opposite thing happen. I've used quite a few forums over the years, ones both with and without these types of discussion areas, and I've seen many friendships end and needless bickering happen over these sorts of things.

One forum in particular that I go to (it's a popular videogame forum, some of you may know the one I'm talking about) basically allows a free-for-all on these sorts of threads which are commonly referred to as "minefield threads" because they result in pages upon pages of banned members. As a result, the forum (including the staff) skews heavily, heavily liberal, and whenever these sorts of threads pop up (particularly in the case of *isms), anyone that brings up any sort of viewpoint that doesn't align perfectly with the "correct" viewpoint is pretty much immediately shut out if not banned for what they say and I'm not okay with that.
That's not to say that what they said was right or that I even agree with their viewpoints, but shutting out people that disagree with the common viewpoint is... kind of the exact opposite of what should happen. It's to the point where people are actually afraid to post in those threads or avoid them altogether out of fear of being shunned or banned, and a thread of people repeating the same thing over and over and just preaching to the choir is, well, groupthink. A hivemind mentality is still a hivemind mentality, even if you agree with what it says.

Frankly, I'm not convinced that the community would even handle it well at this point. Judging by past evidence and what normally results out of these kinds of threads, I think a specific section for these kinds of things to gravitate to would just create a lot of needless tension in the air and that's not something that I want to happen. I won't endorse something that will cause members to feel uncomfortable with posting here.

Just as there is a time and a place for jokes, there is also a time and a place for serious/political discussion and I don't believe that this is the time nor is VGR the place.