Greetings from your Religion Moderator

April 23, 2006 | Religion Moderator

[Religion Moderator]

Hello everyone. Pleased to meet you. I am your Religion Moderator.

I have been asked by several posters to let you know any special guidelines which apply to posting in the Religion Forum on Free Republic. Here goes…

First, you should know that all moderators have authority on the Religion Forum and we are individuals and therefore what is tolerable to one may not be tolerable to another. However, I have general responsibility for this particular forum and spend most of my time reading your posts and moderating the conversations. And I do hold Religion Forum posts to a higher standard.

The previous Religion Moderator is still with us and other moderators who have served as Religion Moderator may also appear on thread with this handle. In other words, you cannot be sure that I am the person who posted with the handle. However, most of the time, it will be me simply because I’m reading all of your posts.

A few guidelines:

Threads which are devotional or church-like in nature (such as daily mass readings) will be protected from challenges to doctrine, etc. Reported challenges will be pulled. The titles of the threads should be clearly designated so other posters and the moderators will know.

Threads which are not clearly designated are open to challenges, like a public square.

Posters should remember they are not “preaching to the choir” on open threads – and take care to be respectful, clear and concise in their arguments. Passers-by will value your demeanor as much – or more than – the actual substance of your post.

This is very important: meet the offensive challenge to your doctrine on the open thread, do not mash the abuse button. I will not remove a challenge simply because it is offensive to your beliefs. If you cannot defend your own confession, then you are better off avoiding the open threads and leaving the reply to someone else of your confession.

Always argue the issues – theology, philosophy, history, etc. – and never make it personal.

If I see the conversation turn personal, I will intervene by pulling posts and/or posting a warning. If the misbehavior continues, posters may find themselves having to log back in – or they may be given a time-out to cool down.

In the extreme, the threads may be banished to the smoky backroom, locked or pulled. And a hot-headed or defiant poster may be banned.

Banned posters who try to sneak back onto the forum using a different handle are nuked. Trolls are nuked.

I have no tolerance for potty language simply because it inflames other posters and results in unnecessary abuse reports that moderators then have to process. It is a waste of everyone’s time and doesn’t help the poster’s image either.

Whenever I see a profanity – or a reference or acronym for a profanity – I will remove the post. If your post was pulled and you remember using such a word, just rephrase and repost and everything will be fine.

As with all threads on the forum – hatred and any suggestion of racism or violence will be pulled. Posts which are just plain tacky may also be pulled.

Calling an author a liar is permitted – calling another poster a liar is not.

Attributing motive to an author is permitted – reading the mind of another poster is not.

Poking fun at a confession is permitted, but be careful when poking fun at another poster. If he doesn’t think it is funny, I won’t either.

Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. It all boils down to being respectful – phrase your challenges as if you were the recipient, i.e. think Golden Rule.

[Religion Moderator]

Sorry, elfman2, but I will not recognize secular philosophies as qualified subjects for devotional thread protection.

[Religion Moderator]

1. How are devotional threads to be designated? Should there be a formal mark, e.g. a "Topic"?

Church-like threads are already being identified with terms such as “devotion” “meditation” “prayer” “mass” “catholic caucus” and so forth. Obviously, if a thread is disingenuously called a “devotion” it will not be protected.

I think, if adding topics were disallowed by software, the topics could serve a very useful role in preventing endless interdenominational flame wars. Your thoughts?

Changes to topic management is largely a matter of software and is therefore above my pay scale.

For example, a Catholic should be able to discuss aspects of veneration of a particular saint without having to field basic questions about veneration of saints in general, that are certain to come form the Protestants. Likewise, a Protestant should be able to post something about a Protestant thinker, or Protestant eschatology without others piling on Protestantism in general. What would be your recommendation?

I recommend pursing subjects where you want limited contributions on church-like threads. But be aware, passers-by are much more likely to stop in on the open threads – so all your effort may be for naught.

[Religion Moderator]

LOLOL! "pursing" should be "pursuing"

[4U2OUI]

Mornin', chief!

[P-Marlowe]

I'm just voicing my opinion on an open thread.

I second your concern. There were a number of statements in that peculiar "Devotional" this morning which would cause any person who happened upon it to ask some legitimate questions. I simply asked a question, a question that anyone unfamiliar with the peculiar doctrines of the LDS Church would ask and my post was pulled. I've seen dozens of questions posed on the Protestant devotional threads and dozens of comments by non-protestants. Usually they are welcomed. To have a policy where there are no questions allowed is rather strict.

If I, as an ex-Mormon were to post a devotional dedicated to ex-Mormons who are now evangelical protestants and the reasons for their switch, would the Religion Moderator protect it from attack by those who are presently still in the LDS Church? Or would the devotional thread be pulled?

I suspect it would be the latter.

[Religion Moderator]

"Ex-Mormons who are now evangelical protestants" is not a subject I would recognize for devotional protection.

On the other hand, "Evangelical Protestant Caucus" is one I would recognize for a church-like thread and would protect just like I protect the "Catholic Caucus".

But again, please remember that passers-by are more likely to stop by the open threads than the church-like threads.

[P-Marlowe]

"Ex-Mormons who are now evangelical protestants" is not a subject I would recognize for devotional protection.

But don't you see that the purpose of today's LDS "devotional" was to show how the Protestant and Catholic Churches do not have the "fullness of the gospel" that the LDS Church purports to have?

Here is an example:

The record of the birth of Jesus is given in the New Testament, and we are more or less familiar with the story. The New Testament is a witness for Jesus Christ. But the Book of Mormon is also a witness for and a testament of Jesus Christ, and it gives us additional insights and concepts about why the birth of Jesus took place and why it was so important. There is no other book in all this world that tells us as clearly about the mission of Jesus Christ as does the Book of Mormon. Whereas the Bible tells us what happened, the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scriptures tell us why it happened. The Bible writers also knew why, but the Bible has not come to us in its original purity and clarity, and thus the Lord has brought forth these other records in plain terms so that we might not wander in darkness and oblivion. The Lord wants us to know about the greatest truths in the history of mankind.

I see dozens upon dozens of "Ex-Protestant who have come home to Catholicism" threads. It seems that if ever there is any thread which even purports to give any testimonies of Ex-Catholics who have come home to the Truths of the Reformation" the threads are either pulled or moved to the SBR faster than you can say "Anti-Catholic Troll".

[Religion Moderator]

I see dozens upon dozens of "Ex-Protestant who have come home to Catholicism" threads. It seems that if ever there is any thread which even purports to give any testimonies of Ex-Catholics who have come home to the Truths of the Reformation" the threads are either pulled or moved to the SBR faster than you can say "Anti-Catholic Troll".

That will not happen on my watch.

[Alex Murphy]

One request re pulled posts (esp when pulled due to language)
- is it possible for the Mod(s) to FReepmail the offending poster, to advise why their post was pulled?

[HairOfTheDog]

I suspect these people will never get along. Even if they all make it to heaven, they'll argue about why ;~D

Good luck though ;~D

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Thank you, Religion Moderator, for making these points clear!
,

[Religion Moderator]

Many have Freepmailed me, in which case I'm glad to respond with the why and the original post to make it easier to rephrase.

[P-Marlowe]

That will not happen on my watch.

What will not happen?

The threads will not be relegated to the back room?

There will be no more "Why I left Protestantism threads"?

There will be no more "Why I left Catholicism Threads"?

Frankly, as a protestant I welcome the "why I left Protestantism" threads. There are at least one or two posted every week. But the "Why I left anthying other than Protestantism" threads are generally pulled or relegated to the SBR within a few dozen posts.

[elfman2]

"What would be your recommendation? I see three possibilities about such "threads of limited debate"?
1. Mark the thread as denomination-specific and expect others to make constructive posts but not start interdenominational fights (my preference)… "

I like that one as well. It more mirrors how “non-virtual” services are conducted. They are rarely exclusionary or even challenge-free following a sermon, but virtually no-one would crash one and begin flaming it.

I think just clearly marking such threads as devotional and for specific denominations invites common social graces. But to enforce zero challenges on a multi-denominational and contentious forum such as this is as unnatural as enforcing none from multiple denominations meeting in the same room and time.

[Religion Moderator]

The "why I left" threads will not be pulled or banished to the backroom on my watch. No theology will be favored on open threads.

[P-Marlowe]

The "why I left" threads will not be pulled or banished to the backroom on my watch. No theology will be favored on open threads.

Well that's good to know. :-)

[elfman2]

Your call. Respectfully, I don’t think that providing devotional safe havens for promoting “some” ideologies but not others based solely on their theistic nature mirrors the principles that Free Republic promotes for government, but since FR is not a government, that may not be Jim’s concern. Either way, it’s not the hill I want to die on today. Regards.

[Religion Moderator]

The bottom line is this: threads which are like churches -prayer meetings, worship services and such - will get the same respect as a closed door at a local chapel.

Free speech does not suffer from the freedom of religion and assembly.

[NYer]

Thank you for posting the guidelines and taking the time to introduce yourself. Welcome to the Religion Forum

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