Posted on 04/23/2006 8:01:06 AM PDT by 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.
Thank you! I'm so glad you took the opportunity to remind us of these things.
Thank you for this and all the pings!
Thank you. Is there a place these can be pasted for future reference?
This looks like promotion to me.
My observation is that Protestants debate and "bash" each other more than they do Catholics. Sometimes people cry "bashing" because they have no response to the issues raised and they want to silence the debate.
Wol
BTTT
I have done so -- it is when I have asked about the catholic church condoning slavery by basically turning a blind eye to the practice in Latin America that some felt the need to flame me. My entire thread was locked when individual posters ad hominem attacks should have been pulled instead.
Baptist ping
First, thanks for posting rules clearly for everyone to see and to know what's expected of them.
Second, how can you be sure none of that will happen on your watch since you have said that you are not the only one that mods the RF and that each one has different methodologies?
The crevo threads are of a religious nature. Where exactly do they belong?
If posted by a "creationist" (we'll take that word very broadly), wouldn't they be necessarily religious?
If posted by an "theistic evolutionist" (same), they could be religious in nature, depending on the topic.
If posted by a "mechanistic evolutionist" (same), are they religious themselves, or only religious from the perspective of any religionist who happens to reply?
Incidentally, the old RM told us a bit about his background, beliefs, etc., so we could be sure that no favoritism was taking place. Will you do the same?
Maybe we need to transform "bash" into: Be A Shining Heart
The pulled article was posted on the news forum where I have no particular responsibility. Moreover, it was not news; it was also a provocation (the source was positiveatheism.org).
maybe they will see how well your approach works here and make these policies active in all areas.
love rules with gentleness.
We respect each other’s decisions and personal style – but yes, there could be a few bumps on the road.
If a crevo thread is posted here, I will moderate it according to these guidelines.
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