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.
Good morning! That was very well done.
Pleased to meet you. Those seem like sensible guidelines.
I'm in.
The author of this thread is a liar!! (Just kidding)
Good advice, thanks.
May I ask a question of a poster on a devotional thread, In order that I might better understand their position?
On a devotion thread, inquiries may be taken as challenges (disruptions) and cause offense. Therefore, do not ask questions on a devotional thread - make a note, save them for the open threads.
Will atheistic ideological threads marked as devotional be protected from doctrinal challenges? I asked this question of a previous religious moderator, but didn’t follow up after he said that he didn’t have time to discuss it.
For instance, if I post an Objectivist devotional thread that is dedicated to explaining and reinforcing Objectivist metaphysics to a list of people, and the usual trolls jump in with no apparent interest other than denouncing Objectivism or Ayn Rand, will you pull their posts if there are complaints?
Welcome and thank you!
Objectivism is philosophy not theology and thus would not qualify for protection as a "devotion" or "church-like" thread.
This doesn't apply to "The Church of Monday Night Football" threads, does it?
We post those in Chat. ;-)
LOLOL! That's a great place for them.
ping
I'm not sure that "Devotionals" should be able to go unchallenged when they attack the beliefs of others.
Personally, I feel that if a devotional thread wants to preach that the Bible is corrupt and has had "plain and precious truths" removed, that should be their right. It's not necessarily respectful, but I think the marketplace of ideas is big enough for everyone to have a forum. IMO, the problem seems to lie in the the fact that one group is allowed to attack my beliefs in a "devotional thread" but will not allow dissent. And if that's so, it would seem to be a double standard on the part of the former.
I'm just voicing my opinion on an open thread.
A blessed Sunday to you, Mo1 and to you, RM.
I am leaving now to go to Church the antique auction.
Not to worry Mo, I went to 8:00AM Mass. :)
I went last night
Living on the east coast and keeping west coast hours make mornings really hard for me *L*
Respectfully, both religious Theology and the integrated philosophical system of Objectivism are ideologies with identical psychological and social functions.
YourDictionary.com defines Theology as:
1. The study of the nature of God and religious truth; rational inquiry into religious questions.
2. A system or school of opinions concerning God and religious questions: Protestant theology; Jewish theology.
3. A course of specialized religious study usually at a college or seminary.
The only significant difference that I’m aware of between a religious theology and Objectivism is that one claims to be inspired by God and the other claims to be developed through observation of and reason. Granted, religion leads itself to reverent contemplation much more than does Objectivism, but a “church-like” sermon or inspirational story is not necessarily inconsistent with Objectivism. Honestly, I’m hard pressed to come up with a good example, but I’m asking this more in the abstract than for permission to call any specific Objectivist piece a devotional here.
Thank you for your work here.
Thanks.
Your objection is noted, but the standard remains. If you are offended by claims made on a devotional thread, make a note of them and rebut them on an open thread.
May I ask you two questions.
1. How are devotional threads to be designated? Should there be a formal mark, e.g. a "Topic"?
2. There are denominational "topics", e.g. Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Orthodox, Islam, even (nota bene, Elfman, Skeptics/Seekers). A reader can add a topic but he cannot remove a topic. Are these of any significance to you? There were instances when topics were added to disruptively (on Teri Schiavo's threads, for example). 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?
This is the reason I am asking. It is good that on occasion one denomination can provide a teachable moment to another. For example, as a Catholic I value opportunities to explain why we venerate saints, etc. But at the same time, not every thread should erupt in a Catholic-Protestant fight over such basics, even when it is not a devotional thread. 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 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)
2. Declare thread devotional for defensive purposes, but in fact have a discussion among like-minded people.
3. Live with the fact that FR is not a suitable venue for such discussions and go to catholic.com and such.
I would welcome your thoughts of advice as well as clarification of policy.
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