It has come to my attention that our rules are probably not comprehensive enough for this forum. Therefore, I am opening this discussion to what you, the members of the forum, think the rules should be. Please, serious suggestions only. After we've had a good discussion, we'll hold a poll to see which suggestions are the most popular. I reserve the right to veto any rule that I feel is bad for the forum. But I fully expect not to have to use that veto. I'm only mentioning it at all so that Ray doesn't campaign for, and get a rule passed to the effect of, mandatory inclusion of japanese anime references in every post, for instance. That said, here are the rules as they now stand:
The Rules 1. We are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on this board. You are not allowed to participate if you are not LDS, either active or inactive.
2. We do not speak out against the church leaders, the church doctrine, the church practices, etc. We start from the assumption that everyone agrees with church doctrine as set forth in ancient and modern revelation.
3. We will at all times do our best to be civil. If you disagree, do it civilly.
4. Political discussions will be confined to the political forums. The same rules apply there. If a discussion ceases to be civil, it will be locked or deleted.
5. Your opinion may be better than someone else's, but that does not give you license to use personal attacks, harsh language, or to give the impression that if only they were as intelligent as you, they would agree with you.
I am totally inflexible regarding rules 1 and 2. 3 is a rule that can be interpreted in different ways, so I welcome suggestions for refinement. 4 is wide open to debate. 5 coul be worded better, but I think it best if we have that rule or one to the same effect.
Suggest away.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
3. We will at all times do our best to be civil, even in debates where strong opinion may exist. If you disagree, do it civilly. Ad hominem (personal) attacks and offensive language are unacceptable behavior and will be moderated.
We will look at our words and emotion objectively prior to posting. If we as an individual can even remotely see what we individually say as an attack, we are encouraged to disengage from the discussion until we can phrase our comment in a less confrontational manner.
Should our comments be deemed worthy of moderation, we will discuss it respectfully and objectively in the Moderation Discussions area should further resolution be asked for or necessary.
Debates will not to be won based on who talks loudest, most, is smartest, or has the greatest emotion. They will be won on the basis of best persuasion, which is supported by documented fact and sources.
Above all, keep things in perspective... what difference is your personal stance on the topic going to make in the 100 year plan?
I would change rule 4 to say the following: 4. As a courtesy to all forum members, please limit all topical discussions to the appropriate respective discussion area for said topic. The moderators will move threads started in the wrong areas to the area they deem is best suited for the topic.
Rule #5 is not needed (at least in this incarnation), as it is now handled in the clarification of #3... We could alway change it reflect the following:
#5. We claim the privilege of watching Sponge Bob Squarepants according to the free time we have, and insist that all fellow Bountiful participants also watch. Let them watch when, where, and as often as they can.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
I agree with Cat's rewording of #3, but feel the bullets are unnecessary. Keep it simple. Additionally, the bulleted statements seem to place undue emphasis on a strict academic style of discourse. Sometimes I wanna be emotional and passionate about a topic. Sometimes I wanna respond intuitively rather than in a calculated manner. I think there should be latitude and even encouragement for that kind of participation, as long as it doesn't get out of control.
I like Cat's modification of #4 as well (with a few minor mods of my own), and would add something like this:
4. As a courtesy to all forum members, please limit all topical discussions to the appropriate discussion area for that topic. The moderators will move threads started in the wrong areas to the area they deem is best suited for the topic. If you feel there is not an appropriate discussion area for your specific topic, please request one from the moderator.
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
Bullet 1 is a helpful clarification, and bullet #2 needs to be stated somewhere, if not here, so that everyone knows what to do in the event that they disagree with moderation. I have problems with bullet #3 on several levels, the main one being the use of the term "won". Doesn't winning a debate require a judge or something to declare the winner? It seems like a bad idea to state that arguments are "winnable". Bullet #4 seems superfluous.
Cat, would you please self moderate and delete the silly suggestion? Thanks.
Also, Cat, you share one of my weaknesses; the driving need to be very verbose. The danger we face with the rules is that if we're verbose, people might ignore them. So we need to keep them as simple as possible. If you want to write about the rules at length when we're finished with them, I could move that to the rules forum as an unofficial commentary. It'd sorta be like the books of the General Authorities. They don't represent official doctrine, but they are instructive.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
{beatnik voice}Hey man, I'm a writer, not an outline creator... {/beatnik voice}
{gump voic}My English teacher always told me "Deadwood is the wood that don't contribute"{/gump voice}
It is fair to have someone else succinctly create the verbage of the actual rules that get put to a vote, based on the input everyone. I'd be happy to bore everyone to tears with my commentary in a seperate thread when we're all said and done. I see at least a 3 volume set
I shall self-moderate on #5 if we can have a "bloopers reel" thread for proposed rules that never made it to the floor for discussion.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
