Rules
1. Treat others with respect.
You are to respect every other user on the board despite any personal, religious and political differences.
2. One user account per person.
The use of 2 or more posting accounts is prohibited. Using a proxy account (or sock puppet) to cause trouble will not be tolerated. If you can't say what you need to say with your user account then it probably shouldn't be said in the first place.
3. No posting of complete copyrighted documents (fair use snippets are accepted).
We don't really want to be bothered by Scientology lawyers and lawsuits because of posted copy written material. There are plenty of sites that already host those documents and they can be linked to. Posting "Fair Use" snippets is ok if you want to refer to something to make a point, just don't go posting the entire "History of Man".
4. No private conversations or emails are to be posted without prior permission from the other party.
This is a violation of privacy and won't be tolerated.
5. No posting of other members personal information.
In this group of ex Scientologists we are bound to run into people who we knew in our former "lives" as Scientologists. Given the extreme violations of privacy already rampant in the church it is quite likely that you may know of some personally embarrassing information about another poster. For example: you may have known poster "John" in the church and know that he had gotten into trouble for gambling or theft or promiscuity etc.
To bring up these personally embarrassing things (whether true or not) as some sort of one-upmanship or as a form of retaliation in an argument is really bad form and will not be tolerated on this message board.
6. Link to long pieces of text where possible.
Instead of copying and pasting long pieces of text, snip the bit you want and link to the rest. Experience shows that the longer your post is the less likely it will be read anyway. Of course if your post (your own words) is quite long because you are telling your personal story, that is different. Personal stories will be always be read no matter how long they are because people are interested.
7. Respect the Administrators and Moderators.
Moderation is a thankless task. You can't please all the people all the time but the moderators will do their best to be fair to everyone.
If you disagree with a decision a moderator has made please don't make a huge scene on the board. Start a conversation with the moderator in question and put your case forward. Usually disputes can be resolved amicably by doing this. If you are still unhappy with the outcome, start a conversation with the board administrator who will have the final say.
8. Don't feed the trolls.
Given its nature, this board is likely to attract its share of trouble makers. Trolls thrive on attention so the best thing you can do is to ignore them and report any offending post to a moderator who will deal with the situation. Getting into flame wars with a troll is exactly what they want you to do, so don't give them the satisfaction.
Note:
These rules all apply but time and experience has shown that no matter what rules are stated, some people still find ways to be disruptive and make the board less than enjoyable.
It’s been found over the years that some people have more to say about the Administrators and Moderators and how the board is being run than they do about Scientology or other topics under discussion. So basically it comes down this this:
Administrators and Moderators are not perfect so don't expect them to be. The Administrators and Moderators don’t owe anyone anything. They are not on an amends project. If the Administrators or Moderators have to tell you how to behave you probably don't belong here.
Another way of putting it might be "Don't be a jerk and expect to get away with it".
If you are acting in a way that disrupts the board you'll be asked to stop it. If you continue to act in a way that disrupts the board you'll probably be banned. You might be banned for a week, or two weeks or it might be permanent, it depends on how you've behaved previously, how long you've been here etc. Administrators and Moderators can issue warnings and bans.
1. Treat others with respect.
You are to respect every other user on the board despite any personal, religious and political differences.
2. One user account per person.
The use of 2 or more posting accounts is prohibited. Using a proxy account (or sock puppet) to cause trouble will not be tolerated. If you can't say what you need to say with your user account then it probably shouldn't be said in the first place.
3. No posting of complete copyrighted documents (fair use snippets are accepted).
We don't really want to be bothered by Scientology lawyers and lawsuits because of posted copy written material. There are plenty of sites that already host those documents and they can be linked to. Posting "Fair Use" snippets is ok if you want to refer to something to make a point, just don't go posting the entire "History of Man".
4. No private conversations or emails are to be posted without prior permission from the other party.
This is a violation of privacy and won't be tolerated.
5. No posting of other members personal information.
In this group of ex Scientologists we are bound to run into people who we knew in our former "lives" as Scientologists. Given the extreme violations of privacy already rampant in the church it is quite likely that you may know of some personally embarrassing information about another poster. For example: you may have known poster "John" in the church and know that he had gotten into trouble for gambling or theft or promiscuity etc.
To bring up these personally embarrassing things (whether true or not) as some sort of one-upmanship or as a form of retaliation in an argument is really bad form and will not be tolerated on this message board.
6. Link to long pieces of text where possible.
Instead of copying and pasting long pieces of text, snip the bit you want and link to the rest. Experience shows that the longer your post is the less likely it will be read anyway. Of course if your post (your own words) is quite long because you are telling your personal story, that is different. Personal stories will be always be read no matter how long they are because people are interested.
7. Respect the Administrators and Moderators.
Moderation is a thankless task. You can't please all the people all the time but the moderators will do their best to be fair to everyone.
If you disagree with a decision a moderator has made please don't make a huge scene on the board. Start a conversation with the moderator in question and put your case forward. Usually disputes can be resolved amicably by doing this. If you are still unhappy with the outcome, start a conversation with the board administrator who will have the final say.
8. Don't feed the trolls.
Given its nature, this board is likely to attract its share of trouble makers. Trolls thrive on attention so the best thing you can do is to ignore them and report any offending post to a moderator who will deal with the situation. Getting into flame wars with a troll is exactly what they want you to do, so don't give them the satisfaction.
Note:
These rules all apply but time and experience has shown that no matter what rules are stated, some people still find ways to be disruptive and make the board less than enjoyable.
It’s been found over the years that some people have more to say about the Administrators and Moderators and how the board is being run than they do about Scientology or other topics under discussion. So basically it comes down this this:
Administrators and Moderators are not perfect so don't expect them to be. The Administrators and Moderators don’t owe anyone anything. They are not on an amends project. If the Administrators or Moderators have to tell you how to behave you probably don't belong here.
Another way of putting it might be "Don't be a jerk and expect to get away with it".
If you are acting in a way that disrupts the board you'll be asked to stop it. If you continue to act in a way that disrupts the board you'll probably be banned. You might be banned for a week, or two weeks or it might be permanent, it depends on how you've behaved previously, how long you've been here etc. Administrators and Moderators can issue warnings and bans.
