Rules of Conduct
Our Web Community is dedicated to helping people connect with religion and spirituality in all its forms. We are nonsectarian and nondenominational. We believe that all forms of the search for God and higher meaning are legitimate and worthy of respect. In our community area, we're dedicated to providing a safe, secure space for you to talk about your feelings and thoughts about God, the spirit, and our purpose in life. To help us do this, we're asking you to abide by the following rules of play. (For a list of our legal and ethical responsibilities, see Terms of Service). Have respect for others. You don't have to agree with, or like, what anyone else says. You may even find someone else's opinions irritating or offensive. But try to remember that this other person is a human being like you, with his or her own issues and concerns. What you see on a message board is a very small part of that person. He or she may be going through problems, sorrows, or difficulties that you don't know about. Be compassionate. This goes especially for areas of disagreement. You don't have to agree with someone's else opinions, and you're quite free to challenge them. But you should do your best to state your views from a position of kindness and respect rather than from hostility or contempt. Behave decently. You don't need to present a bland, sanitized persona here. Expressing sadness, sorrow, grief, doubt, or difficulty is not taboo. And it's certainly OK to disagree with someone else's views. But showing hostility or contempt for another person isn't OK. Neither is "flaming." The community pages are not places to vent rage or anger. If others seem to be doing this, your obligation is not to put them in their place. Your obligation is to refrain from making things worse. There are places on the Web where "anything goes" - obscenity, hostility, slams against racial or religious groups. This is not one of them. If someone posts an inflammatory or offensive message, we will remove it without notice. The same holds true for insults, name-calling, and personal attacks, and for messages offering X-rated or pornographic material. Think before you react. Sometimes another person's message may push your emotional buttons. The speed of the Internet makes it possible to send off a quick retort almost before you realize it. So we strongly urge you to think carefully before you post any message that may be taken as angry or provocative. Don't post personal information. We discourage you from posting your home address or telephone number on a message board. Nor should you ask for personal information from others. We will remove posts that ask members to submit personal information to another party unless these posts have been preapproved by Faith.com staff. This includes (but is not limited to) requests for personal information by email, regular mail, and telephone surveys. Avoid posting twice. Be courteous: don't post the same message more than once on a message board or on several boards. We will delete duplicate message without notice. Don't post commercial advertisements. We will delete any message containing promotional or advertising material, including those for other URLs or Web sites. Don't post others' copyrighted material. Refrain from posting any writing or other materials for which someone else owns the copyright, including articles and book excerpts, without the owner's consent. If this happens, the individual posting the material will be held solely responsible. Faith.com will not be held responsible for materials posted that may violate copyright law. Lurk if you like. If you're a newcomer to the Web or to Faith.com, don't feel you have to dive in right away. If you're more comfortable "lurking" - that is, reading other people's messages without posting your own - by all means feel free to do so. Each of us has different levels of comfort in conversation, so take your time and join in at a pace that's right for you. Don't hold back. On the other hand, you shouldn't feel inhibited from posting, especially if it's your first time. We do offer a helpful, supportive community, and we strongly encourage you to talk about your thoughts and experiences about your spiritual search. You'll probably be surprised at how soon you feel welcome! Finally, we reserve the right to remove a post that does not relate to the topic being discussed on the board. We also reserve the right to organize message boards so as to best serve our members. If a topic only appeals to a small group of people, we may, at our own discretion, move it to another portion of the site or remove it entirely. We also reserve the right to remove any message that we believe violates applicable laws or harms the interests of our individual members or our community at large. On the other hand, we do not have the ability to restrict conduct or communications that might violate our Rules of Play before these communications are transmitted on the Web. Nor can we ensure prompt or immediate removal of offending material. We also reserve the right to withdraw your membership if you violate these Rules of Play or any of our Terms of Service. If you haven't read the Terms of Service, please do so. This may all sound like a lot of do's and don'ts. But it can be boiled down to the simple principles of kindness, courtesy, and respect for others (teachings that, by the way, lie at the heart of all spiritual paths). If you keep to these principles, you probably won't have any problems with our rules and regulations.
Our Web Community is dedicated to helping people connect with religion and spirituality in all its forms. We are nonsectarian and nondenominational. We believe that all forms of the search for God and higher meaning are legitimate and worthy of respect.
In our community area, we're dedicated to providing a safe, secure space for you to talk about your feelings and thoughts about God, the spirit, and our purpose in life. To help us do this, we're asking you to abide by the following rules of play. (For a list of our legal and ethical responsibilities, see Terms of Service).
Have respect for others. You don't have to agree with, or like, what anyone else says. You may even find someone else's opinions irritating or offensive. But try to remember that this other person is a human being like you, with his or her own issues and concerns. What you see on a message board is a very small part of that person. He or she may be going through problems, sorrows, or difficulties that you don't know about. Be compassionate.
This goes especially for areas of disagreement. You don't have to agree with someone's else opinions, and you're quite free to challenge them. But you should do your best to state your views from a position of kindness and respect rather than from hostility or contempt.
Behave decently. You don't need to present a bland, sanitized persona here. Expressing sadness, sorrow, grief, doubt, or difficulty is not taboo. And it's certainly OK to disagree with someone else's views. But showing hostility or contempt for another person isn't OK. Neither is "flaming." The community pages are not places to vent rage or anger. If others seem to be doing this, your obligation is not to put them in their place. Your obligation is to refrain from making things worse.
There are places on the Web where "anything goes" - obscenity, hostility, slams against racial or religious groups. This is not one of them. If someone posts an inflammatory or offensive message, we will remove it without notice. The same holds true for insults, name-calling, and personal attacks, and for messages offering X-rated or pornographic material.
Think before you react. Sometimes another person's message may push your emotional buttons. The speed of the Internet makes it possible to send off a quick retort almost before you realize it. So we strongly urge you to think carefully before you post any message that may be taken as angry or provocative.
Don't post personal information. We discourage you from posting your home address or telephone number on a message board. Nor should you ask for personal information from others. We will remove posts that ask members to submit personal information to another party unless these posts have been preapproved by Faith.com staff. This includes (but is not limited to) requests for personal information by email, regular mail, and telephone surveys.
Avoid posting twice. Be courteous: don't post the same message more than once on a message board or on several boards. We will delete duplicate message without notice.
Don't post commercial advertisements. We will delete any message containing promotional or advertising material, including those for other URLs or Web sites.
Don't post others' copyrighted material. Refrain from posting any writing or other materials for which someone else owns the copyright, including articles and book excerpts, without the owner's consent. If this happens, the individual posting the material will be held solely responsible. Faith.com will not be held responsible for materials posted that may violate copyright law.
Lurk if you like. If you're a newcomer to the Web or to Faith.com, don't feel you have to dive in right away. If you're more comfortable "lurking" - that is, reading other people's messages without posting your own - by all means feel free to do so. Each of us has different levels of comfort in conversation, so take your time and join in at a pace that's right for you.
Don't hold back. On the other hand, you shouldn't feel inhibited from posting, especially if it's your first time. We do offer a helpful, supportive community, and we strongly encourage you to talk about your thoughts and experiences about your spiritual search. You'll probably be surprised at how soon you feel welcome!
Finally, we reserve the right to remove a post that does not relate to the topic being discussed on the board. We also reserve the right to organize message boards so as to best serve our members. If a topic only appeals to a small group of people, we may, at our own discretion, move it to another portion of the site or remove it entirely. We also reserve the right to remove any message that we believe violates applicable laws or harms the interests of our individual members or our community at large.
On the other hand, we do not have the ability to restrict conduct or communications that might violate our Rules of Play before these communications are transmitted on the Web. Nor can we ensure prompt or immediate removal of offending material. We also reserve the right to withdraw your membership if you violate these Rules of Play or any of our Terms of Service. If you haven't read the Terms of Service, please do so.
This may all sound like a lot of do's and don'ts. But it can be boiled down to the simple principles of kindness, courtesy, and respect for others (teachings that, by the way, lie at the heart of all spiritual paths). If you keep to these principles, you probably won't have any problems with our rules and regulations.
