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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda
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Post subject: Rules regarding commentary on religion | |
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On Nick’s BB, like any other public forum, there’s a balance to be maintained between freedom of speech and restrictions on what can be said. These boundaries have been set in the board’s rules page, which all posters should be familiar with: http://www.magpies.net/nick/bb/rules.htm
Some of these follow legal mandates (e.g. rules against defamation and hate speech) and some are about maintaining a civil community (e.g. rules against verbal abuse of other posters, trolling and so on). Our general practice, which I’ve always attempted to follow – particularly here in the VPT, which is primarily oriented around political discussion – has been to always give free speech the benefit of the doubt and only intervene where rules have clearly been broken. But it’s been noted that this has sometimes led to an approach that is laxer than it ought to be, particularly when it comes to certain forms of prejudicial or inflammatory discourse, and that needs to change.
This is not a new rule, but just a re-establishment of existing principles. These include:
• Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users.
• Members should remember that this board is aimed at a general (public) audience.
• Members should be considerate of others and treat them as they themselves would like to be treated.
• Members should post within the parameters of laws that regulate speech in the relevant jurisdiction.
With those principles in mind, we exercise the following prohibitions on what can be posted, and reserve the right to moderate the following:
• Posts that are abusive or violent in tone.
• Posts that are hateful or bigoted.
• Posts that are intolerant of others’ differences or are likely to make people of different backgrounds feel unwelcome.
• Posts that contravene existing legal restrictions in this jurisdiction regarding what can be said.
Conversely, we remain committed to providing a forum for a free, vigorous and open exchange of ideas. This means that, so long as they remain within the parameters laid out above, we continue to permit posts that:
• Are critical of ideas, institutions, thought systems or public figures
• Could be considered controversial or otherwise non-mainstream
• May be considered by other members to be offensive or antithetical to their own beliefs
One particular topic that has tested out some of these parameters in recent times is Islam. This requires us to hold several principles in contention, in line with the rules described above:
• That Islam, both in terms of the religion itself and its existence as a political/cultural phenomenon, is an acceptable subject for vigorous critical discussion.
• That it is reasonable to acknowledge links between Islam and the extremist violence that has been committed by a small minority of its followers as an important historical phenomenon that has occurred over the past two decades, and that it is not desirable to clamp down on such discussions in order to be "politically correct" or overly fearful of causing offence.
• That Muslims as a group or as individuals must not be discussed in hateful, bigoted or prejudicial terms.
• That Nick’s BB, including its subforums such as the VPT, must remain a place that is open and welcoming to Muslim visitors and posters and not one that is perceived as hostile or intolerant.
I won’t deny that there are some grey areas here and that moderation will always have to be at least somewhat on a case-by-case basis. But if you want a good rule of thumb, it’s this: criticism of Islam is okay; but negative generalisations and assertions about Muslims are not. This latter category includes comments on the supposed incompatibility of Muslim migrants, or that flagrantly overstate Muslims migrants’ risk to Western society. This also goes for any conspiracy theories about any Muslim (or Jewish) plots to take over other countries, or unsupportable links between new migrants’ crime rates and general characteristics of a religion’s followers. We will be cracking down on this kind of posting in future as a means of properly enforcing the board’s existing rules.
As has always been the case, posts that break the rules will be edited or deleted, and posters who do so may be warned or sanctioned. In the meantime, I hope that we’ll all do our best to keep this forum a welcoming, friendly and hate-free space. _________________ All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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stui magpie
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Joined: 03 May 2005 Location: In flagrante delicto
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Sounds fair to me. _________________ Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down. |
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Pies4shaw
pies4shaw
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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Commenting on religion isn't the problem. Generalising about people who practice a religion is.
Just as all Christians are not homophobic bible-bashing bastards who hold racist and otherwise extreme views, vote DLP and want to crush us and our institutions and take our freedoms from us, not all Muslims are terrorists. In each case, the proposition is only true of a tiny minority.
Of course, it may well be that all seriously-held religious belief is actually a kind of mental illness but there's a problem for a different day. I'll let you know that I was wrong, if I am sent back as cockroach to atone for my radical anti-theism, by vomiting on the clean dishes in your dish-washers. |
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stui magpie
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Joined: 03 May 2005 Location: In flagrante delicto
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^
My mother is my dishwasher, how would that work?
But seriously, have a read of the article I posted in the NZ massacre thread about Islam in Europe. It's a good read and I think worthy of discussion. _________________ Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down. |
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think positive
Side By Side
Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Location: somewhere
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More than fair, cheers _________________ You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either! |
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Pi
Joined: 13 Feb 2006 Location: SA
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Has there ever been a pol on how many people are actually religious around here? _________________ Pi = Infinite = Collingwood = Always
Floreat Pica |
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stui magpie
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Joined: 03 May 2005 Location: In flagrante delicto
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^
Do you want to do one or will I? _________________ Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down. |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda
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Pi wrote: | Has there ever been a pol on how many people are actually religious around here? |
We’ve certainly had at least a handful of openly Christian posters over the years, and at least two Muslim posters that I recall, though most of the above haven’t posted here in a long time. _________________ All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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Pies4shaw
pies4shaw
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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stui magpie wrote: | ^
Do you want to do one or will I? |
Find the "delusional disorders" thread, Stui and start it there. |
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stui magpie
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Joined: 03 May 2005 Location: In flagrante delicto
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I'll just tick you off as an atheist. _________________ Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down. |
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watt price tully
Joined: 15 May 2007
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stui magpie wrote: | I'll just tick you off as an atheist. |
By god you could be onto something _________________ “I even went as far as becoming a Southern Baptist until I realised they didn’t keep ‘em under long enough” Kinky Friedman |
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Skids
Quitting drinking will be one of the best choices you make in your life.
Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Location: Joined 3/6/02 . Member #175
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Your censorship of my posts is verging on ridiculous and to be Frank, is discriminatiory of my opinions.
I post a legitimate link, to members of Islam pushing for the Rugby team, the Crusaders to change their name and mascot/logo... it gets deleted.
How about victims of the Bali bombing, or suicide bombers being offended by Essendons name?
It's a legitimate question and response, to a ridiculous demand from a cult. _________________ Don't count the days, make the days count. |
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Pies4shaw
pies4shaw
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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Skids wrote: |
I post a ... link, to members of Islam pushing for the Rugby team, the Crusaders to change their name and mascot/logo... it gets deleted.
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Not that I care - but calling a team "The Crusaders" is, to Muslims, what calling a footy team "Al Qaeda" would be to us. You know what happened in the Crusades, right? |
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Wokko
Come and take it.
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
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The Crusades we're defensive wars against Islamic expansion. Well except the messed up one that attacked Constantinople. |
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Pies4shaw
pies4shaw
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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Well, we can trust you to drive a very big truck through the gaping difficulties of historical analysis, I suppose. |
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