Rules & Guidelines Updated on 23 May 2006

Welcome to the Religion Forum
The Religion Forum is a place for the free exchange of thoughts and feelings on topics connected with religion. We hope you'll find it a useful place to meet friends. Issues of faith, morality, spirituality, religious history or ritual, and more are all welcome topics on the Religion Forum.

If you wish, you may change the name you are known as in this Forum.

Following are the specific agreements for participation in the Religion Forum:

Membership Requirements
The only requirements for membership are:

(a) A willingness to recognize that each person's religious beliefs or lack of beliefs deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and consideration and
(b) A willingness to abide by the rules of the forum, cooperate with the staff, and abide by decisions of the staff.

Grievances and Procedures
Please read the general guidelines on forum courtesy as well as examples for rephrasing potentially offensive messages.

If you have a concern about a decision we make, please send a Private Message to Forum Manager Tom Sims or to Assistant Forum Manager Ivy Shahin. They will review the situation or ruling and make a determination. The decision of the Forum Managers will be final.

Please remember that messages are posted as soon as you enter them and are not pre-screened. The staff watches for rule-breaking messages, but may not see them before you do.

Rules
Forum management reserves the right to move messages to various sections where they may deem appropriate at their discretion.

(1) You are responsible for knowing and complying with these rules as a condition of participation. In addition to these guidelines, all forum members are required to observe the CompuServe Online Information Service Agreement terms, CompuServe Information Service Operating Rules, and their other contractual obligations to CompuServe.

(2) Behavior that, in the judgment of forum staff, violates or advocates violations of any law will not be allowed. This includes laws designed to protect children.

(3) Please respect the beliefs of others. Do not post antagonistic messages against a particular religion - especially in sections dedicated to the discussion of that religion.

(4) No threats of any kind are allowed in the forum.

(5) Do not impersonate another person, living or dead.

(6) No obscenity, profanity, explicit sexual references, lewdness, or abusive language is allowed. No offensive nicknames are allowed.

(7) No direct insults or personal attacks against the person rather than the message or idea. Calling other people liars or accusing them of willfully lying is in bad taste, is poor communication, and is not allowed.

(8) Do not tell people what they should or should not believe. Present your own beliefs without "preaching" at people.

(9) Messages are to be posted here in English.

(10) No "spamming" (multiple postings) of messages or files is allowed.

(11) No advertisements will be permitted except in sponsored sections and by the sponsors themselves or their delegates. Forum Sponsorships are available for purchase; send email to Forum Manager Tom Sims for details.

(12) Do not disrupt in forum discussions or conferences or the business of the forum by posting argumentative messages about forum staff and policies or the internal business of the forum.

(13) Do not harass members or staff.

(14) Messages that, in the judgment of staff, advocate hatred and racism are not allowed in the forum.

(15) Participation in the forum is at the sole discretion of forum management.

(16) Content of the forum is the property of the forum and the authors. It is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission.

(17) Private e-mail may not be posted here by third parties.

(18) Forum staff will remove postings deemed to be in violation of other peoples' copyrights.

(19) Each message writer is responsible for what he or she writes; neither the forum nor the staff assumes responsibility, legal or otherwise, for what is written here by others. All members agree to this stipulation.