RULES OF CONDUCT FOR THIS FORUM

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RULES OF CONDUCT FOR THIS FORUM

THESE RULES ARE NOT FINAL AND MAY BE EDITED AT ANY TIME.

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1. Introduction.
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Give us your nutters, your cranks, your theists yearning to be free, and in the spirit of Freethought, we'll do our best to oblige them.

The Rational Response Squad/No God Network will not allow a chaotic zoo in which troublemakers are allowed to prevent anyone from exploration of Freethought, nor do we want a stifling jail house, where freedom of speech of not encouraged.

These House Rules outline a minuscule set of conventions of good conduct that aim at fostering a friendly, open and stimulating atmosphere crucial for the kind of forum we would like to preserve that includes a consistent framework for dealing with destructive shenanigans.

As the owners of this site, we reserve the right to remove anyone from our site, at any time, for any reason. We will not provide financial and/or commercial support for anyone whose main goal could be detrimental to this site. We will not publish anything online from anyone who makes deceptive or dishonest claims in order to undermine the credibility or viability of this site. We are open to criticism in order to improve the site, but attacks personal or otherwise, are not acceptable, especially from people who aren't willing to admit that they could be wrong.

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2. Rules & Conventions.
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The moderators are the sole arbitrators of the House Rules and will pass judgment on a case-by-case basis. Community members can contact a mod if they think the rules should be enhanced or altered in some way. 

Offenders will be dealt with in accordance to section 3 below at mod discretion.

Members are expected to help out the moderators by reporting disruptive violations of the House Rules within a reasonable time period after the alleged violation occurs.

These House Rules are not meant as legal codes that doles out justice, but instead is a basic guide for good conduct. Because of this, moderators are under no obligation to take on a case if it seems counter-productive to do so; e.g. taking retro-active measures that do not effect the present atmosphere of the board. Moderators would prefer to NOT to have to ban anyone from this board, but must utilize these rules due to the size of the community and the vast amount of personality types that will frequent it.

Moderators are subject to the House Rules on par with all other members. If a moderator is directly involved in a dispute, her or she is considered to be a regular member for the purpose of adjudicating the case in question.

Should there be any issues regarding a moderator, please PM another moderator regarding the issue. Moderators are in regular contact via a special private forum, and must justify their actions there. After the issue is discussed between moderators, a representative not directly involved in the questionable action will contact you concerning the decision. Do not post your gripes about moderation of the forum on the forum itself, such action is considered to be akin to attacking the sites, and shows a lack of genuine interest in mere discussion.  Trying to interpret the rules to tell other members in public that they have broken forum rules especially site owners and admins is not permissable.  The moderators at RRS tend to be rather forgiving, do not try to interpret the rules or call others out on them.  Don't hold a grudge, contact another mod!

2.1. Antagonism.
Antagonism is giving one or more members a hard time. Cases typically comprise a series of provocations, each not necessarily sanctionable in its own right. Incidents can include, but are by no means limited to the following:

  1. Slander/Libel
  2. Clear intent to not argue a position, but to merely attack a person
  3. Trolling
  4. Abuse
  5. Bullying

The notoriously fickle and blurry nature of such exchanges makes it nearly impossible to draw up a precise definition of exactly what constitutes Antagonism. Moderators are more often than not simply forced to draw upon their vast and collective experience to adjudicate when enough is enough, and take whatever steps they deem necessary in order to keep the peace, good will and reputation of the board.

2.2. Sock Puppetry and Screen Names.
Sock puppetry is the registration of multiple accounts or the purpose of creating login-names that mimic other people's monikers. Sock puppet accounts will be deleted. People who have screen names that are misleading may be asked to change their name, for example, theists who use the screen name "An Atheist" or "Rational Thinker" or a male using the name "younggirl20."

2.3. Threats.
Threats are totally unacceptable and offenders may be exiled without warning at the moderators' discretion.

2.4. Spam.
The posting of spam to promote products, sites, or services not affiliated with RationalResponders.com, FreethinkingingTeens.com, Atheistnetwork.com, MargaretDowney.com,  AsktheAtheist.com, CelebAtheists.com or any other site in the Rational Response Squad Network roof is strictly prohibited. Interested parties are welcome to take out ad-space at our affordable rates instead. Contact Offenders will be exiled and content deleted on sight.

Cross-postings, hit-and-run proselytism, and other posts that create unreasonable janitor-chores for the moderators may be removed without notice and sanctioned either by exile or temporary ban depending on the nature of the spam at the call of the moderator.

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3. How rules are applied.
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3.1 Post deletion and edit
Offending posts may be deleted without notice. If a moderator must edit a post to remove offending remarks, a note will be made by mod. Posts may also be moved to a more appropriate forum without notice.

3.2 Warnings
We want to give you as much room as possible to prove you can handle yourself here. Warnings for gross misconduct will be issued as often as deemed necessary by the mod team.

3.3 Good Deed Clause
Redemption is sometimes possible through a Good Deeds clause. This would normally involve a victim accepting a sincere apology from the offender. If the victim and offender have made amends, moderators will look at the situation and act accordingly.

3.4 Ban
When necessary, we reserve the right to remove a person's posting privileges for a short period of time, or forever. An inactive account can always be reinstated should the mods choose to allow it, so if you are banned, DO NOT burn your bridge back to the community. Contact one of us in private to voice any complaints/apologies.

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4. Common Courtesy.
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  1. Quickly check if your topic is being discussed in another thread before starting a new one.
  2. New threads should be posted in appropriate forums.
  3. Please do not derail threads more than strictly necessary and get back on topic ASAP unless it has pretty much been "running its course" at that point anyway.
  4. Many people frown on thread-jamming (i.e. interrupting the flow of a thread with brief posts without really participating in the discussion). If this becomes an issue, please use the private messages for such exchanges, as this board is open to all our members.
  5. Notifications of news, events, gatherings and the like of pertinence to the world of Freethought are considered community services rather than spam and belong to the News & Current Events forums or one of the activism forums.
  6. Known members may use their signature space to promote personal projects of interest to other members at the moderators' discretion.

 


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Terms and Conditions were

Terms and Conditions were added to the registration page tonight.  All new users must sign off on them.  (suggested by: Hambydamnit)

 

GENERAL GUIDELINES

The Rational Response Squad Community is a registration-based bulletin board which posts messages in real-time. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of RRS or any entity associated with RRS. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, so please realize that we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.

The Message Board is provided as a community tool for the purpose of allowing group discussions relevant to specific topics.

In certain forums, moderators assigned by RRS may post additional forum rules or offer additional guidance, including but not limited to general tone, subject matter, use of signatures or images in posts, etc. Such guidelines serve as an amendment to the Rules. Awareness of these forum rules and adherance to moderator guidance is the responsibility of the user. Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in restricted access to some Message Board features including but not limited to posting privileges.

Although RRS does not and cannot review the messages posted and is not responsible for the content of any of these messages, we reserve the right to delete any message for any or no reason whatsoever.

We also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

Member-generated advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are not permitted on this Message Board and may result in restricted access to some Message Board features including but not limited to posting privileges.

Cross-posting messages to multiple forums is considered spamming and may result in restricted access to some Message Board features including but not limited to posting privileges.

MEMBER CONDUCT

You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials ("Content&quotEye-wink, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. This means that you, and not RationalResponders.com, it's owners, partners, and sister sites (refered to as RRS from this point forward), are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available via the Message Board or our website and any sister site of ours. RRS does not control the Content posted via the site and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content. You understand that by using the Message Board, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances will RRS be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available via the Message Board.

You agree to not use the Message Board to:
a. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
b. harm minors in any way;
c. impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, an RRS official, forum leader, friend; or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
d. forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Message Board;
e. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
f. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights ("Rights&quotEye-wink of any party;
g. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation, except in those areas (such as shopping rooms) that are designated for such purpose;
h. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
i. disrupt the normal flow of dialogue or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users' ability to engage in exchanges of Content;
j. interfere with or disrupt the Message Board or servers or networks connected to the Message Board, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Message Board;
k. intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, including, but not limited to, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law;
l. "stalk" or otherwise harass another; or
m. collect or store personal data about other users.

You acknowledge that RRS does not pre-screen Content, but that RRS and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or move any Content that is available via the Message Board. Without limiting the foregoing, RRS and its designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates the TOS or is otherwise determined to be objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content. In this regard, you acknowledge that you may not rely on any Content created by RRS or submitted to RRS, including all parts of the Message Board.

You understand that any Content you post becomes the property of RRS and you acknowledge and agree that RRS may preserve Content and may also disclose Content if required to do so by law or in the good belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce the TOS; (c) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of RRS, its users and the public.

You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Message Board, including your Content, may involve (a) transmissions over various networks; and (b) changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices.