Moderation Questions and General Chat Thread

The Don’t Do This Section

We have a bunch of rules and guidelines, site-wide as well as forum specific, that are oriented towards DON’T DO THIS or DON’T SAY THAT. They are listed in detail in the website rules as well as below in this post. Don’t view those rules as goals to see how far you can go in disrupting our forum before you get bounced; rather view them as things to be avoided as they are counterproductive to achieving our goals of an enjoyable venue to talk politics.

(a) No-content posting. No-content posting is not permitted. Please make sure that your posts contribute positively. Examples of a no content post are “Duh!”; “LOLOLOL” or many of the other memes you may find in other forums on the site (inb4….; about 350). If you are posting a video, twitter or article headline, don’t just post it alone. Provide a comment summarizing the video or giving your take on the topic.

(b) Posts that attack another poster rather than address the issue of the thread. This includes rude, insulting, or snarky comments that add nothing to the discussion but rather seek to ridicule, demean or embarrass another poster. Accusing a poster of lying, gaslighting, trolling or other terms indicating a deliberate bad faith action will be avoided. We will assume posters are posting in good faith unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. If you believe this is the case, report the post to the moderators; do not accuse the poster in the thread. Likewise, if you feel you have been unjustly accused of such an action, report the post; after an initial denial of the accusation, do not respond further in the thread.

(c) Racist posts and other bigoted statements that target a particular group or individuals of such groups (such as members of the LGBTQ community or African Americans) with derogatory comments are not allowed.

Specific guidelines for Transgender Topics.

The following guidelines will be enforced on all threads and posts related to transgender topics. It is recognized that some people may have very strong beliefs concerning transgender persons that are diametrically opposed to these guidelines. Nonetheless, the following guidelines are in effect and posters who violate these guidelines will be subject to the same disciplinary procedures as other violators of forum rules and guidelines.

It is the policy of this forum that we support the major Medical Organizations positions that unequivocally state that transgender people are NOT mentally ill, and do not suffer from a mental disorder. The leading reference works for mental disorders, the DSM-5 of the American Psychiatric Association made that clear over 10 years ago, and maintained that position in the recent DSM-5-TR revision. The World Health Organization also moved gender incongruence out of the mental illness category in ICD-11. As more and more research is done, the idea that transgender persons have a mental disorder fades more and more into the past. Therefore, that is not a matter that will be put up for debate in the forum. It will be treated as a given that transgender people do not have any form of mental health disorder or illness.

It is our desire in this forum to provide a welcoming environment for all people to discuss various topics free from personal attacks. There few attacks more personal and harmful and disrespectful than to state that a person has a mental illness when they do not. Therefore any posts or discussions stating such will be deleted, and appropriate action, including banning from the site, will be taken against posters who fail to adhere to these guidelines.

Other prohibited posts include the use of slur terms such as tranny or transformers, among others to refer to either individual posters or transgender persons as a group. Deliberately misgendering transgender people who publicly present themselves as one gender is considered rude and hurtful by many in the transgender community and is strongly discouraged. However, absence certain context, just the act of using the opposite pronoun in the course of a discussion will not in itself result in deletion or other mod actions. However, statements like "fixed your post " while changing she to he, or bolding a pronoun to emphasize that rather than simply making an on topic post will be considered trolling and removed.

The overriding principle in play here is that transgender people exist, are not mentally ill, and have the right to present themselves publicly as they see fit. And as a matter of simple respect that we accord to anyone, there is no place for the deliberate use of other terms to disrespect their gender identity.

There will be some to whom these guidelines will be unacceptable and in conflict with their personal beliefs. And that's fine. There are many other places on the internet where like-minded people gather to share those beliefs with one another. If you can't post on transgender topics without including those beliefs, by all means leave here and go there.

There will be no transgender catch all thread to discuss transgender issues just as we have no catch all threads to discuss other LGBTQ groups. There will be no threads or posts about whether transgender people exist, have mental illness, or deserve to be treated with the same respect as others. Rather, if there are specific issues that affect politics or society, such as participation of transgender people in sports, or issues concerning proposed laws about bathroom use or education curriculum, those are appropriate. But only as the discussion pertains to the thread topic and doesn't devolve back into direct and indirect references to mental illness or if transgenderism is real, or gets filled with anti-transgender slurs.

Though these guidelines are straightforward, if you have any questions about whether a post of yours is within the guidelines I encourage you to check with a mod before posting it.

(d) Extremist views well outside of the mainstream will not be allowed: offensive conspiracy theories, posts that glorify violence, call to arms etc. Do not post-election conspiracy theories without sources. Such posts go in the riggie containment thread. Due to the nature of the current health crisis, we will not allow conspiracy theories surrounding Covid-19 to be propagated, nor will we allow Covid-19 denial or posting that attempts to undermine the severity of the crisis.

*** Posts of the type that suggest certain people involved in recent unrest in the US deserved to be hurt or killed. Insofar as there is any point to talking about "sides" in this regard, these statements have not been limited to one side of the classic political axis. Such posts will not be accepted and this is not up for debate. Frankly, if anyone's political inclination has led them to a point where they think fellow citizens should be hurt / killed in vigilante actions, as targets of political violence or a result of unfortunate confrontations, then the person thinking that should take a deep breath, take a step back and do some serious introspection. Because whatever ideological path that person is on has taken them to a bad place. ***

(e) Critiquing other posters’ posting style. Inserting comments like “yeah, he never provides citations to back him up” into the middle of an ongoing discussion adds nothing and shifts focus from the topic to the poster personally.

(f) Rehashing old arguments in a new thread. Keep comments focused on today’s topic. Bringing up old arguments or positions that don’t affect the discussion today add nothing and shift the focus to the poster rather than the argument. If a poster says today he supports Trump, it doesn’t really matter if he said he didn’t two years ago. Let it go. Bringing up past posts from other threads or forums that don’t apply to the current topic is not allowed. E.g. “you said in NVG 6 months ago…”