As a result of the above linked poll, the following amendment has been made to the rules:
"Topics and/or posts on religion and/or politics are not permitted here."
There will be a grace period of 7 days to allow existing topics to wind down, but no new ones should be posted during that time. After that time frame, the ones still open will be locked.
As a result of the above linked poll, the following amendment has been made to the rules:
"Topics and/or posts on religion and/or politics are not permitted here."
There will be a grace period of 7 days to allow existing topics to wind down, but no new ones should be posted during that time. After that time frame, the ones still open will be locked.
Since a discussion on evolution touches on neither politics nor religion, I expect that will be allowed to continue.
I would expect that not to be the case as no discussion on evolution ever stays separate from religion. Certainly the active one here now has not performed under that expectation.
I would expect that not to be the case as no discussion on evolution ever stays separate from religion. Certainly the active one here now has not performed under that expectation.
Perhaps people who bring up religion then could be disciplined, rather than punish everyone else who is obeying the rules by locking the thread.
Or you could just abide by the decision and live with it.
I don't think it takes much of a leap of common sense to know that a topic on biological evolution will result in someone bringing it up, period. You want to start splitting hairs, we can surely amend things to cover that, but you could just as easily stop making such a fuss about it to begin with. Or you could take Sandi's advice and go open yourself a forum where evolution can be discussed ad nauseam.
KaVir said:
May I propose a clarification that the rule only apply to real world (as opposed to in-game MUD-related) religion and politics?
Yes, you can, and that's a good point.
Does this work?
Quote
Topics and/or posts on religion and/or politics as it pertains to the real world are not permitted here.
Or should it have a specific mention of in-game material as an exception?
I don't think it takes much of a leap of common sense to know that a topic on biological evolution will result in someone bringing it up, period.
Except the rule doesn't say "don't bring things up likely to make someone else talk about religion". The rule doesn't make me responsible for what other people do. Therefore I expect to be able to start a thread on evolution.
The problem is that for some people the mere existence of the "theory of evolution" is either a heresy, or at least a threat, to their beliefs. I feel in fairness to all, it needs to be considered out of bounds.
The problem is that for some people the mere existence of the "theory of evolution" is either a heresy, or at least a threat, to their beliefs. I feel in fairness to all, it needs to be considered out of bounds.
Are discussions of astronomy out too, since they refute a 6,000 year old earth?
Apparently some folks are incapable of functioning on more than just the explicitly stated text. That's not our problem. If you can't reasonably conclude a topic on evolution will spark a religious debate, that's on you, not on the text of the rules.
I don't think it takes much of a leap of common sense to know that a topic on biological evolution will result in someone bringing it up, period.
Except the rule doesn't say "don't bring things up likely to make someone else talk about religion". The rule doesn't make me responsible for what other people do. Therefore I expect to be able to start a thread on evolution.
Apparently some folks are incapable of functioning on more than just the explicitly stated text. That's not our problem. If you can't reasonably conclude a topic on evolution will spark a religious debate, that's on you, not on the text of the rules.
If evolution is out all I'm saying is put it in the rules so people know. I sincerely do not think a discussion of evolution falls under that rule, and if it's meant to, it should say so explicitly.
Do you have some actual point to make or are you going to nitpick your way through this ad nauseam?
In any case, this is what it's being amended to:
Quote
* Topics and/or posts on religion and/or politics are not permitted here. An exception is made for discussion of in-game specific politics and religion. + As a secondary to this, topics on Darwinism/biological evolution are also not permitted as they have a high chance of sparking religious flamewars. + Other topics will be judged as needed at the discretion of the MudBytes staff.
And in case you really want to nitpick, yes, we're counting admins and moderators together in that lump called "staff".
As a result of the above linked poll, the following amendment has been made to the rules:
"Topics and/or posts on religion and/or politics are not permitted here."
There will be a grace period of 7 days to allow existing topics to wind down, but no new ones should be posted during that time. After that time frame, the ones still open will be locked.