Board Founder/Admin Eric K states: Admin and Moderators are all volunteers and no one is paid. Since we have real lives outside the site, please allow 24 - 48 hours for a response to an email. (CZ, previous Chief Mod, is now Board Owner, as previously noted).

SITE PURPOSE: This site's purpose is to let people who are, or were, in Mormonism know that they are not alone in their feelings and experiences or in their quests to regain their lives after years in this religion. We have bulletin boards, gatherings and individuals to help with a transition to a post-Mormon life. We advocate no specific religious preference or religious activities after Mormonism. Our active participants are diverse and from differing cultural backgrounds throughout the world. This board is for those who were once believers and for their friends, families and interested individuals to learn of the cultural aspects of Mormonism.


POLITICAL DISCUSSION: In February 2017, the longstanding “No Politics” rule was revised to the following (as previously posted by Eric and still existing at top of Discussion Board):

We have had a longstanding policy not to allow politics on RfM. Mormonism intersects with politics, but discussion of political issues is often divisive, not conducive to the purpose of this board and the guidelines (summarized in full in a separate post above and also highlighted below in this post).

When Eric decided to try out some discussion of politics a couple of years ago, he stated: “We will allow some leeway in political posts insofar as they pertain to religion. If this gets out of hand, we will stop again. This is tough and we can never please everyone. Please no bashing for political views - we do not allow preaching, religious or political. These are strange times. As a group we seem to help one another with topics that are bit off from Mormonism. Let's give it a try.”

He added: “Let's keep it to ***religion oriented politics.*** Otherwise this is not going to work. We can go to thousands of sites for political debate. This will get us off track.”

PLEASE NOTE: The guideline is … political posts ***insofar as they pertain to religion***. And: “Let’s keep it to religion oriented politics.”

***Partisan politics are strongly discouraged and subject to deletion*** (being on one side and against another). Also, discussing world leaders, elections and general political issues will likely be deleted. For the US, discussion of the last election or the current administration, especially major political figures by name, will be deleted.

If your post pertains to ideas and questions and comments in general, with wide-ranging application, AND ***you directly relate them to Mormonism or religion*** it will likely fit within the new (experimental) guidelines about allowing limited discussion of politics, ***as it relates to Mormonism.***

How to distinguish between an acceptable post and one that will be deleted:

Romney's run raised the Mormon "White Horse Prophecy" which this far in the past would likely be OK to discuss as long as it does not stray into partisan political remarks. Relating it to JS would be considered to be on topic (Mormon history, so directly related to discussion of Mormonism).

Mention of a current event (i.e. attacks or other tragedies) is likely OK but only in the context of expressing best wishes to those involved, not commenting on perpetrators or reasons or blame extrapolated to entire groups of people.

Topics such as Charlie Hebdo, IS and other major political events and discussions are very likely to be deleted asap. Too divisive and off topic for RfM.

Comparisons of belief systems such as Christianity and Islam are cautiously allowed but discussion of Mid East political policy and acts of extremism are not. Too divisive and off topic for RfM.

The above causes too much contention between posters and too much extra work for moderators.

The best way to observe board rules (thereby being courteous to CZ, Eric, fellow posters and mods) and not get deleted is to avoid making partisan political statements AND ***to relate your comments to Mormonism/religion.***


If posters can't help but bring divisive politics into their remarks we will likely scale back this experiment of loosening the No Politics rule or stop it immediately. Otherwise, it's just too much work for the mods and creates a negative atmosphere on the board.


Discussion of political ideologies, internal politics of various countries, world political history and similar topics do not fall within the purpose of RfM. Please cease and desist. If you are interested in those topics, find a more suitable place for such discussions.


OTHER REMINDERS:

SWEARING/LANGUAGE: Our forum is a public place. If you wouldn't say it in the grocery store, don't say it here. Kindly warn in the subject line if there is strong language or content in the post that might offend (use warning such as “Adult Content” or “Swearing”). Please do not use vulgar language in the subject line or as a board name. It must be kept in the body of your post. (The reason is so RfM can be a welcoming place for first-time readers who may not be comfortable with strong language or topics, such as questioning Mormons, one of the primary groups that RfM exists for. We ask that even with subject line warnings your language and message content maintain our “PG-13” goal).

POSITIVE INTERACTIONS: Disagree with other posters - don't attack. Do not question the story or sincerity of another poster. Leave it to Admin. (You can make a report if you think something is up. Don’t do it on the board).

INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY: Attacks on individuals for sexual orientation are instantly removed.


DELETIONS: Posts subject to deletion include: Attacks on other posters, squabbling between posters, those clearly against board rules and those with profanity in the subject line.

Here are some examples of posts that will likely get removed:

1. Personal attacks
2. Politics (terrorism, party politics, foreign policy etc)
3. Preaching
4. Attempts to deliberately stir up trouble
5. Faking a conversation by answering your own posts under different names (puppeteering)
6. Complaints about censorship (ironic, ain't it)
7. Complaints about Admin (email Admin with questions or problems)
8. Advertising and solicitations for money
9. Legal issues not cleared in ADVANCE through Admin
10. Copyrighted material
11. Posts about a topic that the moderators have said to drop
12. Anything that collects personal information
13. Requests for signatures on petitions or links to petitions, interview requests not cleared IN ADVANCE with Admin. Requests for people to contact you off board
14. Anything illegal (includes illegal drugs)

The above list is not exhaustive.


Deliberate attacks on the board itself or repeatedly ignoring rules or instructions from the moderators is likely to result in all of your posts being removed. Our moderators' time is too valuable to waste on people who deliberately cause trouble. Don't do it.


We do not lightly delete any posts, unless they are blatantly against obvious Board guidelines. We try to be fair and see all sides of an issue. That is why you may sometimes feel we are slow to act. Our deletion tool is dull rather than sharp, as it is our last resort, in our efforts to give people room to express what’s on their mind. But don’t purposely take advantage, and please be patient with us. You are welcome to express your point of view in email or by using the Report button to contact Admin. Not so much to complain on the board itself. That distracts from useful discussion and lowers the tenor of the board.

Thanks again for your efforts to observe these guidelines. We will update as needed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2019 02:30PM by maude.