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Table of Contents
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Preamble
- This is important, so make sure you read it.
- The views and attitudes expressed on the board and Wiki are not necessarily the views and attitudes of the management.
The Rules
Rule One: Free Speech and Censorship
Censorship is not to be taken lightly, but we do reserve the right to edit or delete posts in extreme circumstances. Any libelous material will be removed immediately, and the poster of such material may be subject to suspension or banning.
Everyone is encouraged to share their views and opinions. Although we do our best to maintain a friendly atmosphere, debates can often become heated. Please avoid starting or participating in flame wars. However, if you dish it out, be prepared to have it served back to you… without whining.
Rule Two: Personal Attacks
Clause 1: Personal attacks based upon: race, gender, sexual orientation and bodily attributes are an absolute no-no; calling someone an ugly, bucktoothed nigger dyke is not allowed, basically. Nor are such attacks allowed by minorities against majorities: prejudice is prejudice, whatever the source. Judge people on what they say, not what they are. To clarify what is meant here by sexual orientation: consensual adult relationships which are not by nature abusive.
Clause 2: Attacks on religious preferences, philosophical standpoints, political views and personal tastes are A-OK; if you can't defend your preferences, maybe you should think about why you hold them. Ditto your religion.
Rule Three: Swearing, Sex, Rock and Roll
Clause 1: Try to keep the swearing to a minimum. The odd word here and there in the heat of passion is fine, but we don't want every other word to be a swear-word. Lots of people don't like it that much, and we aim to make this board good for everyone rather than just a few people.
Clause 2: No naked people doing things to other naked people, animals doing things to animals or naked people, naked people doing things with objects to themselves or others, and so on.
Clause 3: If you dish out great steaming bowlfuls of insult soup, be prepared for someone else to throw it back in your face, along with the bowl and spoon. As for threats of violence or eternal hellfire, don't even think about it.
Rule Four: Lying Makes Baby Jesus Cry
Try not to lie too much to other posters. Under this heading: no preaching is allowed. This includes posting religious quotations not within the context of a debate about religious writings, attempting to bring other people to your religion by threatening them with punishments or by spamming your particular religion's writings. You are free to debate different interpretations of your holy books or events or prophecies therein or properties of your god(s) with other believers or with Atheists. Any and all writings from religious sources which are not within this context will be deleted as soon as they are seen. For the religious: try to bear in mind that for Atheists, your holy books have as little as or less meaning than Spot the Dog.
Rule Five: Up In Flames
Don't start flamewars. If you do, your posting privileges and fingers may be cut off without warning.
Rule Six: Covering Our Asses
We reserve the right to change these rules at any time. We'll try to give prior notice if we absolutely have to change them, but we might have to change them without it. This is a standard CYA clause, so don't whine about it.
Rule Seven: Motherf***er!
We reserve the right to edit or censor posts which we consider inflammatory, against the rules or for any other reasons we deem appropriate.
Rule Eight: Godwin's Law - ET's Serious Face
- Anyone making a reductio ad Hitlerum will be bitchslapped immediately.
- Anyone making fatuous Nazi comparisons will have his/her post edited immediately.
Your Rights
Right One: Redress of Grievances
Clause 1: If you're feeling aggrieved about something, we will do our best to ensure that you receive fair and equitable treatment at the hands of any and all authority figures. We will do the best we possibly can to ensure that your grievances get a public airing and fair hearing.
Clause 2: If you have a grievance, tell us! We - the admins and moderators - cannot babysit the board all day long. As proud as we are that this board is largely self-regulating, there are occasions when the iron jackboot of discipline must come crashing down on our little laissez-faire, laissez-aller community. If you feel mistreated by a moderator or administrator, tell us and we will give it our full attention. But unless we're told about it, we can't guarantee that we will see it. This is by way of an official disclaimer regarding all trolls and rule violations: if you don't tell us, we might not know, so don't complain later that we are ignoring a problem. We aren't; we're only human, after all (I'm not, but I pretend for tax reasons - ET), and we can't be expected to see everything that goes on.
Right Two: Freedom of Expression
You have the right to say anything you like which is not covered in Rule One.
Right Three: Personal Silence
You have the right to remain silent on personal views and issues or about your identity. If someone is badgering you about it, they will get the kick in the head. We don't care who you are really; if you can hold your own in debate, good luck to you. Man, woman or hermaphrodite, we don't care. If you have gills and trunk, however, we really want to see, just because that'd be kind of interesting…
Right Four: Freedom of Religious and Political Conscience
Congress shall make no law… Hang on, wrong document. As we're on the subject, any and all religious creeds, political standpoints and ideologies are welcome to participate in debate at AVT
Caveat: Don't complain if you're proved wrong, and don't blame us; it's your religion. See also Rule2.
