LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Wow. Go away for a day and win a speaking contest, and I find that this community is in a total uproar.

Over what? Ah, yes, apologetics. This is not an apologetic community. This is a investigative and educational community. The subject happens to be Christianity, and the focus is on people who use the guise of very radical interpretations of the Christian faith to foster their political aims. Our discussion aims to reveal these often stealthy and underhanded people and their schemes and differentiate their actions and beliefs from those of traditional Christians. They are often very close- but the Dominionists want to take rights away from people who do not believe exactly the way they do, and rule this country under very harsh Biblical laws. The major difference is this: They want to impose their beliefs under rule of law. That is the bright line we must maintain.

And for the most part, we've been successful. It's a mighty bright and fine line we draw when discussing such an explosive subject. Sometimes it's too explosive. Some folks come in with their own pro-or anti- Christian agendas and try to foist them upon us. Some don't do their homework or read the User Info page. Others don't seem to want to mind their manners, and then attack those who remind them about the purpose of manners.

It gets tiresome to remind such people that their own LJs are the place for such antics. There are a lot of people here, and sometimes the signal-to-noise level gets out of hand. And sometimes things are repeated. In a community this large, that is to be expected. Unfortunately, there are folks who- for whatever reason- do not see the bigger picture, and who put their own agendas in place of the one of this community. Maybe they're attracted to all the eyeballs here and the built-in audience. Maybe they're having a bad day and posted to DC instead of their own LJ. Whatever the reason, this is not the place for such nonsense, and we cannot tolerate deviation from the guidelines. Doing so gives carte blanche to others to in turn do their own disrupting, and ultimately has a destabilizing effect on the entire community. That is not its purpose. This isn't a drama club.

My vision for creating this community was to educate and awaken, and for the most part, it has done so. The people I selected as moderators of this very busy and explosive community are people I trust to maintain that vision. I trust them to maintain the stability and order of this community, and they do a damn good job. Attacking them is not something I care for. They're doing my job in my absence. None of us is making any money or getting any credit for running this community- it is a labor of love. The mod team are all volunteers- they can quit at any time.

The level of education and insight displayed by posters here is astonishing. I learn something new here every day. In that way, DC has paid off for me- and anyone seeking to learn more about Dominionist Christianity- enormously. I really like the levelheaded discourses I find in the comments- and I do take time to read all of them. I'm here to learn, too. But when things go flying off the rails, it becomes difficult for me not to want to pull the plug on the entire thing. I have a low tolerance for nonsense. I give people the benefit of the doubt, but if they continue to violate the guidelines, they cannot be permitted to remain a member of Dark Christianity. My moderator team has the authority to remove people in my absence if they cannot follow the simple rules we've set out.

Folks, we have to play nice here. I know that to some, that's a cliched phrase, but considering the subject matter, it's the main guideline. And staying on topic is the other main guideline. If the subject is obscure, the link to Dominionist purposes has to be shown. No foil hattery, no rumors- just solid links. I don't expect research on dogemperor's level, but I do expect you to do your homework. There's a lot of brainpower here. Use it wisely.

Let's get back on topic now, shall we?