New forum rules: all members must read before posting!

[Paul Moshe Arking]

This forum-wide announcement is to notify all members that Joey and I have instituted new rules for participating in this forum. They are:

1. All posts must be clearly free of ad hominem attacks, whether directed at other members or non-members, rabbis or laymen, the living or the dead.
   
2. Furthermore, the following types of posts are from now on unacceptable: socially disrespectful posts, slanderous posts, and any other type of post that is not limited to the discussion of facts and opinions that are respectfully communicated for the purpose of civil and intellectual discourse or debate. Therefore, posts made with the apparent sole intention of ridiculing, slandering, or attacking another person or another person's actions are unacceptable.
   
3. Joey and I are the "judges" of compliance and are effectively implementing a zero-tolerance policy. If you cannot abide by these rules, you are free to leave. If you decide to stay and post, follow the rules. If you think we are wrong in any moderating decision we make, you can of course take it up with us, but—as this is our site—we are the final arbiters of any disagreement and decision.

NOTE: Any post made from this point on signifies the acknowledgement, understanding, and agreement of the poster with these rules.

While there are undoubtedly a few of you who will be upset by this and will grumble about free speech and such, we'd like to remind you that although we wholeheartedly agree with the concept of free speech in general (Gd bless America!), unfortunately there are certain circumstances which understandably limit its application.

One example of such circumstances is when, as owners/moderators of this site, we are unfortunately subject to the whims and repercussions of a sometimes overly-judgmental community as a result of of posts on our site. Of course, we all know that members' posts do not necessarily reflect the opinions of all, but unfortunately we don't always have the luxury of explaining that before rumors get out of hand and, when one of us earns virtually his entire parnassah directly from the community (all parts of the spectrum), it's not something we can afford to take lightly, and our tolerance of and respect for others cannot afford be called into question.

So, like many other organizations that have to put slight limitations on free speech to protect themselves from liability, we have no choice but to do this, and we hope you can respect our situation and our decision.

Finally, and more importantly, we have reached the conclusion that without a certain minimum level of decorum, the intellectual nature of our site ends up being cheapened and diluted.

In light of all this, you may have noticed that Joey and I have removed those existing posts/topics that we found on the site that do not comply with the new guidelines. We apologize in advance to those of you who enjoyed them and participated in them, but, again, we have to maintain a certain decorum for everyone's sake.

Thank you for your understanding.