Here at AboveTopSecret.com we do NOT advocate anything, we don't endorse anything, we are the proverbial fence. Were we to endorse a cause or position we instantly become opposed to its counter position. In doing that we lose that side of the issue's representation here.

The ONLY "officially sanctioned" thing we have ever participated in is giving money to a charity that teaches adults to read. We pulled out of that when we found out the material they were "teaching" with was nothing but ONE SIDED political propaganda!

To think this site could possibly endorse one position of ANY topic is to utterly misunderstand why we built this site. The Denial of Ignorance is NOT a call to arms or action.



It is the courteous discussion and debate of ALL sides of EVERY issue important to humanity. AboveTopSecret will never endorse a specific "side" or position on any issue by allowing those whose agenda needs attention or support to recruit that support on this site PERIOD.

By allowing that sort of acitivity (recruiting or "gathering") we endorse the "recruiter's" position by proxy.

My suggestion is for those who feel the need to recruit people to their cause is to go to any of the thousands of sites who embrace that activity or create a site yourself and get busy.

Springer...


[edit on 4-7-2006 by Springer]

Excellent reminder...

It's good to see it said, the last thing ATS needs is the media painting it in a bad light. Already it is open to such attacks due to the actions of its members and allowing groups of people to gather here could in reality cause a lot of harm which is unfair to the other members.

If you desire to go protest or be militant, many websites are built to cater to such things. Here we hopefully learn.

The Noblest Cause

Whenever I see the administration of ATS reaffirm this position -- and I have seen it reaffirmed many times over the course of my membership -- I breathe an inner sigh of relief.

No matter what their message, websites which promote or endorse any agenda seek to control those who are exposed to it.

Those who endeavor to persuade us to join "movements" or "causes" do so because they want us to believe what they want us to believe, and do what they want us to do.

The only "cause" AboveTopSecret.com endorses is the cause of educating ourselves by sharing our opinions freely and, in so doing, taking action to deny our own ignorance.

The rest is up to us.

Were it any other way, it is doubtful I would continue to be an active member, let alone an enthusiastic supporter.

My congratulations and thanks to the Partners for judiciously charting and diligently pursuing a wise and fruitful course for AboveTopSecret.com.

Truly, I cannot conceive of a more noble cause than this.

Springer,

Well said!

ATS is not a platform. ATS is a venue.

... a venue for free and open discussion of a myriad of topics and subject matter. The only constraints are the Terms and Conditions, which are basically common sense and proper discussion board etiquette.


Majic,

I recall something you once posted, and I have always considered it one of the best summaries of what ATS is all about. I won't quote you but it went something like this ...

I don't come to ATS to change the world. I come to ATS to change myself.

For whatever reason, that struck a chord with me.

[/Majic]

If ATS were to take a stance and speak with a single "voice" it would at the same time alienate a portion/percentage of the membership, namely those with opposing views.

The reason those who look to "organize and recruit", from a large and globally diverse membership, is exactly the reason why ATS remains a venue and not a platform. The minute ATS, as a whole, takes a stance, or forms a singular voice, is the same moment it would fail in Denying Ignorance.

Free and Open Discussion.

If you have, or find, a cause ... ... you will or have broadened your horizons!
Now, do so for others . . .



$.02

[edit on 4/7/2006 by 12m8keall2c]

Without thinking of what ATS is about, I was a part of this. So, on behalf of myself and most likely the rest of the people who were involved, I apologise.



[edit on 7-4-2006 by xeroxed88]

ATS is one of those refresing places on the net that is free from this type of "agenda".

It is the courteous discussion and debate of ALL sides of EVERY issue important to humanity. AboveTopSecret will never endorse a specific "side" or position on any issue by allowing those whose agenda needs attention or support to recruit that support on this site PERIOD.

The ability of all sides of a debate or issue to converge on this haven and post how they feel about a topic and have it free of an overriding "board agenda" is why so many of us came to ATS in the first place, and the continued ability to do is is why we stay

I totally understand where you are coming from especially from a legal standpoint. One vocal member of ATS doing something irrational or ignorant and the three owners and all the moderators and the rest of us could very easily be labeled terrorists. I had not thought of this previously but it seems painstakingly obvious now.

Still....somewhere someday i hope that we as an ATS community will be able to meet outside of the virtual world and trully have an open foroum for debate and such.

El senor pom pom rides again

I was one of the wrong ones.

I did not understand this stance until Springer explained it to me. I now completely agree and understand.

My apologies to ATS.

I hope that those who wish to stand up and at least be heard, try one of the many websites out there that are for exactly that.

I thank ATS for greatly assisting in "changing myself".

I love you all - the brothers and sisters that make this community the best place on the web.

Originally posted by Springer
My suggestion is for those who feel the need to recruit people to their cause is to go to any of the thousands of sites who embrace that activity or create a site yourself and get busy.

Excellent! I have seen so much religious proselytizing at other
sites, and sadly here as well, that it makes my stomach sick when it
pops up. Most of the time the proselytizers get banned or get tired of
pumping out their canned anti-_______ (fill in the blank) sermons, and
they go away. But not always.

Activist leads to Activists, that leads to a group of Activists,then protests, arrests than the court appearence

...we don't want that

Thanks so much.
Being fairly new I was not entirely sure about this. I'm glad to hear it is policy. Makes this a much better place.

I'm all for the policy. I mean, I support it. But I'm not fanatical about it or anything. I'm not going to go out and start a grass roots campaign . . . .


Seriously, I suspect that this thread is posted in response to specific activity by someone on this site. Do activist "drives" occur a lot?

I wouldn't think so, but than I'm definitely not any kind of activist.

As a matter of fact, Frau Dr. refers to my sweatsuit as my "inactive wear."


Really, does this (membership drives) come up a lot?

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft

Seriously, I suspect that this thread is posted in response to specific activity by someone on this site.

You are correct...

Really, does this (membership drives) come up a lot?

Too much actually, we have people who join the site because they've heard about the huge membership and even bigger audience of visitors and hope to raise not only awareness for their "cause" but recruit "members"...

You'd be amazed how "bitter, acidic and down right RUDE" some of these people get when we shut down their threads and point them to the Terms And Conditions they agreed to when they joined which specifically prohibit this activity.

Springer...

I think I've seen you mention it before, after reading your most recent post above.

It never occured to me. I guess that I don't want to belong to an organization that I cannot be up-front about. It's one thing to come here and express, um, "extreme minority" opinions. But recruiting would be totally different. I guess it surprises me that they'd try it, hoping you'd just "not notice" or something.

I picture a lot of those kinds of recruiters representing ideologies they can't openly profess, i.e., racist, pervert, absolutist, etc.

Is it mostly that?

I have trouble imagining someone being covert about recruiting for business:

"Psst. Hey buddy, why don't you pick a product from our high-quality catalogue? This vacuum sucks more than any leading competitor . . . "

But I'm sure you've seen it all.
.

Yes... I've seen it all. You are correct, 90% of them are for "causes" these type don't want to openly describe. Those are the worst for certain. BUT we also get several who openly proclaim their affiliation and truly get mad at us for not "getting it" and allowing them to annoy our Membership with their particular brand of B.S.

Springer...

Sadly, I have to agree with the 3Amigos on their policy. I say sadly because there are so many intelligent people here that would willingly join certain causes that are generally accepted as common sense, and that need a national exposure to effect change.

As I interpret it, stating my opinion on a certain cause, and supplying a link to a site that people can visit to support that cause, is against the rules, no?

Yeah.... no activists...... burn the mutha's...... WAIT .... whoops...... never mind.

Dave

Originally posted by Springer
Here at AboveTopSecret.com we do NOT advocate anything, we don't endorse anything, we are the proverbial fence. Were we to endorse a cause or position we instantly become opposed to its counter position. In doing that we lose that side of the issue's representation here.

So how come you rejoice in headline linking any major thread with an anti-American theme:

Showdown at the Bush Rodeo
US Now a Police State
Survey Says US Biggest Threat to World Peace

All recent headlines - not fence sitters, more like mud slingers.

There is not a SINGLE "Anti American" sentiment in any of those...Keep trying one day you might find someone who will bite though.

I don't know how many times you need to be informed that criticism of the GOVERNMENT, the INCUMBANT ADMINISTRATION or any other facet of POLICY MAKING BODIES within the government is NOT "UnAmerican" it is as American as it gets, but consider this the last freebie you get.

Springer...