A question for people of ATS

Should a majority of ATS threads regarding religion be removed?

15e.) Recruitment/Solicitation:
i) You will not use your membership in the Websites for any type of recruitment to any causes whatsoever. You will not Post, use the chat feature, use videos, or use the private message system to disseminate advertisements, chain letters, petitions, pyramid schemes, or any kind of solicitation for political action, social action, letter campaigns, or related online and/or offline coordinated actions of any kind.
ii) You will not Post, use the chat feature, use videos, or use the private message system to collect or ask for the personal information (data mining) about forum members, including email addresses and "real life" names, in any manner whatsoever, or for any reason whatsoever.
iii) You will not Post, use the chat feature, use videos, or use the private message system to solicit members of the Websites on behalf of another message board, online community or competitor. You will not attempt to use your membership to encourage or lure other members in any way to other websites or discussion boards in competition with TAN. Doing so will result in removal of your Post(s) and immediate termination of your account.

15).
Posting: You will not Post any material that is knowingly false, misleading, or inaccurate. You will not solicit personal information from any member. You will not use information gathered from this website to harass, abuse or harm other people.

I see a lot of religious posts that are for nothing more then solicitation of said religion. They include no factual information and I see no reason for religious propaganda to be spread on a website that prides itself on evidence.. At the least all religious posts that do not contain factual information should be moved to Skunk Works.
I would love to hear from a mod on the issue, considering that the T&C seems to agree with what im saying.

shortmem.

eta: i had a quick look over the t&c and am not sure if theres anything else relevant to this issue but if someone could point something out that would be great - ATS T&C

They include no factual information

Thats religion for ya

Yep im with you...get rid of the forum all together. Its just a way of religious people to try and recruit the gullible amongst us.

I would actually want them to stay.

I really love a good laugh

great post OP i couldnt agree more, all threads designed to "proselytize" should be listed as a violation of the T&C and be removed. thank you for posting this, i also am fed up.

please MODS, speak up and tell us your view on this subject. Inquiring minds want to know.

Originally posted by loves a conspiricy

They include no factual information

Thats religion for ya

Yep im with you...get rid of the forum all together. Its just a way of religious people to try and recruit the gullible amongst us.

agreed, i dont see the point unless its a religious conspiracy which involves some form of evidence.
the bible does not count as evidence and never will

reply to post by ShortMemory


Why? Because you believe in free speech until someone says something u don't like?

While religious evangelism could be deemed technically to be in violation of the T & C, it really isn't in violation of the spirit of the T & C. The reason for the rule is to not have the site as a recruitment ground for scam artists, militant survival groups, etc., etc.

However, religion is more of a philosophical idea than a well-defined cause or organization (there are plenty of different sects and divisions within any faith), so as long as one isn't trying to get people to go to a particular church, they really aren't in violation of expressing their ideas that others should consider their religion (i.e. philosophy).

Also, it's difficult to talk about the tenets of a particular faith, without expressing one's own ideas about it, especially if a particular faith has evangelism as a key component.

And, just to clarify, I'm an agnostic myself, so it isn't because I support organized religion. To me, religion is a personal thing, and I feel organized religions were started only with the goal of exerting influence and control over society. Most faiths share a lot of key concepts, and I feel those concepts (not specific dogma or rituals) are the most important thing to take from it. The rest is all window dressing. (to me)

agreed, i dont see the point unless its a religious conspiracy which involves some form of evidence.
the bible does not count as evidence and never will

Sure it does. You may not consider it GOOD evidence, but it is evidence nonetheless, no different than any other recorded history of any time. All we have of any history are the words of those in the past, and we must assume, the victors of any kind of conflict, therefore ALL of history is somewhat biased, unless we have accounts from all sides. As they say, History is written by the winners.

Originally posted by britelite1971
reply to post by ShortMemory

 

Why? Because you believe in free speech until someone says something u don't like?

its not a matter of freedom of speech.. its a matter of following the rules of a community they joined and agreed to follow.

I am no fan of religion in particular but i thought ATS was for all sorts of people to discuss and learn, etc. Therefore, although i hate being told things like "trust in Jesus, he knows all" it doesn't really seem right to exclude people of religious leaning.

I do hate the fact that a lot of Christians on the site have Christianity as the be all and end all of every argument however - the lack of tolerance to other religions is rather surprising!

Originally posted by britelite1971
reply to post by ShortMemory

 

Why? Because you believe in free speech until someone says something u don't like?

this is ATS there is no such thing as "free speech" on a private forum like this.
15e.) Recruitment/Solicitation:
i) You will not use your membership in the Websites for any type of recruitment to any causes whatsoever.

so since most religious threads violate that point of the T&C they belong in the trash bin.

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


Recruit you for what?

reply to post by britelite1971


I dont think thats why.

Personally....i think their are far too many threads where religion is used as an argument. God did it....god told me to do it...look at these ramblings of a goat herder as proof.

Almost any subject can be connected to religion....if you are religious. For example i have seen people trying to explain lens flare as an omen from god....durgh wtf?

If you believe in god so be it...more fool you. BUT if you want to discuss religion and how god made and created everything....even every conspiracy....go to bible class or wherever it is they go.

The only conspiracy in religion is how it got so many people to believe such utter nonsense????

Originally posted by britelite1971
reply to post by loves a conspiricy

 

Recruit you for what?

to organize the party ...
there is gonna be punch & pie

reply to post by Gazrok


Thanks for the quick reply!
I understand where your coming from and agree that in a lot of cases most threads would be appropriate for the site. But there are many which could only be classified as solicitation that do not get removed, although its a philosophical idea I could imagine for example: A thread soliciting a philosophical idea widely considered to be a cult would probably be removed. And i mean this isnt an opinion; the t&c is pretty clear on solicitation and things that are not true.
I agree with your views on religion. To me religion seems to be a humans way of ruining a good idea: spirituality.

reply to post by ShortMemory


Hmmmmm. There are quite a few forums that aren't about conspiracy that one can post to. If the religious talk offends you why even bother to respond? It seems to me that those posts get a lot of responses, therefore offering lots of exposure to the advertisers listed on that particular page. Why would ats want to remove a topic that increases their income from advertising? Who's more important, the advertiser that pays them or the disgruntled member that pays nothing?

]reply to post by ShortMemory

I see a lot of religious posts that are for nothing more then solicitation of said religion. They include no factual information and I see no reason for religious propaganda to be spread on a website that prides itself on evidence.. At the least all religious posts that do not contain factual information should be moved to Skunk Works.
I would love to hear from a mod on the issue, considering that the T&C seems to agree with what im saying.

Really, this could be applied to so many topics across the board. Behold:

I see a lot of [alien/reptilian] posts that are for nothing more then solicitation of said [nefarious reptilian/alien agenda]. They include no factual information and I see no reason for [alien/reptilian] propaganda to be spread on a website that prides itself on evidence.. At the least all [alien/reptillian related] posts that do not contain factual information should be moved to Skunk Works.

Cheers mate,

FTE

Originally posted by loves a conspiricy
reply to post by britelite1971

 

I dont think thats why.

Personally....i think their are far too many threads where religion is used as an argument. God did it....god told me to do it...look at these ramblings of a goat herder as proof.

Almost any subject can be connected to religion....if you are religious. For example i have seen people trying to explain lens flare as an omen from god....durgh wtf?

If you believe in god so be it...more fool you. BUT if you want to discuss religion and how god made and created everything....even every conspiracy....go to bible class or wherever it is they go.

The only conspiracy in religion is how it got so many people to believe such utter nonsense????

this is a great point..

But there are many which could only be classified as solicitation that do not get removed, although its a philosophical idea I could imagine for example: A thread soliciting a philosophical idea widely considered to be a cult would probably be removed.

By all means, if you see such a thread, call it to the attention of staff. Despite popular belief, we are not omniscient. We'd have to examine each such an example, and weigh it against the spirit of the rules.

For example, talking about the cult and it's ideas are one thing.
Giving join up information, calling on others to join, etc. though, would be a violation.

Who's more important, the advertiser that pays them or the disgruntled member that pays nothing?

You'd be surprised. I've been onboard for most of ATS' life, and I can say that the focus has been, and still is, on what is best for the membership first. EVERY mod is a volunteer. You think you'd get that kind of cooperation if we didn't feel we were doing everything we could for fellow members? No chains here...

reply to post by followtheevidence

Really, this could be applied to so many topics across the board. Behold: I see a lot of [alien/reptilian] posts that are for nothing more then solicitation of said [nefarious reptilian/alien agenda]. They include no factual information and I see no reason for [alien/reptilian] propaganda to be spread on a website that prides itself on evidence.. At the least all [alien/reptillian related] posts that do not contain factual information should be moved to Skunk Works. I would love to hear from a mod on the issue, considering that the T&C seems to agree with what im saying.

these threads you speak of do get moved to skunk works in most cases

Join the Jedi order.

We don't ask for any money.
We don't worship anyone or anything.
We don't need to judge, hate, love, or lie to others.
We don't require you to do anything.
We welcome all and we care for all.
We feel with our hearts not our brains.

The Force has infinite love for all, not the love of self or others, unconditional love for all of creation.

If you ask me, it sounds like the best choice of the crap that's out there we have to choose, or not choose from.

edit: I'm assuming my "join the Jedi order" is not a violation of the T&C considering it is a mythical creation of someone's imagination.... kind of like all religions seem to be.