Concerning recent events and bannings

[BoredOutOfMyMind]

The Rules of Conduct are found here in this clickable link.

Rules of Conduct
This discussion board is for Apostolic Pentecostal Christians who believe that the Bible, in it's entirety, is the word of God, is without error, and that it is completely relevant today. We welcome and encourage visitors of other faiths to post and ask sincere questions in their honest search to learn more of our faith and about our wonderful Lord, Savior, and God whose name is Jesus Christ. We do not, however, give place for the tearing down, or destruction of, the christian faith in any form. The propagation of atheism is not welcome here. No tearing down of Ministers.

We do not allow any rebuking, hatefulness, name calling, or verbal attacks by any person or group of people, toward any person or group of people. Content that is unseemly, using bad language or any form of insinuating bad language (i.e. one letter and ****), name calling, or offensive slang is not permitted. Debate is encouraged, bad attitudes are not.

This administration knows that God's word allows for rebuking under certain conditions, but because of the lack of understanding by some,as well as the differing views by a multitude of readers here, and forthe sake of peace, we will not permit it under any circumstances.

Self Moderated Board & Banning Penalties For Unruly Posters
The Apostolic Friend Forum is a self-moderated discussion board. If you feel that a user is not in compliance with the rules of this board please use the report button to report inappropriate posts, or send a private message to an admin. The admin will make a determination to allow the post, remove the post and warn the user, or immediately remove the user.

Admin may remove any offensive post, or ban any members at the sole discretion of the admin on duty at that time. Normally you will receive a warning if such occurs. In the event a thread is closed, or a person is banned, admin will review the situation, and either agree to uphold the ban, or reinstate the poster. If you are banned you will not have the ability to post in the forums. You will receive no warning before you are banned. It is your responsibility to have read the rules and to know them. If you break them it will be assumed that at the time you knew you were breaking them. With the exception of those that are just "out of control", we will follow the following rules in banned members:

First Offense: 7 day ban
Second Offense: 1 month ban
Third Offense: 6 months
Fourth Offense: Permanent ban

If a banned poster does not respect the ban and returns under another nick or IP, the ban will automatically be extended, or possibly be made permanent. Any member who is banned can petition Admin via email to ask for reinstatement prior to the ban being lifted. Admin will review this and make their decision.

What to do if you have a problem with an Admin action
If you have a question about a ban, or any action of an Admin, discuss it in PM or Email with Admin. Openly questioning or defying the Admins over a banning or other Admin actions will result in a ban. All actions viewed as seditious or anarchistic will result in a banning as well. Remember, the Admins are here to help make the board run smoothly and need your cooperation.

Originally Posted by Michlow

Written on a different forum, something that I have never been able to articulate before today.

What I am looking for in a church:

I want something transparent and real, something deep and meaningful. A meeting of believers, who though they are in different stages of the journey are nevertheless, equals; a group that submits to one another, not to just one, who in turn submits to no one. A group that can disagree without judgment, and be different yet still united. A place where the Word is discussed not “taught” and where love is practiced, not preached. A place where His kingdom is sought, not the kingdoms of men, of money, of success.

This was so well written, I could not help but copy it for what needs to be addressed. We have seen some very degrading names used to other members here recently. We are all here due to some pain we felt, or are here to blow off steam and simply have fun. The fine line is, sometimes, to outsiders, it is hard to tell who is having fun and who is steamed and about to blow. This makes the job of the Admin Team very difficult at times.

Last night there was an incident that appeared to be a misunderstanding of cultures and motives. I was requested to back off and let the parties involved continue to try to resolve the matter. I did that very thing, but the issue seemed to not die off. Some others took it upon themselves to prod the discussion and fan the dying flames. Others still today are using the PM system to make all kinds of false accusations. There were postings that to me were a distinct disregard of the respect due the Admin Team. It is a judgement call to the Admin who reads what is posted, and is always reviewed by the Admin Team. This resulted in a ban for 2 individuals. We don't discuss the bans, and we as Admin do not feel we need to be questioned by members. If you have a problem with that, you can PM an Admin Team member and request your username to be removed.


We want to have fun, but let's not make this a place everyone is afraid to visit. The discussion of controversial themes will take place. We can do so without fear of censorship, as long as we are self moderated to not make it racy or offensive.

This post has been reviewed by the Admin Team.