Acceptable Language Rules
This News Alert is to clarify site policy on how we deal with inappropriate language.
As a Christian-run message board, we have always moderated vulgar language. Our philosophy rests on a 3 tiered system of "hard" "soft" and "moderate" words with separate severities for each one. We typically use the US English dialect as our baseline, but we understand some regions have different slang, and will gauge those on a case-by-case basis. Foreign translations of these words will be treated the same. Additionally, changing a few letters to special characters that still leave no doubt as to the actual word are treated as if the word was not inadequately masked.
This alert is not meant to be an exhaustive list of what is acceptable and what isn't, but more a notice to our users on how we determine what requires moderation. As with all of our rules, it may simply come down to moderator discretion.
Hard language
Obviously the most heinous words, such as the F bomb, vulgar slang for the genitals, and any egregious use of "G-D" fall into this category. There is no leeway with these, and they automatically receive the highest punishment with no prior warning required.
Moderate language
References to vulgar sex acts, vulgar expressions for bodily orifices, secretions, or waste, highly inflammatory characterizations of a class of people, such as the "n" word (and others, even if that group uses it themselves), and most regional slang fall into this category. Blatant blasphemy will also fall here. Depending on the severity, punishment may range from a warning to escalating infraction points.
Soft language
These are determined by the context they are being used in. Several words in this category, for example, can be innocuous names for animals in one context and vulgar in another. Others that we decide are vulgar will be moderated. If the word is determined to be vulgar or profane, it will be treated as a moderate infraction and will fall under the punishment described in that section.
This News Alert is to clarify site policy on how we deal with inappropriate language.
As a Christian-run message board, we have always moderated vulgar language. Our philosophy rests on a 3 tiered system of "hard" "soft" and "moderate" words with separate severities for each one. We typically use the US English dialect as our baseline, but we understand some regions have different slang, and will gauge those on a case-by-case basis. Foreign translations of these words will be treated the same. Additionally, changing a few letters to special characters that still leave no doubt as to the actual word are treated as if the word was not inadequately masked.
This alert is not meant to be an exhaustive list of what is acceptable and what isn't, but more a notice to our users on how we determine what requires moderation. As with all of our rules, it may simply come down to moderator discretion.
Hard language
Obviously the most heinous words, such as the F bomb, vulgar slang for the genitals, and any egregious use of "G-D" fall into this category. There is no leeway with these, and they automatically receive the highest punishment with no prior warning required.
Moderate language
References to vulgar sex acts, vulgar expressions for bodily orifices, secretions, or waste, highly inflammatory characterizations of a class of people, such as the "n" word (and others, even if that group uses it themselves), and most regional slang fall into this category. Blatant blasphemy will also fall here. Depending on the severity, punishment may range from a warning to escalating infraction points.
Soft language
These are determined by the context they are being used in. Several words in this category, for example, can be innocuous names for animals in one context and vulgar in another. Others that we decide are vulgar will be moderated. If the word is determined to be vulgar or profane, it will be treated as a moderate infraction and will fall under the punishment described in that section.
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