Welcome! The purpose of the Postfundamentalist Forum is to promote serious and disciplined thought about the world from a Christian and biblical perspective, and in so doing to worship God with our minds.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Rules (You're reading it!)
• Suggested Reading
• Using HTML on ezboard Forums
• Go to the Postfundamentalist Forum!

The Rules

The first and foremost rule is: Moderate yourself. As C. S. Lewis said, the Bible is a grown-up book intended for grown-ups. I want to take part in the discussions, not spend all my free time moderating. Adults should be able to have an adult discussion without a chaperone, right?

That being said, here are some further guidelines:

1. This discussion board is intended for people who wish to discuss various issues from an informed, Christian perspective. The assumed position of the Board is that the Bible is the Word of God and is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. The moderator is in basic agreement with the historic creeds and Protestant confessions. However, everyone who wishes to participate in the discussion and assents to the rules is welcome to do so.
2. The messages posted to this board present only the opinion of the original poster and are not to be construed as the official view of the Postfundamentalist Forum. That goes for the moderator's opinions, too. The moderator disclaims any banner ads that EZBoard may place on these pages.
3. Any topic is fair game for discussion, as long as it can be discussed within the framework of a bibliocentric, Christian worldview. Christianity is a comprehensive faith, and so there is no subject matter that ought to be "taboo" for the purpose of having an open discussion about it. (This means that I don't expect the subject matter to remain "family friendly" at all times.)
4. Keep it civil. I reserve the right to limit discussion of contentious subjects (although I'd hate to do so), or to limit the participation of disruptive participants. Anything that can be said, can be said without flaming, which may make you look silly in front of (potentially) thousands of people.
5. Along the lines of the above, keep the language polite. Four-letter words are entirely unnecessary to make your point. Exceptions: Topical quotations that include such profanities, or discussions of profanity per se. Use your good judgment.
6. Debate the issues, not the debaters. Abusing your opponent may score you a rhetorical point or two, but it won't win you the argument. The onus is on you to know the difference between a valid and an invalid argument. For a good overview of critical thinking, I recommend Informal Logic by Irving M. Copi and Keith Burgess-Jackson. This is the textbook I used in university for a first-year critical thinking course.
7. Don't be presumptuous. If you think someone else on the forum is wrong, then by all means feel free to say so and give a reason or two why. But don't act as though those who disagree with you are childish, irrational, have some hidden agenda, are unfaithful, or whatever. Presumably you think you've come at your position rationally; extend the same courtesy to your opponents.

Penalties

My penal system is fairly simple. If you persist in misbehaving, you'll get a private warning, followed by a public warning, and finally an invitation to remove yourself from my forum. This isn't hard and fast, and it depends on circumstances (e.g. whether I have an email address for you or not).

These penalties, such as they are, are not intended to squelch otherwise well-meaning or thoughtful participants who occasionally get worked up over something and fly off the handle. Rather, I want to deal with those who persistently or maliciously disrupt the discussion, attempt to distract from it, or otherwise test my patience as a moderator. Someone who blows onto the forum, clearly intent only on causing trouble, will be persona non grata in pretty short order, and with no warning, if necessary.

Do not challenge a decision of the moderator in public! I'm a nice guy, really. If you have a problem with a decision I've made, send me an email in private. A reasoned explanation of why I should reverse a decision, or an apology, or even bribery might persuade me to change my mind. But I'll have no patience with open defiance. If you don't like the way I run things, start your own postfundamentalist forum.

A Few Further Guidelines

Additionally, please consider observing the following guidelines, as a courtesy:

• Please don't engage in spelling or grammar flames, and kindly refrain from pointing out problems with another user's English. Yes, I'm a professional writer, and bad English bothers me too. But unless you are having genuine difficulty following someone's train of thought because their spelling gets in the way, please avoid this kind of ad hominem attack.
• As a courtesy, please ask permission to post private emails to the Forum. I reserve the right to do the courtesy of removing messages containing private messages, if the original sender requests it.

Where to?

• Introduction
• Suggested Reading
• Using HTML on ezboard Forums
• Go to the Postfundamentalist Forum!

Created February 7, 2000 by Scott A. McClare.