Dear fellow students and readers of The Urantia Book,
One of the rewards of being a moderator on the forum is that we get to read some amazing posts that truly enhance our understanding and appreciation of the 5th epochal revelation. We marvel at the amount of effort expended by you dedicated students in helping to make The Urantia Book more accessible and comprehensible to readers, both long-termers and newcomers. Due to your efforts over the years, the forum has developed into an invaluable resource for both serious scholars of the book as well as the curious visitor to our site.
On several occasions in the past, the moderators have reminded readers and participants about the forum rules which apply to the manner in which members communicate with one another. The first three are as follows:
- Be kind, fair, respectful and courteous at all times.
- Please abide by the purpose of this Forum which is dedicated to the in-depth study ofThe Urantia Book and the dissemination of its teachings.
- Personal attacks, foul language, or any content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains objectionable content, contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws are not permitted.
The moderators have generally adopted a policy of minimal intrusion into the daily running of the forum. We have encouraged participants to self-regulate rather than rely on us to respond to every transgression, no matter how minor. We recognise that many conflicts arise due to misunderstandings, personality differences, and the inherent limitations of written text as a means of communicating complex ideas. And yet we observe that individuals still allow themselves to become offended by perceived insults and criticisms. This often leads to retaliatory attacks against the person (ad hominem) rather than maintaining the focus on the person’s arguments. These attacks usually take the form of abrasive language, sarcasm, judging the other’s motives, and various forms of character assassination.
On the few occasions when a genuine “troll” manages to infiltrate the site, the moderators recommend that participants simply ignore their provocative comments rather than try to debate with them. These people usually lose interest quite quickly when they don’t get the reaction that they’re hoping for.
The moderators also suggest that any participant with a genuine grievance regarding the conduct of another participant should bring it to the attention of the moderators rather than engage in a negative exchange on the Urantia Book General Discussion forum. This can be achieved by leaving a message on the Messages for Moderators thread on the Support and Suggestions Forum. As moderators, we hope that this will significantly reduce the incidents of participant in-fighting.
As always, we encourage any constructive criticisms and ideas from the readership. Our aim is to create a forum where all participants feel safe and welcome.
The Moderators
