Comment Policy

A non-exclusive list:

1. Comments are expected to reflect different points of view. Critiques of others’ positions are to be expected, but those critiques should be of the argument, not the person. No insults. (For more detail on this point, see Jim’s in-depth discussion of the issue, including his list of practical suggestions for commenting and posting).

2. As a general matter, Times and Seasons is a forum for believing members or for others who are willing to respect members’ beliefs. Commenters do not need to believe in the Church, but comments that suggest that all believers are per se unintelligent or uninformed are not welcome.

3. On the flip side, it is also unacceptable to call into question a commenter’s personal righteousness.

4. Times and Seasons is not an ad agency. It’s fine for commenters to note that they have said something useful or related on their blog or in their book. However, comments should not simply plug unrelated blog posts, books, and so on.

5. Similarly, comments should be related to the blog entry they are posted to, or to a subsequent comment on that entry. Of course, some amount of topic-shifting is normal in any discussion. However, completely-off-topic comments are not appropriate.

6. Comments are expected to be intelligible. That means keeping some internet-chat acronyms to a minimum; writing in plain English; proofreading; spell checking. Of course, perfection is not required, and we also understand that some commenters may not speak English well. In general, we just ask that commenters strive to make their comments readily intelligible.

7. Violations of intellectual property laws will not be tolerated. Violations of other laws, including defamation and slander, will not be tolerated.

8. Comments that are excessively rude or offensive (as determined by the blog administrators) are unacceptable. “Potty humor” is not welcome. Please respect the bloggers and readers.

9. These policies will be enforced by the blog administrators. Enforcement may include some combination of deleting offending comments, warning offenders, and where necessary banning commenters’ IP addresses.

10. These policies may be added to or modified as necessary. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Blogroll Policy

Our blogroll is currently operated through bloglines (we will probably switch to WP’s built-in link feature at some point). Since bloglines requires an RSS feed, non-RSS blogs are, for the moment, clumped together in a group at the end of the blogroll. Our blogroll is divided into categories. The determinations of category were made on the fly by Kaimi, and should not be viewed as etched in stone. If you think that your blog is more accurately described as “political” or “journal” or “Mormon-themed” or whatever and it is currently in another category, you can let an administrator know. We’re likely to agree with you. If you don’t fit into any of the categories, say so. New categories may always arise, as we make changes to the blogroll.

If your blog is not listed (and if you write about anything remotely church-related), it was probably due to inadvertence. We’re not trying to blackball anyone here. Our blogroll is a jointly-maintained, very imperfect collection of blogs that we’ve somehow managed to both notice and input. If your blog isn’t here, it doesn’t mean that we don’t like you, or that we don’t think you’re part of the bloggernacle. It could mean that we haven’t noticed your blog; that we noticed, but didn’t have time to input it; that it was inadvertently mis-coded or deleted. If you’re wondering if you should be on the list, drop us a line — we’re more than likely to agree with you.

E-mail Policy

We welcome reader e-mail. Unless otherwise indicated, you should assume opt-out for citation, opt-in for attribution. I.e., an e-mail with no indications about citation or attribution may be cited, but generally as “a reader writes in to suggest . . .” An e-mail with an indication of “you may post my name” or “feel free to attribute to me” or similar may result in an attributed mention, such as, “Clark Goble writes in to say . . .” If you ask that your e-mail not be posted, we will make every effort not to post it. (There are no guarantees — your message might be missed, and your e-mail might get accidentally posted. Please do not send private, sensitive information if you don’t know the recipient already, and think carefully before sending information by e-mail.)

In e-mail communication, we will comply with all applicable laws and expect our readers to do the same. Threatening or harassing e-mails, or e-mails indicating a crime or danger, may be reported to authorities. Threats or harassment may also be reported to a sender’s ISP, and are a violation of most ISPs’ policies.