The Laws of the Forum

Alright, alright, Moses never mentioned the Catholic Science Colosseum in Exodus 19/20, and the rules here were NOT brought to you by divine revelation. Nonetheless, they still are RULES and MUST BE OBEYED to ensure your survival in this forum. Violation of any of these rules can and may be used as grounds to DELETE and BAN your membership.

1. YOUR VERY PRESENCE ON THIS WEBSITE, EITHER BY FORUM MEMBERSHIP OR MERELY JUST BROWSING, EXPLICITLY IMPLIES THAT, REGARDLESS OF YOUR AGE OR SITUATION, YOU AGREE TO FOLLOW ALL RULES AT ALL TIMES.

2. NO POSTING LINKS!!!!!!!!! MY FORUM IS NOT A LINK FARM!!! If there's a really cool site you want to link to that is OUTSTANDING and RELEVANT to religions, scriptures, and other sacred texts, SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE which includes the link, a description of the page, and if it's not readily obvious (which renders the situation near-hopeless for YOU buddy), a brief description of how the contents of the page are RELEVANT to this forum. If you're posting sacred texts or excerpts from them, there is a magical function called Copy-and-Paste. If you're posting a video in the Movie Theater section, YouTube and most other of its wannabe's have embed codes where you can embed the video in the forum. Otherwise, you can DESCRIBE what search engine and keywords you used to find a particular site. Remember, this is a HIGHER intelligence site where we not only KNOW words beyond Curious George's reading level, we USE them too.

3. KEEP ALL POSTS RELEVANT. The Catholic Science Colosseum is the official discussion forum for Catholic Science Online and the Catholic Science Blog. All posting must be relevant to religion, scriptures, sacred texts, and the things that are posted on Catholic Science Online and the Catholic Science Blog. No soliciting of other websites, any services or products, or of yourself or any other people. If you want to talk to another member and fall in love (gag! puke!), use the Private Messaging and not the forum. If you randomly post anything along the lines of really enjoying waffles or fast food or anything random and/or irrelevant, it's GOODBYE FOR YOU.

4. RESPECT COPYRIGHT LAWS. Remember, not all scriptures and sacred texts are public domain. There are many translations of ancient scripture which are COPYRIGHTED, and many modern scriptures and sacred texts which were written recently in this age of copyright. Because of the First Amendment, it's fine to quote or make reference to any copyrighted work, but it's NOT PERMISSIBLE to post any COPYRIGHTED images, text, or video in its entirety or in any partial form which the copyright owner would find unreasonable or infringing. Remember, USE YOUR COMMON SENSE. Posting Hollywood movies or TV shows or well-known books that obviously are protected is a BIG NO-NO.

5. KEEP YOUR WORDS APPROPRIATE. Refrain if you can from writing curse words. Notice that I'll often write censored words like "s**t" or "f**k". Swearing is not completely outlawed as long as it's relevant and has a point. Nonetheless, use them sparingly and to support intellectual arguments. FIGHTING WORDS ARE NOT PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT. This is also a place of TOLERANCE. ALL FAITHS AND CREEDS ARE WELCOME. We are here to converse, debate, and argue intellectually, but NOT FOR CONFLICT.

6. FOLLOW ALL LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS. If something is illegal where you're from or where you are currently, you may assume that it is also illegal on this website. If something is legal where you are from but NOT where I am from, I will consider it illegal and possibly a breach of forum rules.

7. YOUR POSTING IS SUBJECT TO THE DISCRETION OF MODERATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS. The Mods and Admins are wise people. If they wave a red flag over you, you must have done something wrong or unethical. It's their call, not yours.

8. CONTACT US REGARDING PROBLEMS. If something can be answered or helped by the FAQ's, go there before contacting any members. If you feel that a member's conduct is inappropriate, contact the moderators immidiately by sending them a private message stating your grievance. Be sure to include in your message the url where the mods can find the postings-in-question. If the conduct of ANY member without a doubt breaks rules abd/or laws and/or all things ethical, email me or any of the adminstrators. Again, state your grievance along with a url.

9. I CANNOT AND DO NOT GUARANTEE RESULTS. Whether it's answering questions, implementing new ideas, handling situations, etc., I can't always guarantee that I'll be able to take care of it. I will, however, do my best.

10. YOU ARE HERE AT MY DISCRETION. If I have a whim to delete and/or ban you, I will do so. The administrators have the same privelege. If you break any rules, be warned that I (or other moderators) may take action against you and WILL use the most colorful combinations of words to demean you in the most vicious ways possible.

Now that you know the rules, feel free to join the comunity! Remember that the rules are subject to change at any time and without warning, so check back on them periodically. Let the games begin!!!