What are the site-wide rules for Christian Forums?
Preamble
This site has the goal of facilitating discussions between various Christian faiths as determined by adherence to Christian Forums' Statement of Faith and the Trinitarian nature of God. Those of you who do not adhere to the Statement of Faith are welcome as members and participants in discussions, but you are required to respect these beliefs, even if you do not share them.
By using this website, you acknowledge your acceptance and understanding of these rules. These rules apply to all communications made on this site, including posts in the forums (as well as automatically generated sections of posts such as signatures, custom user titles, and avatars), private messages, and posts in the chatbox. All members of this site, including members of Christian Forums Staff, are required to follow these rules. If you do not follow these rules, your posts will be edited or deleted, you may be warned by Staff, and you may be suspended or banned. If you are younger than 13, your parent or guardian must provide written consent for you to become a member of this site.
You will accept that any advice given on this site are the views of the poster and Christian Forums and its owners and staff will not be held responsible for any advice posted.
Messages posted to this board must be polite and free of personal attacks, threats, and crude or sexually-explicit language, rude comments and innuendo.
Christian Forums reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these rules, without notice or warning. It is your sole responsibility to regularly review these rules and ensure your compliance with them.
Blasphemy
You will not insult or mock God or Christianity. Honest debate about the nature of God and Christianity is welcome, but insults or derogatory remarks about God or Christianity will be promptly removed.
The names or titles of God, including Jesus Christ and the Persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, or Holy Spirit), in any language, are not to be used as expletives or interjections or in an abusive, mocking, or insulting way.
Promotion and Proselytizing
You will not promote or proselytize beliefs or religions other than Christianity. For the purpose of these rules, Christianity is defined by Christian Forums' Statement of Faith.
The Christian areas of the site (i.e. Edification, Theology, and Christian Ministries) are meant to facilitate discussion among Christian members. Only those members who have selected a Christian icon may post in these forums. Challenging the existence of God or the validity of Christianity in these forums is prohibited.
Controversial Topics
The following subjects will only be discussed in Ethics & Morality, Christian Philosophy and Ethics, Congregation category, or Recovery category, or any of its sub-forums. You will not post about these subjects in other forums.
drug use
gambling
polygamy
extramarital or premarital sexual activity.
homosexuality
transsexuality
abortion
In addition, any topic which runs contrary to Christian Forums' Statement of Faith, such as Universalism and non-Trinitarianism, may only be discussed in the Unorthodox Theology Forum.
Men's Health and Women's Health
The controversial topic of health as related to human sexuality will be allowed, however explicit sexual or vulgar postings, outside of medical issues will not be allowed.
Flaming
You will not insult, belittle, mock, or personally attack other members or groups of members. Use of derogatory nicknames in reference to other members is prohibited. Don't goad another member or start call-out threads. Do not state or imply that another member or group of members who have identified themselves as Christian are not Christian; using sarcasm to attempt any of the above. This flaming rule also applies to public religious figures.
If you are flamed, don't respond in-kind. Alert staff to the situation by utilizing the report button.
Harassment
Harassment of another member is strictly prohibited. Respect another member's request to cease contact. Don't make another member's experience on this site miserable. This includes, but is not limited to, gossiping or spreading rumors about another member or persistently attacking them in the open forums. Don't threaten another member. Don't report another member out of spite.
Impersonation
Be truthful about your identity. Don't impersonate other members.
Confidentiality and Privacy
Respect another member's right to confidentiality and privacy. Don't publicly release the contents of another member's private communications without permission of the author.
Don't publicly disseminate personally identifiable information, including, but not limited to, your home address, phone number, social security number, or credit card information. You may place your Email addresses and instant messenger information in your profile. Be cautious about what information you choose to disclose online.
Disruptive Behavior
You will not disrupt the peace and harmony of the site. Disruptive behavior includes, but is not limited to, the rehashing of alleged grievances or disputes; publicly complaining about posts or threads submitted in forums throughout the site; or ranting about Christian Forums or its staff.
Vulgarity and Profanity
You will not use profanity or foul language (which includes using punctuations to bypass the profanity filter) in your postings. Don't post graphic or sexually explicit images or text. Don't violate community standards. Staff will remain the sole and final arbiter of what does and does not violate community standards.
Racist, hateful, sexist (discussions regarding certain biblical interpretations on the roles of men and women will not be considered "sexist" under this rule), or abusive language is strictly prohibited.
Spamming and Advertising
Don't repetitively post similar or identical posts or threads. Don't advertise commercial products or services. This includes promoting or linking to other message boards. This prohibition includes begging or soliciting donations or financial support (charitable or otherwise, for any reason) anywhere on the site including in e-mails, posts, and PMs.
Tickers are allowed in signatures. No other links are allowed in signatures. Links may be placed on your profile page.
Off-topic
Start threads that are relevant to that forum's stated purpose; submit replies that are relevant to the topic of discussion.
Language
You may post quotes or statements in languages other than English, but an English language translation must be provided to Christian Forums Staff upon request.
Google Ads
Google ads may not be discussed in public forums. This is a requirement of our contract with Google. If you spot an inappropriate ad, contact the Webmaster - Pauler with the ad's URL.
Legalities
Don't promote illegal activity. Don't violate the copyright of others. Don't promote another's work as your own.
Congregation Forums
Forum members who are not a member of that denomination may not debate in that denomination's area. Questions and fellowship are allowed, proselytizing is not.
Satanism
The promotion of Satanism is strictly prohibited on this board.
Exorcisms/On-Line Deliverances
You will not make posts which attempt to exorcise or bind demons and will not attempt on-line deliverances on this board. Discussions/Instructions on how to complete deliverance will not be allowed either on CF.
No Professional Counseling
No professional legal, financial, medical, etc., counseling will be allowed on the site forums.
Forum Restrictions
Don't enter inaccurate details in your profile in order to gain access to restricted forums.
Staff Disciplinary Action
Do not discuss staff actions publicly. The staff appeals form is to be used to submit complaints about staff disciplinary action. If you are reported, don't discuss it in public forums. Don't discourage other members from using the report system.
Campaigning
Attempts to undermine these rules or policies via campaigns, petitions, or protests will result in suspensions and bans.
Bypassing Bans
Don't bypass bans by creating sock accounts or modifying your IP address. Doing so will result in a permanent ban and/or an IP ban and a complaint to your ISP (internet service provider).
Brinking
Don't push the boundaries of the rules. Staff will enforce these rules based on the spirit of the text, not the letter.
Copyright Violations Prohibited
Members shall not make posts which violate the copyrights of others. In general, this means that any quoted portion of any work must not exceed 20% of the total work. In the specific case of materials owned by the Associated Press, members shall not quote more than one sentence of the work. All quoted copyrighted material must be linked to the webpage from which it was quoted.
What are the rules for the Chat Box?
● The Chatbox is intended for light discussion only, including but not limited to any theology, ethics or debate being reserved for forum threads.
● No posting of images or external links in the Chatbox.
● All Christian Forums Rules Apply.
Chat box users are able to edit their posts by double clicking their post and then retyping their text or editing down to a "."
Statement of Faith
CF supports the following as a statement of faith:
The Nicene Creed (with scriptural references)
We believe in (Romans 10:8-10; 1John 4:15)
ONE God, (Deuteronomy 6:4, Ephesians 4:6)
the Father (Matthew 6:9)
Almighty, (Exodus 6:3)
Maker of Heaven and Earth, (Genesis 1:1)
and of all things visible and invisible. (Colossians 1:15-16)
And in ONE Lord Jesus Christ, (Acts 11:17)
the Son of God, (Mathew 14:33; 16:16)
the Only-Begotten, (John 1:18; 3:16)
Begotten of the Father before all ages. (John 1:2)
Light of Light; (Psalm 27:1; John 8:12; Matthew 17:2,5)
True God of True God; (John 17:1-5)
Begotten, not made; (John 1:18)
of one essence with the Father (John 10:30)
by whom all things were made; (Hebrews 1:1-2)
Who for us men and for our salvation (1Timothy 2:4-5)
came down from Heaven, (John 6:33,35)
and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, (Luke 1:35)
and became man. (John 1:14)
And was crucified for us (Mark 15:25; 1Cointhians 15:3)
under Pontius Pilate, (John 19:6)
and suffered, (Mark 8:31)
and was buried. (Luke 23:53; 1Corinthians 15:4)
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures. (Luke 24:1 1Corinthians 15:4)
And ascended into Heaven, (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:10)
and sits at the right hand of the Father. (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55)
And He shall come again with glory (Matthew 24:27)
to judge the living and the dead; (Acts 10:42; 2Timothy 4:1)
whose Kingdom shall have no end. (2 Peter 1:11)
And in the Holy Spirit, (John 14:26)
the Lord, (Acts 5:3-4)v
the Giver of Life, (Genesis 1:2)
Who proceeds from the Father; (John 15:26)
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; (Matthew 3:16-17)
Who spoke through the prophets. (1 Samuel 19:20 ; Ezekiel 11:5,13)
In one, (Matthew 16: 18)
holy, (1 Peter 2:5,9)
catholic*, (Mark 16:15)
and apostolic Church. (Acts 2:42; Ephesians 2:19-22)
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins**. (Ephesians 4:5; Acts 2:38)
I look for the resurrection of the dead, (John 11:24; 1Corinthians 15:12-49; Hebrews 6:2; Revelation 20:5)
and the life of the world to come. (Mark 10:29-30)
AMEN. (Psalm 106:48)
*The word "catholic" (literally, "complete," "universal," or "according to the whole") refers to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ and not necessarily or exclusively to any particular visible denomination, institution, or doctrine.
**May be interpreted as baptism is a matter of obedience and not a requirement for salvation or as a regenerating ordinance.
What is the privacy policy of Christian Forums?
Christian Forums is deeply committed to protecting the privacy of it's users. Absolutely no user-identifiable information is released to any 3rd parties without the user's consent.
Cookies
Christian Forums uses cookies on the forums that enable many features. These cookies track login time/date, and, optionally, your login data (set in your user prefs). Using cookies will enable Christian Forums to remember your login, and display new messages since your last visit. It is highly recommended that you browse Christian Forums with cookies enabled in your browser.
Our advertising partners may also use cookies as part of their advertising campaign but this is independent of this site.
Forums Registration
During the process of registering an account, a valid email address is required. The user has the ability to hide this email not only from other users, but from the administration as well (all set in user prefs). No email addresses will be shared with any other entity without permission. If a user chooses to hide his/her email from the administration, no contact will be made, unless for disciplinary action.
User Profiles
Members have the option of allowing or disallowing guests to view their member profile. If guests are not allowed to view a member's profile, then search engines will not be able to spider the profile as well. This keeps member profiles private and restricted to registered members only. Members can only choose to hide specific information in their profile from other members - things like reputation level, birthday, age, gender, faith, and even site supporter status - these can be set in the User Control Panel, Options.
Private Messages
All private messages belonging to a member remains private at all times. None of the moderators or staff at Christian Forums have access to private messages of members. The webmaster of Christian Forums will not be accessing the database directly to view the private messages of members. Private messages will remain private.
