Community Announcement re: Decorum

I feel like we've said this on multiple threads, particularly regarding the current events in the middle east so instead of repeating myself a dozen times a single thread will do.

ATS is a community forum on which people debate topics which sometimes get heated.

This community was built up to the size it is now because of something that set it apart from other similar communities - civil discourse.

If you demonstrate an inability to have intelligent conversation about these topics and resort to calling other members offensive names or imply that they are "paid shills" or have less of a right to be here than you do, your account will be terminated. That applies whether you have been here 2 days or 12 years.

This is a privately owned community with rules. Yes our Terms and Conditions can appear to be a bit lengthy but in a nutshell the part covering member interaction is really simple. You will behave in a respectful manner towards other members. That's all there is to it.

I've been seeing members calling each other shills, claiming one another are paid to be posting here, calling each other savages, using this issue to insult entire ethnic groups...

Is ATS a place where members will call each other Nazis or terrorists? Where people will use current events as a platform to spread hate? Do we really need to see members calling all Muslims terrorists? Calling all Jews murderers?

Those behaviors run contrary to our core beliefs and will not be tolerated. If a member can not argue a point without resorting to vile insults against other members they will be removed from this community.

We do not want to close threads on entire topics. The community deserves to be able to talk about these topics that are so important in the world today. So we're not going to do that. The topics will remain open. The individuals ruining them with their poor behavior will be removed.

Civil discourse and decorum will win on ATS. This announcement is closed to replies. If you see a member posting in a way that violates the above, click the alert button and the staff will deal with it.