**ALL MEMBERS** The recent surge in Hatred, Racism, and Sheer Stupidity STOPS NOW.

Here we go again, another "HOT STORY" the MSM ("Main Stream Media" in case you're new around here) can't milk fast enough or sensationalize crazily enough and we've got the racists, the ignorant, and the totally confused all coming out of the woodwork on our beloved ATS.

The past several days have been very busy in the staff forum here at ATS. We've been brainstorming about how to handle the seemingly incessant issue(s) of "Hate Speech", Racism, and the utter ignorance they seek to sow in our beloved community and online home.

It finally dawned on us that trying to define "hate speech" within such diversified groups as the staff of ATS and our hundreds of thousands of members from all over the world is almost impossible. So we are removing the concepts of "Hate Speech" and "Political Correctness" from our efforts and we're replacing them with this simple concept, "Is this content good for ATS and our Community".

Going forward we'll be checking Opening Posts and Replies against that standard. We'll also be looking at the history of the poster, we know everyone can have a bad day or, get all riled up.

In order to help you all understand where we're coming from and help yourself avoid action from the staff on your posts and your account please consider the following questions before you post something that might be considered "not good for ATS or our Community":

"Is what I am about to post a genuine attempt at civil discourse/debate about the topic or, am I trying to scream at the world and force my personal beliefs down everyone else's throat?"

"Is this thread I am creating an honest attempt at civil discourse/debate about the subject or, am I trying to sow as much hatred as I can about the evil ___________s to wake people up to the fact they are scum?"

"Is what I am about to post a clever attempt at sounding like I am seeking honest, civil discourse/debate about the topic so I can claim innocence when my thread gets removed and I get banned or, is it truly my attempt at understanding and learning?"

That last one is a big one. We will no longer tolerate threads that are couched in "TAC safe" rhetoric that are obviously posted to get the racism, hatred, utter stupidity ball rolling. We'll be reviewing member history and making determinations on intent from there, if you're here to use ATS as your personal "bully pulpit" to inflict your views on the rest of the world, logic, the truth or civil debate be damned, you might want to find another forum.

We will be making our judgments on whether the content added to the site enhances ATS and is good for our Community. This makes it pretty simple and completely avoids the morass of trying to define things based on ultra subjective criteria, while allowing the honest discussion and debate of ALL topics not excluded by the Terms and Conditions of Use to carry on.

Consider this fair warning that starting now, we will be cleaning house where needed, we will be removing any new content that doesn't meet the criteria above, and we will be banning those who it is determined are here to use ATS as their personal racist, hater, ignorance spewing mega phone to the world.

Springer...

Originally posted by Springer
"Is this content good for ATS and our Community".

The concepts of "hate speech' and 'PC' are gone? Good.
Truth is what is good for ATS and our community.


eta .. shoulda said 'concepts'

oh wow i thought someone else was the 'owner' oops glad to have clicked here

i agree when i see a topic that suggests racist stance, i just hope the mods del it before it it embarrasses the community. topics should remain factual not rhetorical or indirect/innuendo

we are intellectuals, and genuinely concerned about improving intel & human relations for the better of humanity, y

Thanks Springer
Your and your teams efforts are much appreciated by me for one.
It is true what you say that any of us can have on off day or get riled up
But discussion is key.
You make a point and that point is discussed and added to in a constructive way
It is not about everyone being in agreement - that would be impossible
Respect and agreeing to disagree is better than pointless barracking or belittling

I think this is a step in the right direction. The last few months the atmosphere on ATS has been very "un-ATS like". It seems to be that there has been an influx of members unwilling to even entertain the ideas of other members, some have been very dismissive, stubborn and close minded. ATS used to be very loose but now it seems almost fundamentalist in some forums (if that makes sense)




ATS works best when there is a discussion, not attacks and name calling.

Originally posted by Springer
"Is what I am about to post a genuine attempt at civil discourse/debate about the topic or, am I trying to scream at the world and force my personal beliefs down everyone else's throat?"

There go half the threads and about two thirds of all replies.

Got to admire anyone who attempts to tackle the impossible.

From what I have observed in the past few weeks.

I think this is the mindset of the general public.

It's crazy.

The world has gone crazy.

I agree , i have been through some of these threads and to be honest , i know that if i post i`ll only make it worse , i`ve got "bad luck syndrome" i`m just that kind of guy.

Racism on here needs to be stopped purely because its childish , but topics like the zimmerman case, need to be dragged through the mud kicking and screaming until they get to any kind of conclusion.

However , when people say something that is labeled as racist , most of the time they dont understand how it`s racist , so its muddy waters for ATS staff to be rolling around in. Especially with the new "we own the internet and your speech" laws coming out in America and England.

Plus ............. Obama started it

It really is too bad that you and the rest of the staff have to keep posting these types of warnings and that there's so many people who have to resort to this type of behavior. There truly is no need for racism/hatred/name calling and all of the other crap that goes on...that's the kind of thing that happens when there is no intelligent response to a subject/post/member.

I certainly do not envy the jobs of any of the staff here at ATS. Good luck sir. And thank you.

Although I am really tired of all the threads concerning the subject and see the OP point.

I do find it odd that the only means to stop racism is censorship. It's really weird coming from a conspiracy website where opinion and truth are encouraged. Just my .02

I wish you luck in a huge task.

Flagged if I could, not much else to say, except this thread needs to be kept at the top of the recent posts page for quite awhile and probably stickied forever.

reply to post by Springer

[/quoute]

"Is what I am about to post a genuine attempt at civil discourse/debate about the topic or, am I trying to scream at the world and force my personal beliefs down everyone else's throat?"

I think this one will be problematic. There are lots of issues routinely posted about on ATS which AUTOMATICALLY CARRY intense emotional aspects to the topics . . . . religion--particularly Christianity and Islam; UFO's, politics--liberal vs conservative.

On a number of those issues and topics, I try forcefully to SLIGHTLY BALANCE the picture. ATS has a majority of liberal, ANTI-Christian, Muslim apologist posters and reportedly some mods of similar values.

From my perspective, the values and views I and a number of other Christians and Christian conservatives on ATS hold--ARE ROUTINELY AND OUTRAGEOUSLY--often wholesale inaccurately shredded up one side and down the other on ATS--OFTEN IN THE MOST HATEFUL AND INACCURATE blackwashing of terms.

Mostly, I think--SO WHAT. Par for the course. This is a town square and folks who can't stand the heat ought to get out of the kitchen.

MY OVERWHELMING GOAL IS TO TRY however much--which will always be SLIGHTLY--to balance the picture of how my perspectives are presented on ATS.

I ENJOY VIGOROUS FAIR-MINDED DIALOGUE. I rarely find that on ATS and it is not a standard I lose sleep over.

Short of FAIR-MINDED--I hope for FAIRLY TREATED BY THE MODS.

I do NOT EXPECT fair treatment by the average ATSers--much less the not so average.

That would be insanely unrealistic to this psychologist/sociologist.

I want to present my perspectives as forcefully and thought provokingly as I can because I know that will cause the most thought about the topics I hold most dear. THAT'S WHAT I WANT--THOUGHT--PONDERING about the CONTENT--THE IDEAS, PRINCIPLES, TRUTHS I present.

I care about folks conclusions--but I MOSTLY WANT TO PROVOKE THOUGHT--PONDERING--WEIGHING

Phone call--& running out of characters . . . back when I can


"Is this thread I am creating an honest attempt at civil discourse/debate about the subject or, am I trying to sow as much hatred as I can about the evil ___________s to wake people up to the fact they are scum?"

"Is what I am about to post a clever attempt at sounding like I am seeking honest, civil discourse/debate about the topic so I can claim innocence when my thread gets removed and I get banned or, is it truly my attempt at understanding and learning?"



MUCH APPRECIATE ALL Y'ALL'S EFFORTS.

My personality and style seems to chronically get me accused of a lot of things folks who are close to me--not just face to face--but folks close to me on the net only--find INCREDIBLY INACCURATE.

Nevertheless, it continues. I'm accused of hating . . . and I rarely even hate satan.

I just don't hate people. Even folks who have harshly abused me horribly are reasonably easy for me to forgive and hope and pray for God's best for them.

I'm accused of racism. Again, it's nonsense. I've had black, Muslim, hispanic, Japanese, Chinese roommates and have loved all of them.

I'm accused of being a lobotomized bigotted idiot etc.

I have strong biases that I fiercely state. However, I doggedly work hard to word things as ideas vs against other people and their personhood.

I do hate DOUBLE STANDARDS. And sometimes, it seems that ATS has overmuch of such. That can get really itrritating.

I do hate GROSSLY EXTREME HYPOCRISY. I don't like hypocrisy period but we are all mortal and flawed. I reserve hatred for outrageous extremes of hypocrisy. Sometimes, that can seem overly common on ATS.

I also tend to state things forcefully and with some creativity and hopefully some wit and humor.

But I don't exactly take prsoners nor suffer fools delightfully.

Nevertheless, I think I have learned the ATS standards for civility and routinely keep them plus a margin beyond.

I'm typically very harshly personally assaulted in my personhood. I rarely alert on it because it's not a big priority to me except when the hypocrisy of it gets extreme.

Dear ATS Leaders,

I Applaud that you have taken action. In my opinion, what is happening now is a polarizing wave by Shadowy Spin-Doctors. Anything which can be done to divide the Citizen masses, and having them chase their own tails, serves to distract away from the core issue of systemic corruption, and a thinly concealed rise of fascism.

ATS, and I have bumped heads on minor issues in the past as I have been a member longer than my handle implies, sometimes I have been blind-sided by actions taken by our dedicated staff. However, with that being said, I love this site beyond myself. I genuinely wish everyone on this site life, love, and happiness. Furthermore my eyes have been opened by many an intelligent contributor, and whistle-blower.

I do not hope to presume we will always have this haven of free speech, and individualism, and there are further mysteries to be uncovered one story at a time. There is a forum or two that needs to address a larger scale "Elephant in the Room" but such things could be construed a certain way thanks to engineered thought. In that spirit, I want ATS to live a long hopefully immortal life, and you have my support in our quest to DENY IGNORANCE.

God Bless You All, And Every Single Human On This Planet,

-Matthew Brent Graybeal

Originally posted by GuidedKill
Although I am really tired of all the threads concerning the subject and see the OP point.

I do find it odd that the only means to stop racism is censorship.

Censorship you say? Can't be further from the truth. This is a reaffirmation of what ATS wants to be for everyone, not just a pulpit for those that are only here to spread their hate. My guess would be that 95%, possibly higher, are in line with this. The vocal -5%. Sorry, not playing that game any more. ATS was and should be a place for anyone. Not a place to be contaminated by hatred and bigotry.

I wish you luck in a huge task.

Thanks. It's going to be interesting.

I imagine most of this happens in the political threads? I usually visit the ufo/alien/area51/skunk works areas and it is ok there, other than some people trying to debunk a little too hard and causing friction with the believers.

Anyway yes we need less hate and more tolerance.

Been there, done that.

3rd Presidential election for me here at ATS.

At least the 3rd proclamation of this sort from the higher up of ATS.

Maybe 3rd time is the charm?

thanks for the notification and the effort...i have been wondering if y'all were gonna step in or not. it will be interesting to see how this new approach goes.

Originally posted by BO XIAN
reply to post by Springer

On a number of those issues and topics, I try forcefully to SLIGHTLY BALANCE the picture. ATS has a majority of liberal, ANTI-Christian, Muslim apologist posters and reportedly some mods of similar values.

I'm accused of racism. Again, it's nonsense.

Oh dear.

Which one is it?

What is a "muslim apologist", exactly?

ETA - I am asking this in a staff capacity.

I will troll and uhh just see my signature. Its a hard task, just look at madness within the nutty peoples, in fact, I dont need to troll at all if I want too, but then, the fun is too much, I cant just read.

I will try to avoid personal remarks except criticizing their ideas and belief. Whats important is ideas dissemination, not the person, unless its Lady Gaga of course.
That being said, off to troll. Its my trolling season btw

It's election year! Of course tempers flare.

Violence in Florida? Racial tension spikes.

Shame on those members who forget their civility....checking a person's posting history is an excellent idea, so those offenders ought to watch what they say.

I think the mods are fairly strict as it is. However, I'm not often one to get posts removed, so I suppose I stay within T&C fairly closely. Whew.

There's an old adage amongst carpenters: Measure twice and cut once. They same could apply to posting:

THINK TWICE and POST once.