Further Light and Knowledge

Purpose, Rules, and Etiquette

The purpose of Further Light and Knowledge ("FLAK") is to provide a place for open, honest, robust discussion on Mormonism from the viewpoint of disaffected Mormons and post-Mormons. While all who have an interest in Mormonism are free to post here, FLAK is not a place for faithful Mormons to preach to, debate with, or call to repentance the disaffected Mormons and post-Mormons who contribute here. It is hoped that FLAK will be a place of civil and rational discourse.

As a participant here, you may fall under one or more of these descriptions: a "Liberal Mormon"; a "Jack Mormon"; someone who "thinks too much" about doctrinal issues; someone who is unsatisfied, bored, or disillusioned with correlated Church materials; someone who doubts or disbelieves the Church, but chooses to remain connected due to family or other reason; someone in the process of leaving the Church; a former Mormon; or someone with a friend or loved one involved with the Church. If you fall into any of the above categories, or simply have an interest in Mormonism, you are welcome here.

Rules

Be polite and respectful of others' opinions. Consider alternate views as valid, valued and recognized. Disagree, don't attack. Engage the ideas, not the person. Personal insults will not be tolerated. In stating a differing opinion, use phrases such as "In my opinion...;" "To me, things appear this way...;" or "In my experience..."

This is not a debate board for Mormons to defend the faith. Believing Mormons have many other venues to debate and proclaim the religion. No proselytizing of any kind is allowed on FLAK. This includes believing Mormons calling others to repentance, and any other overt attempt to convert others to your particular point of view, whether it be atheism, born-again Christianity, etc. If you manage to word things using "in my experience" or "from my perspective" rather than testimony bearing, and do not engage in personal attacks, you probably will not get moderated. However, you will likely not be popular with the board community.

Political discussions are allowed in the Countercultural Hall, but keep in mind that only polite and civil discourse is permitted. Political discussions in other forums will be moved to the Countercultural Hall.

PM abuse is taken very seriously. If someone complains that you are sending unwanted PMs to them, your account will likely be suspended. If you receive offensive or questionable PMs, or even PMs that make you feel uncomfortable, please let a moderator know immediately.

Multiple accounts are not allowed. An obvious fake account or two for hilarity purposes (for example, "President Monson" or "Brigham Young") is acceptable, but sock puppet accounts that appear to be real people are strictly forbidden. Likewise, using another person's account to post messages as if you were that person is also prohibited.

Pictures must be safe for work. Many posters visit FLAK from their workplace, so in-line images and avatars should be safe for work. Posting a link to an image is always acceptable as long as it's clearly labeled when it's NSFW (not safe for work).

Solicitation is not allowed. We don't like spammers. If you're selling something or advertising something, please do it elsewhere. Also, do not make posts with requests for email addresses, real-world locations, or off-board communication. Exchanging personal information via PMs is acceptable, but pestering people for information is not.


Etiquette

Like any online forum, FLAK is a unique environment. We recommend reading a lot before you post, so you can get a better feel for the community. Bring a healthy sense of humor, and whatever muse afflicts you. Occasional bouts of tomfoolery are not only allowed, but also encouraged. There is no penalty for loud laughter and light-mindedness at FLAK. Above all, have some fun and enjoy your interactions with others here, in a non-prescribed and non-judgmental atmosphere.

Strong language and profanity is considered acceptable and sometimes even encouraged. Some people choose to put warnings in the subject line of their post when particularly harsh language is used, but this is not required.

Linking to other web sites for non-commercial purposes is encouraged. FLAK is part of a larger community of Mormon-related web sites, and we encourage linking and cross-pollination as much as possible. Feel free to link to your blog, or an interesting thread on another forum, or anything else that strikes your fancy.

Thread-jacking (making posts unrelated to the topic's main idea) is perfectly acceptable, and could even be considered an official FLAK pastime. Some regulars have even elevated this practice to an art form. Feel perfectly free to interrupt a threadjack with on-topic posts, too—it works both ways.

Thread-digging (posting on very old threads) is acceptable, but often it's better to just create a new thread with a link to the old thread to prevent confusion.


Privacy

Keep in mind that certain information you provide in your Profile may be accessible to the general public. Please pay attention to your Profile setup and be aware of what information is accessible, who is allowed to contact you and in what manner. If you wish to maintain anonymity, make sure that you do not provide any personal information in your Profile that could compromise your anonymity. Many posters create a FLAK-specific email address to allow off-board communication without disclosing their real-world identity.

Also keep in mind that if you link from FLAK to a remote site (such as a friend's blog or web page), it is trivial for them to trace backwards and discover the thread on FLAK that links to their site. Be careful what links you post if you wish to remain anonymous.


Moderator Actions

FLAK moderators tend to be very light-handed. We have great faith in the community's ability to solve most issues, including rules violations, on its own without moderator involvement.

However, if any of the above rules are violated, the offender may receive a warning from the moderators, via PM, in-thread, or through some other means. A second violation after this warning will result in account suspension, either temporary (from one day to one month) or permanent, depending on the discretion of the moderators.

Occasionally, a particularly volatile thread may experience a very high volume of posts. If the moderators deem that the potential for rule violations is very high, and they do not have the resources to monitor the thread due to the high rate of posts, a moderator may (at their discretion) lock the thread for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the thread should be unlocked. If the same circumstances continue to apply, the thread may be locked again, but threads should not be permanently locked.

Moderators should not edit posts for content. If a post violates board rules, but the poster changes their behavior after a warning, their original post can remain as-is, or the poster can edit it themselves to conform to board rules. If the poster continues to violate board rules, they will be banned and their posts will remain as written.

Moderators may occasionally make minor edits to fix broken BBCode, preserve users' privacy, or to improve clarity.


Legal Information

All information, posts, links, stories, etc. found on this site are the express copyright of the author and may not be used in any manner without the author's express permission. Anyone posting anything on this site expressly grants FLAK the right to use said post, with accompanying information, for any non-commercial purpose. Posted material will not be used for commercial purposes without the express permission of the author.

FLAK is not responsible for any posts or representations made on this site, even if they violate the posted guidelines.

These rules were adapted from the rules at The View from the Foyer. Credit for much of the language contained in these rules goes to the administrators of that site.