Comments Policy
We welcome comments and questions. We have guidelines for comments and the site is pre-moderated – we will not publish comments that:
- are anonymous
- are abusive, incite hatred, seek to intimidate or use foul language
- attack others
- are lies and or distortions
- contain racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory content
- are posted with the intention of provoking the writers of these blogs or those who comment upon them
- contain material that violates applicable laws and regulations
These requirements protect and honour freedom of speech, because when speech is hateful or aggressive it is intended to intimidate others; it is intended to bully and suppress with no true intention for open discussion or consideration. Intimidation, bullying and aggression are not free speech:
In this regard we are guided by the stance taken by Huffington Post – this publication explains their moderation policy in terms of free speech. Comments must fall within the comments policy because:
We must respect our writers and protect them from vicious and inflammatory comments. They too are entitled to free speech – the right to share their opinions without being subject to scathing and mean-spirited remarks.
Whatever criticisms are there to be expressed can be delivered without reaction and aggression. We take the view that freedom of speech is not a right to freely and anonymously abuse others. A society that allows this is not a free society, it is a society that is held hostage to cowards who troll sites and digitally pillage with no accountability. We don’t play ball with that. We ask for people to engage but to engage responsibly. Your considered contributions are valued and appreciated.
Please note we also reserve the right to decline the publication of comments that are purely self-promotional or which are designed to advance a predefined agenda or dogma, we find that comments of this nature are not conducive to open two-way conversation. This means no Scripture-spam please.