Hello, Atheists and Agnostics Group

[Skinner]

I understand that out in the "real world" there still exists a significant level of animosity between believers and non-believers, particularly among certain segments of society. That sucks -- believe me, I know. We all hope that someday soon we can all live in a society that is truly accepting of all worldviews. It is a sad fact that even Democratic Underground does not always live up to this ideal, and it is made more difficult by the fact that we exist in a society that does not live up to the ideal. But it is our intent to do what we can to make DU live up to that ideal. We believe that all of our members are capable of respecting the beliefs or lack-of-beliefs of everyone here. And by "all members" I mean everyone: Believers should respect those who do not believe, and non-believers should respect those who believe. We don't expect you all to agree, but we do expect you to disagree in a mutually-respectful way.

This is a friendly reminder.

The purpose of this Group is to discuss topics of mutual interest with relating to Atheism and Agnosticism.

The purpose of this Group IS NOT to discuss idiotic posts by believers, to ridicule or attack other members of DU, or to whip up feelings of victimization. Here is the mission statement of this group (emphasis added):

Although anyone is welcome to participate, the DU Atheists and Agnostics Group is a place where atheists and agnostics can engage in frank discussions about the effects of religion on politics, free of debate about the existence of a deity or deities. In this forum it is inappropriate to belittle those with religious beliefs or to engage in demeaning or hateful speech toward members of DU who may hold such beliefs. Those who do believe in a deity should be aware that the underlying assumption for discussions in this Group is that either "god" does not exist or that the existence of "god" is in doubt. If you are offended by such notions, you probably should not participate in this Group.

As the administrator of this website, it is my job to make sure that the mission statements of the various DU Groups are enforced. You should probably know that we intend to block individuals from this group who violate the mission statement of this group.

Furthermore, we expect all members of DU to treat each other and our differing worldviews with respect when participating anywhere else on this discussion forum.

Most people in this group and on DU are productive members of our community. But I am concerned that there is a very small number of people who have been deliberately whipping up feelings of ill-will between belivers and non-believers. At this point, there are some who are in danger of being banned from this website, and part of the reason for this post is that I hope we can avoid that outcome.

Thank you for your understanding.

Skinner
DU Admin