Infraction System

[algebuckina]

Free speech and the necessity of fair discussion are held in the highest regard, however when the line between debate and argument is crossed, it is the job of the Staff and Moderator team to regulate so that the standards of the community are maintained for all. At times, anybody can "get off track" so we have to make sure the primary focus is for communication of our Church community.

Our Infraction System is a system employed by our Staff and Moderators to keep track of trouble makers and alert them that their actions are inappropriate. It is used for infractions on the Forums and any other Social Media Outlets.

The system operates based on a tally of demerit points. Each user has a personal point count (beginning at 0 upon registration). Points are global across all networks: a point awarded for a forum flame war has the same weight as a point awarded for incorrect behavior on our Social Media Outlets, and they contribute to the same total.

The infraction system incorporates three key elements:

Infractions are given for violating any of the listed Website Terms of Service. These are worth specific points assigned by our Moderation Team. Each rule lists the associated point value and duration to expiration of that incident's points. They are also archived for reference.

Once it has been determined that a rule has been broken, we must assign the associated infraction points. Only when the tally of demerit points equals a Ban level will a person receive a ban.

As points accumulate, bans are imposed by the system automatically. The first point has no ban associated with it and should be treated as a warning. A total of 2 points incurs a 3 day ban. As points increase beyond 2, so does the ban length. 3 points equal a 3 week ban and 4 points equal a 3 month ban. When 5 points has been accumulated, expired points do not count in the total, a permanent ban is given that will never expire.

On the forums, infractions aren't given for things like swearing in one post, making a thread answered in the FAQ, or any of the other countless daily mistakes made by young and old: rather infractions are more commonly awarded for continuous negativity, personal attacks, "flame wars", and cross-thread arguing.

Our Social Media Platforms follow the same philosophy.

Each infraction has an expiry date between 3-12 months. After an infraction has expired, the point(s) no longer count towards a users tally of demerit points. When an infraction is awarded, a Private Message is sent to the User explaining the reason for the infraction, as well as stipulating if the user was awarded a ban with that infraction.

We hope this allows everyone to be on the same page. We don't go around banning people willy nilly at a whim, and 95% of people will never need to know what an infraction is. But for the sake of clarity and transparency we felt it was important to let everyone know how we deal with trouble makers.

Please note that we reserve the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute any content or services and to terminate users or reclaim usernames.