Our Comment Policy
Don’t worry if any comments you make do not appear immediately. It is probably awaiting moderation by our editors so there is no need to submit your comment again. Our administrators and editors usually check the blogs on a regular basis but due to individual work schedules, this could sometimes take a day or two.
Do keep the following points in mind though:
a. We take great pleasure in our blog and it is not meant for theological debate. There are other forums where it might be more appropriate for that sort of thing to occur and where it might actually be encouraged. Our blog is not one of those forums.
b. This page is not the place to post a comment about any of our of our articles or posts. It is here to outline our comment policies ie. we have very specific ideas about what comments are acceptable. You need to go to the article itself to make any comments about any specific articles or posts.
c. Your comments and thoughts about our articles and posts are valued and we welcome your contributions. However, do continue reading the caveats and fine print following this point.
d. Comments of a personal nature, personal attacks and abuse will not be published. If a comment puts forward a valid argument that has been well-thought out and is relevent to the article or post being commented on, said comment will be edited, have our replies added and may not be deleted. We acknowledge the fact that comment trolls do exist and we retain the right to moderate and remove comments and contributions, as appropriate, if they are in conflict with the stated aim of our blog.
e. Any serious allegations about the author of an article/post, a contributor or commentator, a person or organisation mentioned in a published article or post should be supported with an Internet link. The allegation will be looked into and the comment will be moderated.
f. We encourage the use of accurate and substantiable statements in comments and rebuttal as not doing so would be ironical especially when commenting about the accuracy and validity of a particular article or post.
g. We do not condone any remarks that denigrate any community, religion or comments that are of a racially discriminatory nature. Comments, ping-backs and/or track-backs that have been determined to be of a indecent, inflammatory, slanderous or uncivil nature will be removed. After all, this is a blog for a Christian ministry in a church.
h. All comments, track-backs or links will be reviewed for relevance to the post. Any deemed to NOT be relevent to the post or the topic covered in the post will not be published. Nor will repetitive comments or links which contain false information.
i. Although we allow anonymous comments, they do not make us feel comfortable. We encourage all people leaving comments to use your real world names or email addresses. IMHO, perhaps you should rethink a comment if you are reluctant to be associated with it.
j. Opinions expressed by individual posters, contributors and commentators are not necessarily those shared by us or WEFC.
k. Blatant misquotes and misinterpretations are not appreciated. We prefer to err, on the side of caution, when interpreting comments containing these as being malicious in nature or are attempts at trolling. This is our blog and we make our own interpretations in choosing what and when to moderate these comments.
l. Meaningful and valid debates are welcome.. if put across in a civil and logical manner. Some may believe that our articles and posts should cover all points of view but we don’t agree. We are a not-for-profit group of individuals serving in a church ministry. We can only write about what we see for ourselves and share our own individual opinions. Individual authors do sometimes make an attempt to represent other points of view but we do not guarantee it.
m. Please refrain from contributing or making facetious comments about our stated opinions, posts and articles, our rights to a certain design or policy, perceived or otherwise, and etc. As long as we are not defaming or targeting any specific groups or individuals, we have the right to our personal opinions and a right to present our thoughts and work in whatever manner we choose. If you have a different opinion or prefer a different manner to present your work, feel free to do so on your own blog or website and share it with the rest of the Internet. Having to state this rather obvious fact sounds rather facetious on our part. If it does and you see the irony of it, good on you!
n. There is no compunction on anyone to comment here. If people get bored, they usually stop commenting or stop visiting. That is their privilege. They don’t need anyone to tell them to shut up. To those who feel compelled to post a comment just to tell another contributor to shut up and end the conversation, we’d like to let you know in advance that we will be doing the same to you and not bother with publishing your comment.
o. Comments of a commercial nature will not be published. However if the link adds to the post, we may consider publishing it as we certainly welcome the opportunity to provide you, the reader, with as many views on the subject as possible… even if it is a commercial one.
p. One of the things that irritates one of our editors (and us) more than trolls are link droppers – people who post a comment only for the sake of promoting their own (or their friend’s) blog or website by giving a link to a particular post on that blog or website. If the comment provides a link to something which adds to the topic of the article or post, and is relevant, we’ll think about keeping and publishing it. Our primary aim is not to act as a springboard for someone else or provide opportunities to promote someone else’s blog or company.
q. We host our blogs on a third party provider, WordPress, and we don’t maintain those servers or set the policies of our provider. Sometimes, comments may be inadvertently marked as spam and gets sent to the spam folder. Only our provider knows or understands the logic and reasoning for this. While we welcome genuine comments, it is possible that we may miss those because of this. So we ask for you understanding if you feel your comment has not appeared inspite of it being polite, reasonable, and non-commercial in nature.
r. We reserve the right to retain and publish IP addresses as well as any and all information that we can track down about repeat offenders so that any interested persons or the authorities can track the person down.
So, why the long list of restrictions and guidelines?
The reason is simple. This is our blog. It is not meant to be a political, religious or social commentary. We tend to be polite, well-meaning people and we generally get along with others whom we find likewise – regardless of their religion, political leanings, race, colour or creed. We usually find that those who are not capable of making a reasoned and informed argument are usually rude, nasty, hateful, profane and write generally spiteful comments. These are ill-informed people – not bad ones. We may choose to tolerate their words and actions (sometimes) but we don’t condone them.
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