As this forum continues to develop, we are seeing more and more threads that discuss potentially controversial topics involving politics, religion, ethnicity and race, and other "hot-button" issues. While these discussions have generally remained civil, there have been a couple excursions outside what we consider acceptable parameters here at the MyFICO Forums. So I have decided to give a few guidelines here to ensure that these Forums continue to be a positive, supportive environment for all users even as we permit a broad spectrum of issues and topics to be discussed.
1. As of yet, the Powers That Be here have not seen fit to create an off-topic forum. This is being discussed, but no timetable has been set yet. Thus, all topics posted must have something to do with credit and credit-related finances. Note that this covers a pretty broad stretch of topics, as finances intersect with almost every aspect of life in this country. An exception to this rule are requests for prayer/good thoughts/etc. for forum members, which are permitted.
2. Discussion of a credit or finance-related topic is allowed to go into politics, where appropriate to the topic. However, Forum rules still apply. I'm not going to go into a whole slew of rules and policies, but use your judgment. Name-calling or insulting other posters...come on folks, we all know better. Disparaging entire races or ethnic groups is a surefire way to get your post deleted and draw a warning. Knocking an entire religion is ill-advised too. Remember to attack points of view, not people unless you are criticizing that person based on a specific act or statement, and criticism should be confined to that incident and not extrapolated to the person's character in general. In short, use common sense, keep it clean and fair, provide citations and examples when you make assertions, and debates should be no problem.
3. Threads that discuss politics will be monitored by the mods and staff, and are subject to locking if repeated policy violations occur within the thread. Threads may also be closed if, in moderator opinion, a thread is generating more "heat" than "light" and its continued presence sows discord while not providing any real edification for Forum users.
