Hi. I'm trying to understand what is permitted in this group.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

7. It's a respect and civility thing

You can talk all you want about how stupid religious belief is. There's no proscription against that - believers may be offended by it, but that's too bad. I also think that religious belief is silly, and more than a little stupid. It's irrational, foolish, and idiotic, and I won't hesitate to point that out, at least here in the A&A group.

What is considered inappropriate is the demeaning of specific DU members just because they happen to be religious. There's no reason to start a flame war or attack DU believers, especially when done in a group where believers don't belong.

It would be okay to say "that person's beliefs are stupid and silly". Yes, a believer might be offended by that, but that's their problem. It would be inappropriate, though, to say, "that religious guy, DUerPosterX, is a fucking asshole", especially when referring to a fellow DUer.

Like someone said above, attack the belief, not the believer. I'd take it a step further and say, when referring to a DUer, attack their belief, not the believer. If you want to call Pat Robertson a dickhead, you won't see any complaints from me. I think that distinction should be made, because we attack religious people all the time here.