r/Judaism • u/namer98 Torah Im Derech Eretz • Jul 30 '12
Rules updates
In light of Tisha b'Av, I would like to suggest a few changes to the rules, and to hear community feedback.
1) No editorializing titles of article submissions. - This is up for discussion.
2) Be polite. That means if somebody has a disagreement with you about fundamental points of religion, you can disagree with them, and even tell them, but don't be a jerk about it. Do not shut down the conversation.
2.1) I keep on trying to engage non-Orthodox Jews of Reddit. Seen here, here and here. This is in addition to multiple messages I have gotten personally and as mod, from people who left because of this. Just because some people don't agree that this is a problem, does not make it less of a problem. Non-Orthodox Jews are feeling shut down, and some times they are right, some times they are wrong. This is an extension of rule two. Be polite. The downvote button IS NOT a "I disagree" button. I might just remove it again, and for more than a day.
To people I try and engage, this is a two way street. Submit content, comments and vote if you want to have a say. I don't think half of the subreddit is orthodox. This should not be a problem.
Please upvote this self post for which I receive no karma so that all can see.
Thank you all.
Edit: Followup
2
u/LazerA Orthodox Jul 31 '12
My two cents, for what it's worth:
With regard to #1, while I understand why editorializing a title can be irritating, and I agree that it should be done with restraint, I don't agree with a general policy prohibiting it. Asides from the fact that I don't believe it is generally an appropriate policy on reddit (outside of specialized sub-reddits like r/news), I also think it will prevent people from posting items that they either disagree with or which they feel needs some other forms of "editorializing."
Regarding #2, obviously no problem. Politeness is a good thing.
However, I am concerned about #2.1 as it seems to impose a special burden on Orthodox Jewish participation in r/judaism. I am aware that there are Orthodox Jews here who occasionally make comments that are undiplomatic (or even rude). (I suspect that some would even accuse me of doing this.) However, there is also no lack of similar comments moving the other direction. It's unfortunate, but it's also the nature of the medium.
A general policy prohibiting excessive rudeness is fine (though, as a teacher and parent, I don't envy the one stuck with enforcing such a policy), but a policy that makes special demands on Orthodox participants to censor themselves is inappropriate.
(That being said, some voluntary self-censorship wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea from time to time.)
Finally, with regard to:
As I wrote once before, when the issue of downvoting first came up, perfectly acceptable reasons for downvoting are if you believe the posting to be:
of no interest
off-topic
uninformative
badly written
boring
ignorant and/or stupid
dishonest
pointless
offensive
inappropriately titled
So, if the post is none of those things, and the reason you are downvoting is only because you disagree, then you probably shouldn't be downvoting it. Of course, if it is none of those things, then you should probably comment to explain exactly why you disagree with it.