Can We Loosen Up On The Swearing Rules?

Over the two years I have been a member of the Jedi Council forums I have never spammed or harrassed other users, nor have I shared any content that did not suit the boards. I try to follow all the rules and contribute to this community the best I can.
I have enjoyed my time here so far, I've made quite a few friends and I'm well known on the JCC (if I do say so myself).

But I have also been banned twice so far just because I said a few minor swear words like:
The word that means a child born to parents out of wedlock
Female dog
The 'C' word that rhymes with trap
Damn, but with "god" at the front which apparently makes a difference
And the more common term for the mentally challenged

Now I understand that an excessive amount of swearing can make the boards look bad and may offend some users. Plus it makes the person saying it look rather unintelligent.
But Youtube, DeviantART, Livejournal, Myspace and many other websites have gotten on just fine with absolute freedom of speech.

Plus it's not like this place is intended as an all ages forum, you have to be at least thirteen and even if there are some kids on here who lied about their age, it's not like they haven't heard it all before.

I only swear when neccesary, a well placed swear can be very effective.
And being Australian we are fairly laid back when it comes to language.

Now I'm not saying we should allow all swear words, I assume no one here is going to go for that. But the words I mentioned above should be, they aren't bad at all.

I can understand if it was the 'F' word or the 'S' word of the other 'C' word.

But come on people I don't feel any one deserves to be punished for such minor offenses.

 

We do agree that most of them are relatively minor, because it takes a lot of them to get someone even warned, let alone banned.

and this one is just plain not true

 

It does rhyme with 'trap'.

And yeah, I can't imagine someone would get banned for those minor infractions unless they did it again and again and again not taking heed of the mods' warnings.

 

Trap . . . with a c instead of a T could be banned if someone used it as a flame -- You're full of

 

Saying a swear word and typing it are two very different things. Typing something out is deliberate, it's intentional and on purpose. Past administrations have said that as well. The argument that you use swearing in your daily life doesn't really have any effect here.

I don't think we need to add any more to the swear word list, but I don't think we should take anything away either. I think we're at a point where we have a solid list that has stayed consistent for a while. Everyone should be familiar with it by now and it is posted publicly for all to see. We're not trying to hide what's allowed and what's not and then ban you when you use a naughty word. Obviously there are steps from minor infractions to major infractions. Minor infractions will get you edited a few times and a warning. Eventually we'll ban if it keeps up and no one shows the effort to change that part of their posting. Major infractions get you banned faster.

 

Never been to the Monty Python fanclub then...

 

Damn, but with "god" at the front which apparently makes a difference


That rule comes from the site owners. They don't want 'God' or 'Jesus Christ' used in a profane way. We won't be easing up on that rule. 'Damn' is on the allowable list, just not combined with 'God' or 'god'.

 

What about Yahweh damn? Or Shiva Damn? Or Guatma damn? Or Brahma damn?

Is it the idea, or the specific case of "god" or "God"? Just looking for some clarification.

 

how come some people get banned and some people just get edited? Make up your minds

 

Well, since you ask . . .

How To Get Banned For Swearing

1) Swear. Do it a lot. Do it as a joke, and do for serious. Do it with an obvious purpose, and then do it randomly. Devote entire threads to your love of swear words. Use your favorite words multiple times in one post, or in multiple posts in a thread. Be sure to use alternate spellings for the cruder ones, to dodge the profanity filter. That way mods will have to clean each word up by hand, thus ensuring they will always remember you as "that user who swears all the time." Try to get the full range of swear words in there, from mildly offensive to bar-fight-starting.

2) Repeat. You will get edited a lot, and probably warned occasionally, but persevere, even if it takes a year or longer. Your determination will show everyone that it takes a lot more than a few asterisks and the occasional PM to deter you.

3) Wait until a mod says, "If you swear one more time, you're banned." This is your golden moment. Victory is now within your grasp.

4) Swear some more.

5) A WINNAR IS YOU!!!! Baned 4 swearing!!!

 

Each situation is looked at in respect to the severity of the offense and the history of the user's behavior. Then a judgment call is made by the banning mod. Anytime judgment calls are made, there is an inherent amount of inconsistency. We strive to keep this as low as possible, but it is always there. We're all human.

In regards to the words -Courtney- is asking about:

Bastard: Allowed when used as a child born out of wedlock, not allowed when directed at someone. Allowed in "Montypython" type ways as in "you lucky bastard!" This is a word I personally don't feel strongly on either way. It doesn't really NEED to be used in chat on these forums.

Bitch: Allowed when talking about a female dog or as a synonym to "complain." Not allowed as an insult. This shouldn't change at all. The rule is good as it is now.

Crap: This word is allowed in all meanings. I don't believe for a second that someone was edited/banned for using this word.

Goddamn: This one comes from the owners and is non-negotiable, even for us. Never going to change, let it go.

Retarded: Using a term for a group of people as a synonym for stupid, bad or somehow objectionable... this sounds familiar. Oh yeah maybe "gay"? Stop and think about how it makes someone who is mentally disabled feel to have this word thrown casually around to mean stupid or bad. Because I know how I feel when people say everything is "gay." It sucks and should not be removed from the list of disallowed words. This is one example of a legitimate use of a disallowed word. We need to be a little more sensitive to the people around us.

 

Past history, context, etc. Circumstances dictate that.

 

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that the site owners are trying to force their beliefs on us?

I also post at a site where swearing is allowed. Hardly anyone there does, and those who do hardly ever swear. Some users star out their swears anyway.

Swearing is for the most part not allowed here. I see it here all the time.

I often wonder why the userbases of the two sites behave so differently.

 

This site is family-friendly and that's how the owners want it run. Users as young as 13 are allowed here. Posts that might be fine on a site that caters for users 18 and over, for example, won't be fine here. There are certain words we don't allow and if you use them you get editted or banned.

Edit - grammar

 

There's no way in which they're trying to force their beliefs on us. They are the site owners, and so asking us to keep to certain standards of behavior is no different from asking that your guests adhere to certain standards of behavior when they visit your house, and reserving the right to kick them out if they don't. Which is a right I would accord to anyone.

If I ran a message board, I would have certain standards I would want to impose. If I couldn't have those standards, I just wouldn't put the site on the Internet.

I'd also say that, while I may not totally agree with all of TFN's policies about acceptable content, in my experience, they work. This is one of the few forums where I've ever hung around long-term. That is to a great extent because it tends to have a higher level of discourse, which I think is related to the fact that it's not riddled with profanity, because users are required to show a certain minimal level of respect toward each other, and things of that nature. No major board, on any topic, at which I have spent time has ever proven so successful in creating a good environment. So, what TFN is doing works, in my opinion.

-Paul

 

A few years ago I registered at the Official Site. I stayed there only a few months. Their language rules were ridiculous: Someone there posted that he thought that Voldemort was 69, and the numeral was autostarred out. I am not making that up.

 

If it was editted by a mod there I'd agree that's overzealous. However if they have an autocensor like us there can be issues with innocent words being starred. (Words like 'cockpit', for example). If you used 69 in a sexual context we'd definitely edit it. However if you posted the above statement about Voldemort it would be fine.

 

The swearing rules here are ridiculous, but it's better if you just think of them as being funny instead of taking it seriously.

Is there honestly anything more ridiculous then editing the S out of the abbreviation BS? Really?

You have to laugh at the fact that at one point moderators actually had a discussion about that, or the fact that the site owner is so sensitive about profanity that he actually passed that order down. It's more hilarious than it is annoying.

You can not expect logic on the profanity front, and it doesn't matter who the moderators are, because from my understanding the site owners are some kind of ultra conservative and religious folks who come up with things like taking the S out of the BS and not being able to have the word god in front of the word damn. If they haven't budged on this issue since the 1990's, I don't think anybody can expect that they ever will.

 

Loosen up on the swearing? No ******* way.

 

I'm a strong proponent of the idea that an autocensor should never block anything that could conceivably have a legitimate use. Putting something like "69" in there seems silly anyway. Obvious enough that it's a number people will have a reason to use at some point.

I am curious about your statement that it would be edited if used in a sexual context, though. I guess, really, I'd like a larger clarification on the test for the permissibility of sexual vocabulary. It's the most common name for a sex position and is no more slang than, say "doggy-style," or even "missionary," really. I know there are contexts where that type of discussion would be unacceptable, but in a serious discussion -- let's say, a talk about the morals of sexuality, or on the merits of sodomy laws, or somesuch -- would that kind of use be disallowed? And, would it be permissible to discuss "mutual oral sex" instead? I'm not trying to be nitpicky here; I'm genuinely curious about the standards and their motivations, and am picking up on this as an example.

-Paul

 

My best guess:

If you had a sentence where you could replace "69" with the f-bomb and not change its tone or meaning in any significant way, it's edit-worthy. The question would be whether "69" was just a slightly more exotic way of saying "****."

I do not speak for the administration on this issue, however.

 

I have been edited about a dozen times and warned twice. Twelve swear words in the course of about a year, that's not that much.

I am most outraged by the fact that I can't say "what, are you retarded or something? Do you not know who I am?
I'm the ***damn Batman!"

Some would call it ironic that I'm editing a language infraction inside a thread discussing language infractions.

 

You realize that most people might get edited once, maybe twice, in the course of a year, right? Lots of them go years without ever being edited at all.

 

I like having to star out the swear words. It's quicker since I only have to push the * button. I can therefore get more swear words in and I never have any typos.

You have to see the positive side of things, Courtney.