Guidelines

1. The purpose of the List is to share our own experience, strength, and hope. With this in mind, please refrain from making judgments of others, and limit advice to situations in which it is specifically requested.
2. Please stay focused on recovery-related issues. Tangents can be pursued among individuals privately. If a thread gets too far off topic, the moderator may request that the group get back on topic.
3. The following types of messages are inappropriate:
   

   Any attack on an individual, group, organization, program, or denomination. We come from many different backgrounds and traditions, but share a common faith and walk a common road to recovery. Please respect the opinions or beliefs of the other participants. Romans 14:1-10, 15:5-7 Messages that are mainly aimed at debating religious issues or promoting the beliefs of a specific denomination. I Corinthians 12:5-7 Any message that is abusive in tone or nature. Romans 2:10 Please avoid profanities and vulgarities. If there is no better way to put it (and sometimes there isn't), a series of asterisks makes the point nicely. Luke 6:45 Advertisements for commercial ventures. Matthew 21:12-13 Requests for money. Debates on political issues.

4. Inappropriate messages will be handled according to the procedure outlined by Our Lord in Matthew 18:15-17. The moderator will first contact the individual(s) privately and ask that the inappropriate messages stop and amends be made if necessary. If the posts continue, the moderator will relay the same reproof to the List as a whole. Individuals who consistently refuse to comply with the guidelines will be removed from the List if it is the sense of the group that it is in the group's best interest to do so. Individuals may request reinstatement when they are ready to observe the guidelines.

Housekeeping Matters

5. Before using the "REPLY" feature to respond to a message on the List, please be sure your response is intended for everyone on the List. Otherwise contact the individual member privately.
6. Please avoid quoting the entire text of messages in your reply. Instead, snip out the specific passages to which you wish to respond. This saves time for members with slower modems on expensive commercial services.
7. Please try to combine responses to messages received into one message whenever possible, instead of sending large numbers of brief messages. This cuts down on the volume of mail.
8. To keep the archives straight, please include a brief description of your topic in the "Subject" field of your message (i.e. the subject of this message is "Guidelines." Be sure the "Subject" field accurately reflects the topic of the message, especially when the "REPLY" feature is used repeatedly.
9. Please avoid sending binary attachments whenever possible, as not all members' servers can read them. It is better to insert plain text into the body of the message, using the "cut and paste" editing feature.

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