Dangerous Practices - Please Read
 

This new ruling will be added to our rules in the very near future, please read.

Dangerous Practices

To keep our members as safe as possible, we have found it necessary to include this ruling on dangerous practices.

The discussion of things such as fasting for long periods of time, sun gazing, taking substances and anything else which may be extremely detrimental to mind, body or spirit is not permitted.

We know some of our members may practice such things, that is none of our concern, however we draw the line when such practices are mentioned within the forum as we have vulnerable people and children here, who may think such things are a 'shortcut' to spiritual advancement.

All topics we believe fall into this category will now be removed without notice, this could well be something not mentioned above so please think before you advocate any kind of dangerous practice, what is fine for you may not be for another, and especially not for a child.

Thank you
SF Staff

Good idea. :D

Good call Daisy.

I think those practices are extremely dangerous.. (long periods of fasting for example)
How do you know what is detrimental to spirit btw.? :tongue:

I think this is long over due.

Thumbs up on this... Personally, there's a lot more I'd keep out of the general public view, but so it goes...

Not before time :)

I'm glad to see this.

Well said daisy. We should all act in a caring and respectful way and that includes being aware of anything that may cause adverse physical and mental effects when we post. We should ALL post responsibly.

Blessings

grazier

Well put, grazier.

Great post *thumbs up*

Thank goodness this has finally been addressed!! I have read many posts by younger people who have had visions or what they believe to be soul communication while tripping on acid or XTC...I am not OK with the assumptions taken from the posts that using any substance or ritual is OK but I am in no place to judge those peoples feelings especially if the experience turned then toward a more spiritual calling in life. One of the most profound experiences happened after a surgery when I was overloaded on pain medication, I was so ill and they thought I was going to bleed to death. Perhaps it was a near death experience but I was highly medicated at the time.

I have said this before too and I think it is very important when it comes to certain people on this site who claim to be Prophets, Guides and Incarnated Angels.Personally I think it is dangerous especially when I see so many people following every word they share as ultimate truth. Things that should be sought in prayer are being asked on this forum and these people have such a charismatic way about them that others are naturally drawn to them.For my own sanity I have blocked several members posts and replies because of my frustration. Anyone else have similar feelings or is it just me?? If it is not just me with these feelings then it might be a good idea for the mods to take a look around at some of those threads and get a feel for what it is that just doesnt jive.

WOO! Long over due :)

I think it is pretty judgemental of people to assume that others are incapable of making their own decisions. Inherently I disagree with the idea of censorship, on any level.

BUT, there are "keepers" of this site, and you can choose to filter out whatever you wish. I believe in your right to choose.

Personally, I think if someone wants to gaze at the sun, take a psychedellic, or choose not to eat, they should be able to do as they wish. Who are you to say it is "bad" or "good"?

I have done all three, and realized that it did not necessarily "enhance" any experience that I have had otherwise. But, I would not have known that unless I gave it a shot.

Were I to discuss it with someone on a discussion forum, not this one... anymore, I would implore someone to look into it enough, and not to take anyone else's word for it. Yes, people are eager to "get away" or to "have an experience", but that is unique to the individual, and who are any of you to say otherwise?

I'll be curious to see how list of "can't talk abouts" grows for this forum.

It's too bad, really.

Now, if I want censorship, I will no longer need to tune into the mainstream frequency.

So when our younger members decide this is a great idea - to gaze at the sun or consume laundry detergent to fast track their spirituality, and do permanent damage to their eyes or poison themselves - believe me, SF is NOT going to take responsibility for that. Will you?

We are all ALL AGES SITE. Remember this. Not everyone who is a member posts and there is only a small section of the forum which is hidden for members only. Meaning, anyone with a computer can see it.

This is not censorship, this is a private house party and the host is telling you what he wants to see come in the door and what should stay outside. His house, his party, his rules.

You want to talk about these things - find another forum. Why is that so hard?

I agree with this post. I have read some books where the author suggests some pretty outlandish things to the readers. Someone could get hurt or worse doing some of the crazy things some gurus put out there. I think this is a good call on the part of SF.

And might I add; sun gazing????? What einstein cooked that idea up? Such a practice better give the practitioner some serious third eye sight.. because their physical eyes won't be working for too long if they engage in something like this.

The second line of my post said that "I believe in your right to choose", thus, I understand how it is a "private" party.

Thanks for clarifying in such a seemingly intense way.

As I mentioned, I would not advocate anyone do anything "bad" without truly looking into it for themselves.

And, age has nothing to do with it. Plenty of "adults" make "dumb" decisions all the time.

By asking me if I would take responsibility, you are infering that I go around telling people to drink detergent whilst staring at a high noon sun... Please don't make such assumptions.

Like I said, I understand the rationale, I just think it is too bad people can not speak truly "freely".

Your party, your rules. Hopefully my dissenting opinion will not get me blacklisted.

But, if it did, it would be a very poignant example of how not even a "spiritual" forum is safe from people who would like to censor ones thoughts and ideas.

Group psychology is seemingly prevalent in all aspects of "existence".

Gosh sun gazing,whats that?. sounds highly dangerous to sight to me

Isnt there a disclaimer at the beginning of the rules and what not thats states to take discression to all information thats posted here????

Thank you Daisy for addressing this.

As adults, we are responsible for our own decissions...yes, and what we do to ourselves, but as responsible adults on a forum, and if we are spiritual people, we would then think before we either print to shock, or print anything that could be mis read, or used by a minor to cause harm. Children are our responsibility when they are allowed to mix with adults on a forum, so care is needed at all times.

While I understand completely your stance, LadyoftheLight, it remains an imperfect world, in which misunderstandings and misinterpretations of what those ideas mean and how they are to be performed 'safely', which is likely to happen in a small percentage. I too had read about sungazing and even tried it myself and did it only at the 'no later than an hour' after sunrise and found it a good experience. But many who come upon this information, anyway, amongst the many will be some immature or foolish person with a giddy nature who will misread or misunderstand how it is to be done without harm.

It's worth a little censorship to know one hasn't contributed to someone going off half-c0cked and messing up their lives. Once again, I reiterate that I do understand your sentiment about censorship.

It is what it is, Silvergirl.

The times where I have actually had an opinion, I have usually found myself swimming upstream. I know most are "well-intentioned" we all just carry it out in different ways. No worries.

Thank you for being civil :-)

And for what it is worth, I am a "Lad" not a "lady". ;-)

Ooooh noooo! Pardon that!

There are a LOT of Salmon here at the forum, yes there are~*

What about luciferianism, Satanism, darkworking, and such things? They aren't dangerous?

I asked about this a few days ago and haven't heard back. So this is as good of a place as any. Why was a discussion about blue ray/indogos/starseeds deemed inappropriate and was pulled; not even locked, but erased? But topics such as inspirit brought up okay? I did a bit of research and found that indigo topics and such are not a very welcomed topic here. Just wanted to add my two cents.

Hi summerland,
The blue ray thread has not been edited, it is still viable and will be replaced as soon as possible. We are short-staffed and have been for some time. So sorry. Thanks for your patience in this.

The topic was fine - the insults etc were not and so it was pulled for editing. Silvergirl had been in touch with the original poster about that thread. Indigo topics are very welcome here - and yes we do ask that our members please be patient.

If we are to belief science then anything spiritual is a damaging delusion, maybe not to one's body, but to one's mind.

If one believes, as so many do, that we are one body-mind organism then one cannot just draw the line at what seems to be detrimental to the body. To limit it to that seems to be very one-sided.

What are the next out-of-bounds topics, themes or references?

This is just one of a myriad of forums on the net, no doubt many of which allow people to talk about anything. I myself visit other forums and am a member of a handful of them, since they cover different territories that I'm interested in. This isn't the only game in town.

People don't usually go an google for "staring with open eyes into the sun without protection". They come across such thing by chance, or synchronicity.
I think the moderators who make the decision may just work on some whimsical feeling. Let me give you an example:

A fairly popular website on Tai Chi taichi18.com offers, amongst free things, a program called "Solar Qigong". It seems to involve doing Qigong towards the rising/setting sun, but exactly how this is done I don't know. As this is a program for which IIRC $75 is charged, neither I, nor presumably the moderators will have sufficient evidence to make a decision whether this is falls under the dangerous practices labels or not.

While I understand the concerns about protecting children this is the parent's job, isn't it? If the moderators do this on a blanket ban basis then I find it rather condescending and an insult to one's intelligence.

It's not unusual for moderated forums to have a rule like this. Like it or not, there are a lot of people out there who don't have common sense. Many of them adults. All you can do is try to set a limit on which bad ideas they can get from your own web site. As someone who personally knows a few people who just won't be careful about what they do to themselves I have to think rule this is a good idea.

Of course, the moderators are in their right to make their rules and censor posts. In many forums where this happens it is however implemented and managed in a way which goes against the fundamental spiritual values of openness, transparency and fairness.

The policies should be unambiguous, clear, and subject to appeal. Anything which does not measure up to this I cannot lend my support to. I am really surprised how many people here are prepared to hand over decisions to the moderators, giving up their own powers of discernment.

These decisions were not handed over. They were not ours to begin with. This is one web site, which is moderated according to what those who run this site have in mind for what they want this site to be. It is their site, and they graciously allow us to participate in it. There are sites that are not moderated at all, and those who wish to teach the practices which would be deemed harmful here will find many other places to communicate them. Our own discernment powers are not affected as long as you are willing to travel to other sites as well to find information, which you would have to do anyway since no one site is going to have everything.

Yes, well stated, thanks.

It never ceases to amaze me, that people sign up for membership, with rules and FAQ's that evidently never get read or paid any attention to, then question as if each forum or message board is the authority of the world. I don't get it. They agree to rules, whatever they may be, when they sign up to ANY forum. And more often than not, they also say that the rules can change at any time.

I can see how some aspects of satanism can be deemed "dangerous" but what is dangerous about luciferianism?

Hopefully this includes any and all discussion of the dangerous and highly addictive practice of cigarette smoking

ISnt there a disclaimer on the rules and what not, to take this adive at yoru own risk??

The moderators here are first and foremost Members, which spend countless hours trying to keep this site running as best that they can. They are some of the most beautiful people I have met. So for me I am quite alright with them doing their "job" and give them some serious Kudos for doing it. It isn't an easy job but they do it wonderfully:hug: .

Thanks so much for this Dilchannan it's very very much appreciated.

Being a relatively new member of staff has really opened my eyes to what it takes to keep a site running smoothly. I'm nowhere in the league of the other staff members yet, but am learning daily. It's also bringing up issues for me personally to deal with such as judgement. But that's another story. The thing is we spend many hours trying to moderate these boards in the best way we know how. With discernment, integrity and honesty.

We HAVE to consider SF is an all ages family forum, and I for one am proud to be a member of this site, so to be asked to become a mod was an honour indeed. But what a lot of people don't realise is how much of your emotions and feelings you have to keep under control. We're all people at the end of the day and when we get attacked for doing a job to keep the membership safe it's hard not to take it personally now and again - but again it's all part of the learning curve and personal growth.

I've been on sites where there are no mods and it's a free for all. Here, we allow people to have freedom of speech and whilst a lot of people may disagree with that, they are not taking into account other members state of mind, understanding, age, etc. THIS is what we as staff have to do in those circumstances.

Everyone can have opinions, beliefs, truths call it what you will - but please please please before all the bigotry begins just think about what you're posting. No one is saying we all have to agree with each other - far from it. But what IS needed is a little more thought before responding with knee jerk reactions, AND understand that we're ALL on our own pathway and therefore are not necessarily at the same stage of development as you are.

Namaste
Jue xx

You are allowed to publicly or privately discuss the whys of any topic or discussion that the moderators may wish to ban that you deem should be allowed and visa versa without any repercussions. I have done so in the past in regards to a thread defending cigarette smoking that a moderator started without any repercussions to my forum membership that was resolved. The moderators are not dictators.

There are so many "dangerous practices" in this world that it is impossible to list them all here so your request that the policies be unambiguous and clear is quite a tall order. I must say that the moderators do a good job keeping this a bright friendly safe place.