Recently, a somewhat heated topic appeared on the site where a team theme and bio caused some... let's call it constructive dialogue.

First off, let me start this blog by clearly stating that I am not a particularly religious person and actively consider myself an atheist (I hereby give "consent" for FUMBBL to "process" this as per the GDPR, see the previous blog ;) ).

The team in question was of a religious theme, written in a way that is - to me - sincere and positive. As the person responsible for the website and its policies I am ultimately the person who needs to make a call on whether or not certain texts are allowed on the site or not.

Now, had the text in question been hostile or aggressive in tone or been trying to ridicule a certain belief it would have been an obvious call to not allow it. That type of thing is explicitly disallowed as per the rules page you've all agreed to. The objection I've heard from a few people is that it's an effort to "peddle their religious beliefs" and thus shouldn't be allowed on the site.

So with this coming to the point where I need to make a call, I have two aspects I need to consider. First off the question whether or not it violates existing rules or the spirit of the rules, and secondly if it would be excessive censorship to remove it.

I personally think that religion and politics is probably not a good idea to use as themes due to how passionate people are on these two topics. That goes for anywhere online (or even in real life). That being said, I do believe free speech is a good thing and censoring because I don't "like" a topic or if I don't agree isn't something I want to do (or to be done here). The team in question has a positive outlook on religion and does not violate the direct rule we have about religious persecution (and no, as an atheist, I don't think someone challenging me to believe is persecution).

In the end, the matter comes down to me making a call whether or not I should censor any religious and/or political theme. Or even in extension any other loaded theme, let's say which football team is better (which certain sports fans think is worth actually fighting and injuring others over). My call is to allow it in the name of free speech and expect people to be reasonable and not go huffing and puffing about people having other beliefs or interests than themselves.

PS. I realize that me making this type of post will likely induce a series of teams and themes designed specifically to skirt the line of what is allowed and what isn't. I urge you to consider that the staff members here are helping out in a voluntary capacity and are not particularly interested in arguing all day long.