The Faithful Witness blog is a little different than most other blogs on the internet. The content here is meant to be a friendly dialog addressing Quaker themes and ideas. Participants are asked to consider the articles prayerfully and respond as in worship sharing.

What you need to remember: Consider topics prayerfully Respond with courtesy & respect Observe simplicity & integrity Stay on topic Post once per article Come back often

What is worship sharing? Off line this is when a group gathers to consider a topic with folks speaking out of silent worship. Usually they only speak once. It is not a debate but rather an act of deep spiritual sharing. That is what is asked here. Rather than writing the first thing that comes into our minds members are asked to respond after prayer or meditation.

The idea is that this blog will be used in a way that lifts us up and enlightens us to different points of view in a positive way. Even when a response is a negative perspective, or in disagreement with the author or other comments, the hope is that there will be a friendly Spirit-led attitude in all the posts here.

Courtesy & Censorship Guidelines
It will hopefully be a rare thing when a comment is censored in some way. Here are some guidelines.

1. If you have a concern about anything posted on this blog please email

2. Free speech is highly valued here, but hate speech or speech advocating violence towards others will not be tolerated here and will be censored. If you don't like what you read here, there are plenty of places online to spew such stuff - go there - not here.

3. Participants are asked to stay on the topic of the blog article they are responding to. Wildly inappropriate responses, advertising, irrelevant jokes, or anything else that might be construed as intended to disrupt the good order will be removed.

4. This is not a place to convert people from one faith to one form or another of Quakerism nor is it a place to convert Quakers to any other religion. Folks are asked to refrain from proselytizing. You can still express your theology or religious point of view without trying to convert everyone. Let courtesy and respect be your watch words here.

5. Some folks may find themselves using salty language or addressing adult themes from time to time on this site. If it is not abusive to others and is not written with the clear intention of being offensive it will be left alone. This site is not marketed to children for this reason.

6. If there is ever a problem with a comment posted on this blog because of some sort of offensive language, it will be removed and a polite dialog between the moderator and that individual will be initiated. If agreement can be reached an amended post will be allowed on the blog.

7. Any material found to be used in whole or in part (beyond the fair use of brief passages) without the permission of its author, or anything that might be considered libel or slander, will be removed from the site.

8. Continued problems with any individual will cause them to be banned.

9. As long as there is a general demeanor of integrity, courtesy, and goodwill this will otherwise remain an un-moderated blog.

10. Participants are asked to post only once per article. If you would like to amend your comments – or if you click the submit button before you were finished editing please contact us for assistance.

Simplicity, Integrity, & Copyrights
Participants are encouraged to keep responses brief, to no more than the same relative length as the original article. Keeping things short and simple will make it easier for everyone to read the comments. This will assure that your ideas are in fact read as internet culture seems to favor things that come quickly to a point.

There is an expectation of integrity on the part of all participants. Comments are expected to be made with out any intention of libel or slander against any person or group. Participants are expected to say what they mean. As sarcasm is often misinterpreted, it is suggested that it be clear when humor is the objective of your remarks. Humor is certainly welcomed on this site. But because humor is very subjective, participants are asked to take care in the way they use it.

The comments you make are expected to be your own. "Fair use" of quotations that are brief (no more than a sentence or two) will be allowed. If you want to refer to a longer work please provide a direct link to that work or give the full title, author, and possible places to find the reference. The following sites are recommended for further information on copyrights and "fair use":

• US Copyright Law


• Standford University Libraries: Copyright & Fair Use

Privacy
The Friends Media Project respects the privacy of its members. All reasonable measures to protect that privacy will be taken. No information used to register an individual will be intentionally shared with any third party without the member's expressed permission. If security is breached and this information stolen, members will be notified as soon as we become aware of it. Four times a year members and other friends of the FMP will receive an email bulletin about our activities. If you would like to hear about our activities, please register. You are not required to participate in the blog to receive our bulletins.

In deference to members' privacy - and frankly to make this less time consuming - the member list and members email will not be made available. One advantage of this is that this will cut down on the spam to members that might be generated by posting on a public blog. One disadvantage is that people who want to continue a debate will not necessarily have a way to connect you unless you put your email in the body of your response. That is totally up to you, and you do so at your own risk.

Indemnification
The Friends Media Project, Faithful Witness and Dana Kester-McCabe are not liable for any issues that may be caused by the use of the software that runs this site, nor any breach of its security by individuals or groups intending harm, targeted marketing, harassment, or any other illegal enterprise. By signing up for this blog, it is understood that members have read this page and that they understand and accept the risks and expectations of participation.

Licensing & Copyrights
The writing and artwork found on this website are owned by the Friends Media Project and Dana Kester-McCabe. All rights and restrictions apply. They are, however, part of a ministry which is intended to be distributed widely. You are free to do so long as proper attribution is given. If you plan to reprint an article in part or in entirety, for anything other than personal use, or free distribution to a First Day or Sunday School class, please email for permission and the attribution that is expected to be used. None of the materials on this site may be used for commercial or any other purposes with out the express permission of the owner.

Opinions expressed in the comments on the blogs of this website belong solely to their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the owners of this website. By posting comments members give permission to the owner of this site to quote those comments; and for the owner of this site to give permission to others to quote those comments. This also holds true for any materials, writing, photographs, or artworks that are submitted for inclusion in this website. By signing up for this blog, or submitting materials for usage, you agree to give this limited permission to the Friends Media Project and Dana Kester-McCabe.

Friends Media Project
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Bishopville, Maryland 21813