The Universal Life Church Ministers website can be a great online community for people who live their religious beliefs and have the desire to share their philosophies and faiths. Here you can meet, get advice, and discuss topics with others who like sharing and expressing their ideas just as much as you.
Perhaps the strongest attribute of the Universal Life Church Ministers website is its vibrant, expressive and endlessly helpful community of people of all faiths and beliefs. But as with any online community there are those who feel the need to control, and in rare instances, attempt to create discord within our strong and unique family.
Following are some tips you might find helpful that I've written to help me maintain good ULC Netiquette. Reluctantly, I'll admit that I've broken all of my very own rules at least once. I'm what they classify as a 'reactionary activist' (who "they" are, I'll probably never know), so I'll say that I'm most likely the biggest violator ever to surf the web and THAT's why I wrote these reminders...for me. Go figure. -- Here are: "My Personal Do’s and Dont’s of the ULC Ministers Online Life".
1. Share your knowledge and ideas for the betterment of the ULC Family
Be free with your knowledge, and answer those questions when you feel comfortable. You can gain more by helping others, especially newly ordained Ministers than you can by keeping quiet and not sharing the beliefs and knowledge that led you here. By freely putting your ideas out there, perhaps you get others involved and contributing on how we can improve our online ULC Family, for instance.
Also, by offering useful information, you will quickly gain a following of those members who will consistently read your posts and leave you constructive comments or share their thoughts with you.
2. Answer questions and express yourself in a thoughtful, positive, meditative and prayerful way.
There are many ways to transmit your thoughts. Choose to use positive, pro-active or neutral and thoughtful language when responding.
People rarely, if ever, respond positively to negative language, scolding or degrading words or insults. Fortunately, that is very rare here. We are, after all, a religious community and we have a strong tendency to support each other. When faced with those that are not supportive and much less than pro-active, as with any online community we can always defer to this site’s Terms of Service, or TOS, as a last resort and allow the Admins to met out the action they understand to be most beneficial. Remember, at the very least these members need our attention and our good graces as anyone with issues we often encounter outside of this site. They too are human and are in pain.
The quickest and usually the best way to manage these individual’s (or groups) is to BLOCK them or simply ignore them. As with any unruly or angry child they will soon go away or become quiet.
3. Seek out new members, offer friendly support and a helpful, loving hand.
It can be difficult to start out in any religious community, especially one that is ‘virtual’. One thing you may wish to do until you become comfortable and acquainted with others is to spend some time browsing other members profile pages, seeking those with whom you have something in common.
1. NEVER PROVIDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS to anyone who requests it, unless you know that person extremely well.
SPAM isn’t the only reason they may want your email address. These days it’s so easy to catch a virus from just clicking on a link in an email or even opening the email itself could prove disastrous for you, your computer and your online experience. Or what’s left of it.
A Good Rule of Thumb To Remember: Always use extreme caution if anyone requests your email address.
2. Don't use sarcasm.
Unfortunately, sarcasm is an all too common method of communication in our society. Even in the religious communities one will find the occasional wavering sheep (to paraphrase a Biblical term). It is no different in the online community.
Of course, sarcasm is a form of fear that usually leads to anger. Sarcasm is fear-based anger. No one need fear here in the ULC Family. Never. If confronted with this, you have options. YOU HAVE CONTROL on how, or IF you respond.
You may:
1) Respond as the understanding, loving minister of faith that your are,
2) Ignore the comment(s) or,
3) BLOCK the individual making those types of remarks.
Always remember, you have all of the control. Don't be a victim.
3. Don't engage in personal attacks.
Disagreements and debates are a natural and healthy part of any viable ULC community. Everyone should feel welcomed and encouraged to voice their opinions as well as their dissensions.
In heated debates, you may feel tempted to respond personally to an attack directed at your opinion. It is rare here, but it does occur. And with that being said, indeed, it can be difficult to separate your position, from your feelings. An attack on our point of view can easily be misconstrued as a personal attack. Don’t fall into that trap. Respond as the understanding, nurturing and objective Minister of faith that you are. Responding accordingly will help foster communications within our Ministerial community tremendously.
You can find many unique personalities and faiths here ... even non-faiths! This is your opportunity to make this ULC Family an outstanding online community. The ULC Family is unique just by being ULC! Help make it better, stronger and more engaging so that others will have the opportunity to take part in what we now enjoy and love.
Here’s a few tips to make ‘Family Life’ here more like family:
~ Do something positive today.
~ Say something nice to a member you see online!
~ Check out member profiles to see how much you have in common with other Ministers.
~ If another member posts a comment or information you’ve benefited from, “Like” it as a way of supporting that member and encouraging more interesting material to be posted.
~ For extra “karma” points, visit the ULC Store and order something that you were about to order anyway!
Remember, a strong community, a viable community is a community that is united in one goal: the art and the Call of Ministry. Regardless of your affiliation or lack thereof, you have something vitally important to contribute to the Universal Life Church Ministers Website. Those who are here “just because” are some of our strongest members, making this community what it is today.
Welcome and Many Blessings!
~Emissary Corwyn Stone~
This is a Primer/Introduction for the ULC Ministers Website written for my personal use. No rights of ownership or authorship and content contained herein other than that of the author apply.
© 29 October, 2011. High Priest C. Stone, Emissary