Your comments are welcome, but be warned, for in these halls lurk the Gods of Comment Moderation. Tread carefully lest ye wake their wrath.

Things that especially displease the Gods of Moderation include:

– Insulting, dismissing, harassing, or attacking the hosts or other commenters.

– Vulgar language. The Gods are happier when things stay roughly PG-rated.

– Commenting in a way that makes the conversation unproductive, such as trolling, derailing onto another topic, or retreading a conversation that has already been had.

– Sarcasm and hyperbole. The Gods prefer that you say the things you mean and mean the things you say.

– Re-arguing basic questions that have been asked and answered elsewhere. If you are looking for further discussion on the basics of history, colonialism, imperialism, gender, race, etc., the Gods direct you to your favorite search engine.

– Venting anger. It’s important to talk about the things that make you angry, but the Gods want rational discussion, not ranting. (It gives them a stomachache.)

The capricious Gods refuse to give an exhaustive list. Sometimes they just see something and decide they don’t like it.

If the Gods of Moderation are disturbed, they may invoke their dread elder brethren the Great Old Gods of Comment Quashing and Commenter Banning. No one wants that.

Things that please the Gods:

– Honest and open discussion of different viewpoints, including listening to what others have said.

– Respect, kindness, and compassion towards your fellow readers and commenters.

– The maturity to know when to walk away and accept that you won’t always get the last word and the arguments that convince you won’t always convince everyone else.

Always remember that the Gods of Moderation have no power over your freedom of speech. You are free to say anything you want on your own turf. On this blog, the Gods rule and mete out consequences.

The short version: Comments will be moderated. They may stay in the moderation queue for a long time or be completely deleted, according to our editorial policies. Our goal is the promotion of constructive conversations on the topics we post about. We and we alone decide what counts as constructive and our decisions are final. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else. (See also: On Unacceptable Behavior.)