Comment Posting Guidelines

Below selected pages on the website (videos and news articles in the main) are comment threads. These threads use the Disqus software platform, and we recommend users familiarize themselves with Disqus if they have questions about its functionality. While Church Militant can offer general advice about the use of Disqus, we cannot provide technical support, password reset and similar services. Users should contact Disqus directly for those issues.

Your Disqus account is separate from any Church Militant account. You can have different email, username or password. Your email address is not visible to other posters unless you choose to make it so. Your email address may be viewed by the moderation team. By posting on this website, you agree to be contacted by the moderation team via the email address you used to register with Disqus.

Your "display name" on Disqus does not have to be your real name or a variation thereof. Church Militant reserves the right to request users change display names, avatars, biographies etc. which are inappropriate and, if changes are not made, to delete posts and / or ban users. Inappropriate materials include but are not limited to insulting, offensive or sexually-explicit content. In addition, display names designed to create confusion in the mind of other commenters or viewers (e.g. the use of another person's name or some seemingly-official title) are inappropriate.

If you have questions about comments or moderation policy or individual decisions, please write to cmm@churchmilitant.com. Moderators are identified on the site by "MOD" in a gray box next to their name.

Do not ask questions, complain about or otherwise discuss the moderation policy in general or specific moderation actions in the comment threads; write to cmm@churchmilitant.com. Comments of this nature are an inefficient method of communicating with the moderation team, a distraction to other posters, and will be removed. Please also note that ban circumvention via creation of a separate account is a violation of these terms and your account will be banned.

Do not use the comment section to ask questions about the technical operation of the website, donations, Premium subscriptions, technical support etc. - direct those to the email addresses on the contact page as appropriate.

If you think a post should not be on the site because it violates these guidelines, please "flag" it in the first instance using the Disqus feature. This will remove the post from view and notify the moderation team who will review it.

All posts containing links will go to automatic moderation; they will not appear until approved. We do not have time to check all links and so posts will often not be approved. For this reason, we recommend not posting links. In addition, a number of "forbidden words" will trigger automatic moderation. In the main, these words are swear words. However, the filtering software will respond to partial words or fragments of words. If your comment is held for moderation and you do not understand why, please write to cmm@churchmilitant.com with details.

Comments which contain deliberately "masked" links (adding spaces or punctuation etc. to defeat the software which detects links) are not permitted. Posting links is permitted (but posts containing them go to moderation and so we recommend not posting links) but deliberately masked links are not, and may result in your account being banned.

The discussion threads exist as an extension of the mission of our apostolate:

Under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Michael the Archangel, the mission of ChurchMilitant.com is to promote the faith given to humanity by Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Messiah. This faith is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church led by the successor to St. Peter, Pope Francis. ChurchMilitant.com aims to provide everyone with means to increase their personal holiness through catechesis and evangelization about the truth of the Christian faith. We aim to convert non-Catholics to the faith founded personally by Jesus Christ, and strengthen the faith of existing Catholics. ChurchMilitant.com aims to achieve this by bringing Jesus Christ to the Internet, through the use of digital media.

In light of this, we reserve the right to delete anything we deem to be against the mission of our apostolate, and to ban users who act against this mission from posting on the website. We reserve the right to delete or ban without warning. Church Militant respects the right to freedom of speech, but this right does not include the obligation for us to provide a platform for views we disagree with or feel would not be helpful to our mission.

Acting against our mission includes but is not limited to promotion of schism, heresy, dissent from Church teaching or judgments, unapproved apparitions / private revelations. Similarly, to denigrate the Church, the Holy Father, Catholic teaching or this apostolate and staff is acting against our mission. These discussion threads exist as an extension of our mission, not as a platform for completely free discussion. Our apostolate exists to promote the Catholic faith, and these threads are a method of achieving that.

We will not allow our platform to be used to lead people away from what is good or towards what is evil. We will delete posts that, in our judgment, do that or risk that.

As mentioned in the terms and conditions of the Premium subscription, purchase of a Premium subscription (or making donations or other purchases) does not grant the right to post. Posting is free, but a privilege reserved to those who do not work against the mission of the apostolate. Posts mentioning contributions, threats of cancellation, or getting the moderation team fired will be deleted.

The discussion threads exist to discuss the subject of the article or video they appear below; they are not for open discussion of simply any subject (or, indeed, simply any Catholic subject). For this reason, we reserve the right to remove posts that may be irrelevant to the subject of the thread, and to delete posts that make it obvious the video was not watched / the article was not read. Posts that "shoehorn" a tangential subject into an unrelated discussion will be reviewed and repeated posts may be deleted and the offender eventually banned.

Posts which exist solely or partially to promote another publication (this includes but is not limited to a poster identifying himself as editor, contributor etc. to another publication when this is unnecessary for the discussion) may be deleted. Posts with links to other publications presented as advertising will be deleted.

Posts that disclose personal information or pry into personal information may be deleted, as will posts that are simply "chit-chat" unrelated to the subject. Similarly, posts that are excessively long (especially if they appear to be an attempt to write an article on the same or a related subject as the content, rather than responding to the content) or posts that are copy-pasted from other sites will be deleted. 

Posts displaying unChristian attitudes (such as swearing, insults, threats etc.) will be deleted and posters may be banned. Posts that are illegal in the United States (such as threats against a Secret Service protectee) or that advocate illegal behavior will be deleted and posters banned, and all information we have about the poster will be sent to relevant authorities.

If a banned poster attempts to circumvent the ban via the use of a separate account, different email address, or "spoofing" technology, the new account etc. will be banned.

Should a poster misbehave, please do not "feed the troll" (meaning to respond to an individual who is posting disruptive or rude material, especially not in a disruptive or rude manner yourself). Simply flag the posts, say a prayer and move on. The moderation team will review the posts and take necessary action.

Please make every effort to presume the most charitable interpretation of another poster's comments. Ask for clarification if necessary. If a post is clearly in violation of these guidelines, flag the post and move on.

Church Militant reserves the right to modify these posting guidelines without notice.

These guidelines exist in order to promote the mission of our apostolate.