If Your Comment Hasn’t Shown Up Yet
If this is your first time posting to Atheist Geek News, your comments won’t show up until they’re approved. If you have posted before but you’re using a different email address, then my site will assume you’re new, and again, you must wait to be approved. Sorry about that; it’s just a way of cutting down on spam. If it’s been a couple of days since you left your comment, you might try emailing me about it. (Check out my About page for my email address.) I have, on rare occasions, found genuine comments sitting idle in the site’s spam filter. I only check it once every couple of months.
What If You Left a Nasty Comment?
If you’re afraid that I’ve intentionally blocked your comments because they were unfavorable, don’t worry. If you look around, you’ll find plenty of others hate me as much as you do. 🙂 Nasty comments are often hilarious and only add to the fun, so I’m more than happy to let them stay. If you want to make an unfavorable comment, all I can say is, go nuts.
If you want to write me about something really personal, I suggest you go to my About page where you’ll find my email address and email your comment to me instead.
My email address can be found on my About page.
Let’s put this into perspective. This isn’t a talk show, so in most cases, emails will stay private between you and me. Attempts to get advice on saving your marriage, yanking your kids out of the Tower, or anything personal will never be published. Even I’m not that big of a dick. If your email is a hilarious rant on how much you hate me and my site, no promises.
In summary, I may even write an article about it if your rant, attempt at religious conversion, or whatever, is truly hilarious or insane. But I will never publish something that is truly private.
Comments
I don’t care if you use foul language, tell dirty jokes, or call my pet rats a bunch of plague carriers. Be forewarned: I give what I get. If your comments are respectful, I will try to return the favor. If your comments tell me to go eff myself, I’ll probably return the favor. If you post something that criticizes an article I’ve written, leave a comment that criticizes me or a group I’m associated with (like atheists, skeptics, ex-Christians, ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.) I will probably tell you why I think you’re wrong. Unless, of course, you manage to change my mind.
Spam is another issue. If you’d like to be blocked from posting at Atheist Geek News forever, this will get the job done. Spamming Atheist Geek News is not OK under any circumstances. Neither are canned diatribes that end in a convenient link to your site. That is also spam.
No matter the nobility of your cause or your message, this isn’t the way to earn a link to your site. Neither is, “Awesome post bro. www.buymycurlyballsforsales.com.” No one actually falls for this, do they? Even my spam filters are smart enough to catch posts like that.
I actually like helping ex-believers of all stripes and I know that links help everybody. So if you want to leave a comment that’s relevant and end it with an appropriate link, or email me a request to check our your site, that’s OK. I may even add it to my list of permanent links.
What If I’m a Well Meaning Believer Out to Make Converts?
I am not a fan of evangelism. But so long as you don’t target specific readers and know when to walk away, I will still allow the comment so long as there’s some substance to it. By substance, I mean that you actually have something to say instead of just spamming my site for your church or deity.
Just don’t expect me to be overly kind in my response. Sorry guys, but I have a very low tolerance for evangelists who want to preach at me or my readers. Believe it or not, lots of people find it irritating. I’m one of them.
Bear in mind that a big part of the irritation stems from rudeness. I suggest you read some of my articles about the mistakes evangelists make when trying to convert others before you try to preach here. Or anywhere, really.
Chat Room Or Forums?
I have been toying with the idea of adding a chat room or forum to Atheist Geek News for a while. I tried both of them, but my site became too slow. So I deleted both of them. If things should change and a chat room or forum goes up, then you can probably count on the same rules applying there as well.
Thanks for reading. 🙂