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General Guidelines



:bulletyellow: Nude/Mature Content - Submissions must have the correct DVart mature tag.  Under no circumstances do we accept nude depictions of real individuals, groups or minors.

:bulletyellow: Your own work - We generally only accept personally made art/literature.  We may accept demotivationals, memes, or screenshots sometimes.  We do not accept screenshots of chats between other Deviants under any circumstances and will report such submissions to the dA staff if we see them.  We will also not accept comment conversations that have been imported to a journal entry.  There is some flexibility when using an image off the web to support a quote and for photo and text manipulation.  If we see art theft we will report it.

:bulletyellow:  We do not promote the denial of personal freedoms, the use of violence on, or the destruction of property on the grounds of religious belief.  This group is open to debate/disagreement/criticism towards religion and its followers; we are not an anti-theist group, but we will accept anti-theist art as long as it is anti-theist and not actual militant atheism.

:bulletyellow:  Some common sense respect is required.  No insults, threats or harassment through the group.  Also please do not react aggressively towards visitors who leave comments on the front page criticizing the group or Secular Humanism.  Feel free to reply though.

       

Folder Information



Many of our folders may overlap in theme depending on your submission.  I wouldn't worry, I rarely decline submissions because it was submitted to the wrong folder.  Though I might leave a note if it is happening too much just because, as an admin, the time it takes to move content to other folders adds up.




Secularism including Separation of Church and State
Non-religious views pertaining to Atheist, Agnostic, Skeptic or any freethinker group.  Themes may include:
:bulletyellow: De-conversion
:bulletyellow: Experiences in religious communities
:bulletyellow: Thoughts about religion.
:bulletyellow: Promotion of atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, free-thought, rationalism, etc.

:bulletblue:This folder is also open to discussion/debate between non-religious groups and the people who may be involved in those groups.

Separation of Church and State/Secular Government
Promotion of government in which beliefs and practices of the religious majority, or the demands of any religious minority, do not take center stage in the development or enforcement of government policy or law, particularly if those enforced beliefs infringe on the rights/liberties/privileges, beliefs or practices of others.  Exposing religious privilege in comparison to minority religious or non-religious groups within any country.  "Separation of Church and State" is a phrase from the Unities States more commonly recognized because Christianity is the dominate religion.  The phrase used here does not imply that only the beliefs and practices of Christianity should be barred from government.  

:bulletblue:Secular Government and what it means
:bulletgreen: The beliefs, rituals, or expected behavior of whatever majority religion will not be forced on any minority through law or policy.
:bulletgreen: A country should not establish itself as a theocracy or claim it is a religious country based on whatever religion.  Note: A country should also not establish itself as an Atheistic country.  A secular government means all persons, religious or non-religious, and their beliefs are equal under law.
:bulletgreen: Religious beliefs will not be taught in public schools as factual science or as standards of behavior for students.
:bulletgreen: Money gained through taxes will not be used to fund events promoting any religion or specifically atheistic event.  If funds are available for religious or atheistic groups, then denial cannot be based in disapproval of the belief and approval cannot be based in favoritism.
:bulletgreen: Government property will not display religious or atheistic symbolism.  If there are displays of religious or atheistic symbolism then the public area must also be open to displays of all other symbolism and the area cannot be exclusive to one particular belief.
:bulletgreen: Religious organizations and churches will not receive tax exemption status.  The details of what that means is left for members to discuss.

:bulletblue:Secular Government and what it does not mean
:bulletred: Public or personal display of religious symbolism or peaceful religious expression will not be allowed.
:bulletred: Politicians cannot have personal religious beliefs and cannot continue personal religious practices.  For one to be in office one much be non affiliated to a religion or an atheist.
:bulletred: Students will be taught atheism in schools.
:bulletred: Students will not be allowed to peacefully pray and will not be able to gather in common interest of their religion on campus.




Icons, Mascots, and Humor
Collection of secular mascots, icons, and symbolism.  This includes altered appearances of real people, such as anthropomorphism.  Some examples may include:
:bulletyellow: Atheist A
:bulletyellow: Invisible Pink Unicorn
:bulletyellow: Flying Spaghetti Monster
:bulletyellow: Happy Humanist
:bulletyellow: Russel's Teapot

:bulletblue: General collection of humor concerning secularism and religion.  Humor is more or less just for humor's sake here.  It doesn't have to have a critical message.




Humanism and Egalitarianism
:bulletyellow: Humanism. “Any system of thought or action concerned with the interests or ideals of people … the intellectual and cultural movement … characterized by an emphasis on human interests rather than … religion.” - Webster’s Dictionary
:bulletyellow: Egalitarianism. "A belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs." - Webster's Dictionary

Examining human conditions in society, media, and all aspects of living as well as examining the pros and cons of those conditions.  Awareness of conditions that may limit society or individual potential.  Exposing law or policy which discriminates selected groups or which privileges one group above others unfairly.

Promotion of equal and ethical treatment of fellow human beings regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, caste, age, or nationality.  Promotion of bodily integrity which recognizes the importance of personal autonomy and the self-determination of human beings over their own bodies.  As such this folder promotes the Pro-Choice Movement, the Anti-Circumcision Movement, as well as promotes access to reproductive healthcare and contraceptives.

Promotion of complete equality between the genders and sexes.  Feminism is a part of Egalitarianism.  Egalitarianism believes that all humans should be equal, Feminism recognizes that women are often not treated equally.  

:bulletblue: This folder doesn't accept controversy or opinions opposite to Humanism. To counteract that, we do affiliate with many groups which may disagree with us.




Common Ground with Religions
Finding what we may have in common with religious or spiritual individuals, or with religious beliefs. Promoting tolerance between religions as well as between religious and secular groups.




Science Appreciation
Encouragement of scientific understanding and learning.  Appreciation for members of the scientific community and their contributions.  Promotion of better science education in schools and communities.  Humor is welcomed as always.

Highlighting theories and general fields of science which are censored by religious organizations or discouraged by religious beliefs.  A common example of this is the Theory of Evolution.  This folder also allows for a special emphasis on the origin of humans through evolution.

:bulletblue: To better fit the group we exclude scientific illustrations and explanations from this folder.  However, we do have a favorites folder,  The Sciences, for such content.




Environmental Ethics, Policy, and Animal Welfare
Examining how we manage our natural world and how such resource use affects our lives and the lives of others.

Bringing attention to what individuals, communities, or countries can do to help their environment on a local or global scale.  Promotion of sustainable living and general environmental awareness.

Promotion of ethical treatment and use of animals, both domestic and wild.  This folder is open to discussion on what "ethical treatment" of animals may include.

Discussion of government environmental policy which may include:
:bulletyellow: Government's role in environmental regulation.
:bulletyellow: Use of government to encourage or deter behavior which may concern our environment.
:bulletyellow: Government's choices in subsiding or taxing certain types of energy.

:bulletblue: As a group we do not accept submissions which feature the belief that humans are in no way a factor affecting climate change.  This is due to the fact that 97% of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities.  Controversy on climate science is purely in the political sphere which is not relevant or constructive to scientific research.  Unfortunately, it is also not constructive for environmental based policy on climate change, when the controversy tends to be between political parties.

To better support our reason for climate change awareness

List of Worldwide Scientific Organizations (Scientific Organizations That Hold the Position That Climate Change Has Been Caused by Human Action)
American Association for the Advancement of Science
"The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society." (2006)
American Chemical Society
"Comprehensive scientific assessments of our current and potential future climates clearly indicate that climate change is real, largely attributable to emissions from human activities, and potentially a very serious problem." (2004)
American Geophysical Union
"The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system — including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons — are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century." (Adopted 2003, revised and reaffirmed 2007)
American Medical Association
"Our AMA ... supports the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report and concurs with the scientific consensus that the Earth is undergoing adverse global climate change and that anthropogenic contributions are significant." (2013)
American Meteorological Society
"It is clear from extensive scientific evidence that the dominant cause of the rapid change in climate of the past half century is human-induced increases in the amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons, methane, and nitrous oxide." (2012)
American Physical Society
"The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now." (2007)
The Geological Society of America
"The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs with assessments by the National Academies of Science (2005), the National Research Council (2006), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse‐gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s." (2006; revised 2010)




Politics and Economics this folder does not accept disabled comments
Although the group is politically and economically neutral, it's understood that discussion within these topics is important and a natural point of conversation for our type of group.  The folder is for discussion of political or economic issues that are not related to Separation of Church and State.  In general, any submission which is concerned with a political party, political process, or politician goes here. This is regardless of what that political party or politician is promoting or demoting.  Themes may include:
:bulletyellow: Promotion/demotion of a political party, candidate, or politician.
:bulletyellow: Discussion of economic systems.
:bulletyellow: International policy and decision concerning governments.

:bulletblue: Views in the folder may be contradicting and might disagree with you. Be warned! Members can submit one piece into Politics and Economics every day.  Since promoting politics and economics is not our goal, related art is not accepted to the feature folder.



Affiliate with Us



:bulletyellow: General Art groups - In the sprit of DevaintArt being an art website, we accept affiliation with groups that simply promote art.

:bulletyellow: Religious groups - We are happy to affiliate with religious groups.  The only condition we require is that the group be open to membership for all deviants regardless of belief or lack of.  We wish to affiliate with religious group that invite deviants to learn about their religion or faith.  We are also happy to affiliate with religious coexist groups.

:bulletyellow: LGBT groups - We accept affiliation for support or activist groups concerning LGBT rights, equality and welfare.  Though we won’t accept affiliation with shipping groups.

:bulletyellow: Science/Nature groups - We’re always happy to affiliate with these groups.  Though we understand that some of these groups may not want to affiliate with us to not inadvertently alienate some of their members.

:bulletyellow: Political/Economic groups - Secular-Human as a group is politically and economically neutral therefore we cannot affiliate with groups that specifically promote one political party or economic system over others.  We do accept political or economical debate groups as affiliates and we also accept general debates groups.

:bulletyellow: Controversial groups - There are some issues which Secular-Human doesn't accept opposing views on.  To counteract that, we accept affiliation with groups that have certain opposing views.




Featured Affiliates
Featured Affiliates are groups that promote more specific values of Humanism that are awarded a space on Secular-Human’s front page.  One requirement we look for is if the group is active.  An active group is not necessary demonstrate by size.




Got a question? It's probably already been answered in the FAQ section.  We especially encourage you to read the FAQ if you disagree with the mission and values of Secular Humanism before commenting!



FAQ






I disagree with values and mission presented by #Secular-Human

Q: Why are most submissions in #Secular-Human concerned with Christianity?  Why aren't there as many submissions which disagree with other religions such as Islam?
A: #Secular-Human does not focus attention on Christianity intentionally.  Many of our members are individuals from regions which have high Christian populations.  This means that the likelihood of any given member of #Secular-Human being raised with some Christian influence is very high compared to other religions.  Christianity is what is most relevant to most members.
If you are non-religious were you raised in a religious household? If so, what religion was that?  
Result: Most are from Christian/Catholic/Mormon backgrounds.
Where do you live in the world?  
Result: Most live in areas with high Christian populations.

Q: Why do you mock religions?
A: As a group we believe that nothing is so sacred that it is undeserving or exempt from criticism which may present itself in the form of humor, similar to political cartoons.  Religion and its followers often demand such pomp and immediate respect that humor just for humor's sake is unavoidable.  Similar to how it is just fun to photoshop the King of Sweden wearing silly hats because those hats are silly and he is not.

Q: Do you promote or encourage discrimination or violence towards religions?
A: No.  Like any group, we have radical members.  I'm sure you could find a comment somewhere but we don't accept that content.

Q: Why don't you try not to insult religions and their believers?
A: We do try.  Things we look for and do not accept: Naming calling (Christfaqs is a common one), Personal insults when responding to another deviant, encouraging self harm.  If this is not enough please see Q: Why do you mock religions?




I have a question about the content in the group.

Q: Why is [this] or [that] in the group?  It has nothing to do with Secular Humanist at all.
A: Everything has to do with Secular Humanism.  "Secular humanism is comprehensive, touching every aspect of life including issues of values, meaning, and identity." - Council of Secular Humanism as featured on our front page.

Q: Why do you allow disabled comments?  Isn't this an open minded group for discussion?
A: We're not a debate group.  This is a place made by secular-humanists for secular-humanists.  All opinions here generally agree with humanism even if some content is conflicting.  We decided, as a group, through polls that group should allow disabled comments except in the Political and Economics folder.

Q: Why don't you allow arguments against secularism in this group?  Aren't you all open minded/supporters of free speech?
A: This is a group for non-religious folk.  It would be inappropriate to demand that a church allow lectures about atheism.  Freedom of speech is the right to speak, not to be heard.  We do have an Arguments Against Folder for such content however.



This info will update whenever there is better clarification or when new questions come along.  Feel free to comment.
© 2013 - 2024 Secular-Human
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NickACJones's avatar
"Whinny Deviants who block the admin"

 That should be "whiny." A "whinny" is a sound that horses make. ;p