R&S regulars, if you had any advice for R&S newbies what would it be?

I assume most newbies are thoroughly confused when they ask what they think is a unique and insightful question and then get 20 responses of *drink!* So rule number one: avoid asking drinking questions. I would advise them to lurk for a while, to get a feel for the board and for the questions that are asked repeatedly.

Rule number two: spell check. Yes, sometimes the spell check on here hangs up. For those times, there are online spell checkers at your disposal such as http://spellcheck.net/

Rule number three: Do not ask stupid, trolling questions designed only to incite the community. If you must be a troll, be a funny one. otherwise, people will just ignore you (or make fun of you).

Rule number four: once you've attained what you think is R&S Regular status, don't get your feelings hurt if you rarely get mentioned in the "Who's Your Favorite R&S Regular?" hug-fest type questions. Y!A is fun, and you can form friendships (or at the very least, come to admire others) but your self-esteem should never be dependant on the approval of others here.. which leads to...

Rule number five: Don't let this place get to you. I've often said, I didn't know I was such a horrible person until I got on the Internet. Now I know I'm a dirty tree-hugging liberal commie freedom-hating atheist baby-eater... it took me a while to be able to sleep at night with this new knowledge. Bottom line is, don't let this place get to you. If you find yourself not logging off of Y!A the same or better than when you logged in, grow a thicker skin or take a break. I've had to do both. :)

AND Finally Rule number six: Have fun! :p

Well I'm probably not considered a regular, but here's what I'd say:

1: Never ask why Atheists are in R&S. Just do a search if you don't understand, it's been asked so many times.

2: Always be polite and respectful of the other members. Just because you don't believe the same thing doesn't mean the other person is stupid.

3: If when you type in your question and it comes up with a list of questions with the exact same opening, don't ask it.

4: Always use Spell Check

5: Never use chat speak

6: Come here to learn and share, not to make fun of others.

7: Enjoy yourself!

No religion/atheist/scientific pantheist/humanist/like some eastern philosophy/rebel who doesn't fit labels well. I live in Austria now, grew up in the states. I'm 5'6'' or about 168 cm I'm still a U.S. citizen and will do my primary voting at the U.S. embassy here next Tuesday. The humor, sharing of different viewpoints, others who share my skepticism Audi A4 No, I'm so busy, I really don't have internet socializing time. Its a guilty thing just popping in here while I'm online for other things to answer a few questions.

I'm not a regular by any means but here's my two cents

don't become a reporting nazi, if you don't like what you read nobody made you read it

don't attempt to be deep and ask question like 'can God make a rock that is too heavy to pick up', 'is faith a brain deficiency'

don't ask questions based on your own misinformed ideas like 'if evolution is true why are there still apes'

don't take anything you read seriously, it's probably sarcasm, just assume that the best

don't address your question 'atheists only', 'Christians only', 'non-believers only' and expect that only those people will answer, and when the others come you will get a severe tongue lashing

[and on that note, it's a-t-h-e-i-s-t-s not a-t-h-i-e-s-t-s]

Be discerning, try to identify between the Truth Seekers and the Lies Lovers; that is provided you are a truth seeker yourself of course. If you're not, do as you please - I am not interested in your kind.

Most of the postings are just garbage with very little meaningful content but just idle talk. There are some sincere questions asking for help while others are just pity-party self indulgences one which is quite easily to spot.

As for the endless Atheists and Religious arguments and accusations between the two parties - you can gives it a miss or participate without too much concern or sentiment to what they think - thumps up or down or reporting violation is just part of their denial and adding more conflicts to their own agony for resisting God and His Truth. (provided you are a Truth seeker yourself of course)

Ask a pertinent question from time to time as you see the flow but don't get caught up that your question must always be answered. Sometime when it is not could turned out to be the rare occasion when most people are under the deepest conviction; especially truth that cut into their conscience (the guilty ones of course) For this you may even get a violation report against you.

Are you for Truth or for Lies is the final question you must ask yourself before joining in the fray?

Yeah, I'd give them tips on how to survive here LOL.

That would include a list of drinking questions, a lecture on keeping things respectful, a warning against the reporting karma (I just hate it when people abuse that button - you of all people know what's it like to get suspended all the time), I'd tell that person to provide links in case something is copied from a site, I would even resort to threatening them with Yahell-fire in case they attempt long cut&pastes lol, advise them to always research a post ... AND I would tell them about that magical little button called spellcheck.

Enough from Miss Poppy :P

I would say if you do not have an open then post away because R&S willl explode your head and push you to define what you truly believe and not what you were told. Have a heart and sense of humor. You do not have to agree but you are allowed to laugh. Do not think you can corner any market and remind them it is not their job to convert anyone. And if they feel the need to report someone to go report themselves so they can be reminded what it is like.

Spell Check is not a tool of the Devil.

We will always respect a grammatically correct attack on our beliefs over a misspelled rant.

Remember, you are trying to convince everyone you're smart, right?

Unless, of course, you are a follower of ceiling cat, in which misspellings are covered under your religious rights.

Don't bother answering the insincere, atheist questions.

Don't answer the questions that get asked over and over.

Don't expect people to believe scripture even if they ask

for a reference.

Hmmm... I'd tell them to IMMEDIATELY browse through a day or two of questions to get a feel for the section and to find out which questions are asked most frequently. I'd give them a link to Solly Llama's list of drinking questions - http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-xAxTxBwwdaI_hI_ccuS...