I thought I would share how Democratic Underground 3.0 does moderation with a jury for questioned mostings. Here is a thread I served on a six person jury for:http://www.democraticunderground.com/100241148 The thread text:
t's Time to Tax the Church "Not all churches or all ministers are rich, but some of them are very rich indeed. And that's no surprise, because society subsidizes them through a constellation of generous tax breaks that aren't available to any other institution, even non-profits. For example, religious organizations can opt out of Social Security and Medicare withholding. Religious employers are exempt from unemployment taxes, and in some states, from sales tax. Religious ministers -- and no other profession; the law specifies that only "ministers of the gospel" are eligible for this benefit -- can receive part of their salary as a "housing allowance" on which they pay no taxes. (Compounding the absurdity, they can then turn around and double-dip, deducting their mortgage interest from their taxes, even when their mortgage is being paid with tax-free money in the first place.) And, of course, churches are exempt from property tax and from federal income tax.
We're all paying for the special privileges afforded to religion. Your taxes and mine have to be higher to make up the revenue shortfall that the government isn't taking in because these huge, wealthy churches don't pay their own way".
The jury results in my Pmail box after we were done. (I'm juror #5)
At Mon Dec 19, 2011, 04:10 PM an alert was sent on the following post:
It's Time to Tax the Church
REASON FOR ALERT:
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See Community Standards.)
ALERTER'S COMMENTS:
Oh, I've called out this prejudice so many times it's hardly worth it anymore. I know this kind of bigotry is completely acceptable to the moderators and administrators of this site, even if they aren't opening warming centers in their homes, handing over space on their own lawns for a community garden, or allowing other people to share their homes. Tax those "wealthy" churches, and end the scourge!
You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Mon Dec 19, 2011, 05:02 PM, and the Jury voted 1-5 to LEAVE IT.
Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: This is in GD, not a safe-haven group from opinions you don't like.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: This post posits a change in the tax code regarding churches. There's no bigoted language in it at all.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Neither post attacks an individual. The first one complains of the current tax structure and the second post complains that changing said tax structure is bigoted toward churches. No big deal.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: The post makes no ad hominem attacks and presents a point of view that is a legitimate part of the dialog of this question. I in fact do not agree with the author of it either. But we cannot have civil discourse of concepts and ideas if we allow mechanisms of moderation to be the device we use to quiet dissenting voices. That is not nor should ever be their function.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT and said: I'm voting to hide this, not because of the reasons the alerter gave. The post is against the SOP of General Discussion: No posts about Israel/Palestine, religion, guns, showbiz, or sports unless there is really big news. No conspiracy theories. No whining about DU.
Religion is on the list.
Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.