These guidelines are required reading for all subscribers to the FIC Mailing List Service.

  1. Confidentiality of Members      (Anything that violates the confidentiality of any member of the group is a serious matter. It may result in the violator being placed on moderation or being banned from the group.)
    1. Forwarding FIC Mailing List messages to anyone outside of the current membership is strictly prohibited. We are responsible for protecting one another’s privacy.
    2. NO occasional sharing of posts with your spouse is allowed unless permission to do so is gained from the author in writing.
    3. Please take out a separate email account for FIC emails so your family will not have access to the group’s material. There are several free services, such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. If you use any other service that allows the use of different screen names, we encourage you to use the one that your family will not see. In addition, it is requested that you use only ONE email address and screen name for this group.
    4. The names and email addresses of the FIC membership are PRIVATE and never to be used for solicitation or gathering of any kind. The identity of any FIC member is to be extremely private within this list only. In addition, you may not use the actual name or email address of any member without his permission.
    5. All members are strongly discouraged from using Free in Christ as a source of names to utilize on “social networking” sites. There are many such networking sites out there, but if men in Free in Christ are serious about experiencing the renewal of the mind and turning their backs on sexual addiction, then our group should be more than sufficient for their spiritual fellowship. The Board cannot, of course, control your personal contacts. But you should be aware that if it appears obvious that you are “pilfering” from Free in Christ names for your own motives, you will be placed on moderation (where a Board member reads all your mail prior to releasing it) or even requested to unsubscribe.
    6. There is to be no posting (forwarding and replying) to the FIC list of private (one on one) emails unless they are cleared through the Moderator. The writer’s approval must be secured first, as well as that of any other names mentioned.
    7. In order to ensure privacy, do not post personal telephone numbers or geographical addresses to the FIC mailing list. Send this information through private email.
    8. You should know that almost all workplaces periodically monitor the use of their computers by employees. To protect yourself, it is suggested you ask if you are allowed to have mail sent to your workplace. It is not necessary to mention any details. We do have a WEB READ ONLY option if they do not allow you to receive emails. If your company does not seem to have any rules regarding use of a computer, please bear in mind that there is an almost 90% possibility that you will be monitored. To preserve the integrity and privacy of the other men, we ask you not to receive FIC email at the workplace if it is not allowed. We don’t want you to lose your job and compound the issue.
    9. If you are not comfortable giving the group your full name or any other personal information, that is OK. A first name and initial of your last name is fine. We hope that eventually you will find FIC to be a safe place where you can be known by your full name.
  1. Inappropriate Posts   (We encourage frequent posting. Share your struggles, victories, prayer requests, prayers, confessions, experiences, questions, etc. But please stay on topic and avoid the following inappropriate practices. Repeated violators will be put on moderation, which means that a moderator must review all your posts before sending them to the FIC list.)
    1. Off-topic and doctrinal discussions are to be avoided. Take them to private emails and do not use the FIC mailing list for controversial discussions. Strife in the open forum will seriously divide us. Instead, seek unity, understanding, and love. FIC is a hospital for broken and healing men, not a chat room or opportunity to express opinions on current events.            (Our focus is ALWAYS Jesus Christ our Redeemer who will heal us from sexual immorality.)
    2. Discussions that turn into heated arguments will not be tolerated. Not only is such behavior inimical to the commandments of the Lord, but it is destructive to the entire group. It will be the responsibility of the Moderator to determine when a discussion has neared the danger point. He will then request the further pursuit of the topic be terminated. Failure to do so could result in a member’s placement on the moderated list, which means that all outgoing mail will be sent through the Moderator for an undetermined period of time.
    3. No rebukes will be tolerated between members of FIC. If you feel strongly that a “rebuke in love” is necessary to be given to another member, please speak with the Moderator.
    4. Graphic street language and detailed sin description is not necessary and is to be avoided. Clinical terms, such as masturbation, pornography, bestiality, pedophilia, etc. are acceptable. Please avoid even clinical terms in the Subject Line of email. Designations such as “M” for masturbation or “P” for pornography are to be used in their place. This might save you from some embarrassment with your family. We also should closely adhere to the “weaker brother” principle in our discussion and description of events.
    5. No Web Site URL’s should be listed in your posts to the group without the Moderator’s permission. Material other than email should be original or designate the source.
    6. Daily Devotionals, quotations, songs, virus warnings, poems, etc. are acceptable as long as they relate to the mission of our group. Please use them sparingly.
    7. Excessive quoting in posts can be tedious and use limited mailbox space for some members. “Snip” the quoted section to which you are going to refer. Also, be careful not to include a long list of emails when forwarding mail.
    8. Short exhortations and encouragements also use up some members’ email space. Prayer of any length is fine, but “Me, too!” and “Amen!” and “Atta Boy!” etc. should be avoided. Many members complain about the excessive email in their boxes.
    9. There will be no soliciting of funds within the group, except in extremely rare circumstances. All such solicitations will be done through the Moderator. Please word prayer requests carefully so they will not be mis-construed as financial requests.
  2. Miscellaneous
    1. FIC is a Christian men’s group. There is a mandated age limit of 18 in order to be a member of this group.
    2. Attachments to posts are not permitted. There are specific reasons for this restriction, including the fact that all attachments are not legibly received by some servers. In the event a member has a file he would like to share with the group, he is to check with the Moderator first.
    3. FIC does not endorse chat rooms; nor will it open its own chat facility. Too many of our members have brought destruction down upon themselves and others through the use of inappropriate chat connections.        (In addition, we strongly encourage you to resist any unseemly talk when discussing chat room experiences.)
    4. Sending a message to FIC from an outside address is considered INTRUDER EMAIL. List traffic must always be sent from the address under which you are subscribed. Please use only ONE address for this group.
    5. ALL members are urged to download the FREE workbook: “Striving for Absolute Purity”. Information regarding this excellent and “down to earth” study can be found in your acceptance letter.

In addition please adhere to these basics of email “netiquette”:

The Ten Commandments of Proper Email

  1. Thou shalt include a clear and specific subject line.
  1. Thou shalt edit any quoted material down to the minimum thou needest.
  1. Thou shalt read thine own message thrice before thou sendest it.
  1. Thou shalt ponder and pray over how thy recipient might react to thy message.
  1. Thou shalt check thy spelling and thy grammar.
  1. Thou shalt not curse, flame, spam or USE ALL CAPS.
  1. Thou shalt not forward any chain letter.
  1. Thou shalt not use e-mail for any illegal or unethical purpose.
  1. Thou shalt not rely on the privacy of e-mail, especially from work.
  1. When in doubt, save thy message overnight and re-read it in the light of the dawn. In addition, thou shalt follow the “Golden Rule” of e-mail: That which thou findest hateful to receive, sendest thou not unto others.

(These Guidelines were last updated on October 28, 2020.)