Originally posted 25 March 2015
Eddited and updated: 03 September 2018/ 05 September 2018

The following document is an official Esfinges Organizatión publication. 

Esfinges Conduct Policy

We want Esfinges to be a positive experience for all of our members. With that in mind, we have been discussing a conduct policy, but as this is not a one-way street, we would like to warmly invite your comments and input, so that we continue making Esfignes a place where all of our members can feel welcome.

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The Esfinges group is a safe space where we support and help each other. We’re all on our own journeys, and what might be a minor milestone for someone can be a major milestone for someone else. Please keep this in mind when you are posting and especially when you are commenting.

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We rule ourselves by the Motto: We talk about subjects, not about people. Esfinges aims to offer a place where we may share our thoughts/experiences/opinions that we might not be comfortable sharing in other HEMA groups and for this, we need to assure a safe atmosphere supported by the following policy:

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1.  The Gold rule: We talk about subjects not about People. This applies to referring to people in general. It’s preferential to avoid names and point out the subject of interest, not the person. (for example: A person suggested that female training should be based on “x” skills. what do you think about? )
2. Everyone should be treated with respect. Always assume that the others are as intelligent, honest, and honorable as you are.
3. Esfinges is an appropriate place to discuss relevant HEMA and martial arts issues, sharing your personal experiences and achievements is fine, but denigrating or devaluing someone else’s achievements/experiences is not.
4. It’s encouraged to voice a contrary opinion or disagreement, as long as it’s done politely and respectfully and criticism should be given constructively, avoiding resorting to common fallacies (see below).
5. Personal attacks* will not be tolerated. Personal issues should be treated privately, and put aside when communicating within the group.
6. Public attacks, bullying, or shaming another person will result in a yellow card  (a warning for a first offense), and a red card (removal from the group) on a second offense. In particularly severe cases, admins reserve the right to remove a member without warning. Admins also reserve the right to close any comment thread.
7. Hate Speech and discrimination are not welcome. Every person has the same value and should be treated with respect regardless of race, culture, sexual identity, religion, etc. Hate speech or any form of discrimination may result on an instant red card without warning.

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Please feel free to contact the admins with any comments/questions/concerns.

*Personal attacks are any post or comment in which another member is singled out for her post/comment and criticized in such a manner that is rude and disrespectful, and/or aim to intimidate.

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Intellectual Property Policy

Esfinges owns intellectual property over its logos, original content, and imagery unless specified otherwise. Any use of Esfinges Intelectual property must be done under Esfinges written permission and might be subject of terms and conditions.

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Addendum:

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Common Fallacies to avoid (and some Harry Potter spoilers)

1.  Ad hominem – when you attack the person instead of the argument. Example: I say that I think Harry Potter is awesome, and you say that I have no imagination, instead of saying why you don’t think Harry Potter is awesome.Bandwagon Fallacy – when you say that “everyone says that Hogwarts is the best magical school” and use that as the basis of your argument.
2. Confirmation Bias – when you focus only on the evidence that supports the conclusion you want to hear and ignores evidence to the contrary, such as “Harry Potter is an awesome potions maker” while not mentioning that Harry was cheating and had never before been an awesome potions student.
3. Confusion of correlation and causation – an example: more people know how to use computers now than fifty years ago, and more people now find jeans acceptable in the workplace, but that does not mean that an increase in computer use has caused a relaxation of dress codes.
4. Red Herring – introducing a false lead away from the argument. For example, if people are arguing about whether The Hobbit is a better book than A Game of Thrones, and then someone talks about Ian McKellan’s portrayal of Gandalf (which, while awesome, has utterly no bearing on how good the book is).
5. Straw Man – Introducing a fake scenario and then attacking it For example, “Gandalf is luring all the hobbits away from the shire so he can feed them to the Balrog. Down with Gandalf!”
6. The Pure-Blood- Using arguments such as “a true wizard is” “only a real magician knows that” and dismiss others’ opinions because they don’t fit your idea of what a “real wizard” is.

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