Active Self Protection

Page Guidelines

As Active Self Protection has grown, it has become apparent that we need to be proactive about communicating our community policies in terms of interaction on the page. The internet is rife with people acting rudely toward one another, and in particular the issues of firearms and self-defense engender strong passions in people of differing worldviews. We understand that, and so we have established the following guidelines for behavior at ASP.

  1. We are a professional organization and expect our fans to act and speak in a professional manner. That means PG language and no workarounds. Professional environments use respectful, professional demeanor and language and that is our standard. We will provide a warning for language but will moderate the page for inappropriate use. If you cannot control your language, please go elsewhere. In particular, we do not allow slurs of any kind on the page. That includes racial slurs, ethnic slurs, and ad hominem attacks. Words like “retard” and “retarded” are slurs and are not allowed. Also, words like “libtard” are offensive slurs and are not allowed. If you wouldn’t use it in front of a customer who you don’t know, or in a board meeting, or on a conference call with professionals, then leave it out of your language here.
  2. We expect everyone on the page to treat others with respect and courtesy. No name calling and no flaming of others for their opinions. We will vigorously moderate hateful speech of any kind. This includes but is not limited to racist, sexist, defamatory or slanderous accusations against others, etc.
  3. Trolling is not allowed on the page. If we believe someone is purposefully being an internet troll and commenting solely to rile people up, we will likely warn for a first offense and then ban after that. We’re moderating over 20,000 comments a week at this point and don’t have time to use kid gloves with people who are bored and want to get a rise out of people. This ties in with #1 and #2.
  4. We are libertarian conservatives in nature but as patriots we will not defame the Commander in Chief. We will disagree with him regularly, and say so pointedly, but we will always respect the office of POTUS.
  5. Likewise, you’re welcome to disagree with the admins and have your own opinion on a matter. You are NOT welcome to attack or defame the admins or make ad hominem attacks against them or anyone else. If you can’t be respectful in your online interactions, please unlike the page and go spread that junk elsewhere.
  6. We do not participate in the “Nekkid chicks with teh gunz are awesomez!!!1!!1!” culture that many pages celebrate. We celebrate women taking charge of their own self-defense and promote women in all aspects of self-defense, but believe it is not tasteful to have scantily-clad models fondling firearms on the page. We will not post that type of material and ask our fans not to post it here.
  7. As the page admins, we get to set the narrative and we get to steer the discussion as we see fit. We value others’ opinions and will generally allow discussions to happen spontaneously, but we also reserve the right to steer conversations. This page is about self-defense, with a partial focus on firearms use in self-defense.
  8. We are Christians with a Christian worldview. If you are too, that’s awesome; we share that in common. If you are not, we’re okay with that on the page if you are. We will be respectful of that difference and ask you to be respectful of it as well. Our posts will reflect our worldview and our faith is integrated into our understanding of self-defense, which means we will not shy away from our faith in our defensive coaching and the page’s message. Please set your expectations accordingly. We are respectful of the different faith commitments of the people in our community and expect our fans to be so as well.
  9. This is not a forum. It is our page. We set the tone and the approach. If you don’t like that tone or approach, that’s fine. 100%. But either engage with us in respectful dialog, keep your opinions to yourself, or go elsewhere. We set the tone.
  10. In this vein, ASP believes that the vast majority of law enforcement officers (LEO) are good, hard working, honest people who do a job that really stinks for fairly low pay. Not only that, but as the page has grown it’s become apparent that their job is often done on behalf of people who are rude, disrespectful, and question every nuance of every word they say. As veterans we remember this same standard applied to the military and disagree with it on the grounds that they can’t possibly be perfect. We believe that they are generally good folk, generally looking out for average joes and janes, and require that conversations be respectful of their position of authority (Romans 13:1-7) and the job they do that you probably couldn’t. We really believe that every citizen should do 3 ride alongs with a cop before commenting on the job they do. We do not mind disagreement with a particular action of an LEO, and bad cops make us very angry. We won’t defend the actions of abusive cops any more than we defend the actions of any other abuser. That said, we will maintain respect for the office and function of LEO and ask that our fans do as well.
  11. In the vein of professionalism and respect for others, we do not participate in conspiracy theories. We recognize every person’s right to think what they will, but believe that shouting “FALSE FLAG” does no one any good and does not advance any dialog, and so it is not allowed here. We are much stronger on people who claim that atrocities like the Sandy Hook Elementary School murders were not real, as we know families of the victims. We feel identically about 9/11 hoax claims or false flag claims. Those who feel very strongly about that issue in the other direction are free to feel that way, but leave it off our page or just unlike and move on.
  12. If someone comes on the page who refuses to follow the page guidelines, we reserve the right to ban them from the page. It is our page, so we reserve the right to ask our fans to respect the rules here. We seek to minimize this step in every way we can.
  13. We appreciate our fans very much and seek to help everyone here better their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones.

Thank you for abiding by these Guidelines, and thank you for your support of Active Self Protection!
-Team ASP