The purpose of our Code of Conduct is to ensure that all participants in the humanist community have the best possible experience. We are all here to help each other learn, grow our skill sets, network, and have a good time!
The Humanist Explorer Code of Conduct covers our behavior as members of the community in any Humanist Explorer-hosted forum, private correspondence, Discord server, social media post, event, or public meeting. We expect it to be followed in spirit as much as in the letter.
Our Pledge
In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we, as the Humanist Explorer community, pledge to socialize, learn, and collaborate in a respectful and constructive manner. We welcome everyone willing to join us in this pledge. We welcome individuals regardless of ability, age, background, body size, education, ethnicity, family status, gender identity and expression, geographic location, marital status, nationality, national origin, native language, race and/or ethnicity, religion, sexual identity and orientation, socioeconomic status, or any other dimension of diversity.
We pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone. We pledge to avoid personal attacks on others and to avoid inflammatory language and speech that perpetuates discrimination. Furthermore, we pledge not to use the Humanist Explorer and its platforms as a basis to engage in personal campaigns against other organizations or individuals.
Our Standards
Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:
- Using welcoming and inclusive language
- Being kind to others
- Behaving with civility
- Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
- Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
- Focusing on what is best for the community
- Showing empathy towards other community members
Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to:
- The use of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or advances
- Initiating controversy for controversy’s sake (repeatedly asking disingenuous questions under a guise of sincerity)
- Saying insulting/derogatory comments and making personal attacks.
- Repeatedly instigating conflict, and baiting people into arguments
- Public or private harassment
- Publishing someone else’s private information, such as a physical or electronic address, without explicit permission
- Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
- Violent threats or language directed against another person
- Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or exclusionary statements, even if they were meant as jokes
- Excessive swearing
- Unwelcome physical contact
- Sustained disruption of talks or other events
- Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting, even if the conduct may be legal under the laws of some jurisdiction.
Our Responsibilities
The leadership of Humanist Explorer, working with the Heartland Coalition of Reason and other associated organizations, is committed to enforcing this Code of Conduct in a fair and impartial manner so that humanist community members are able to participate in community activities in a safe and respectful environment. To achieve this, the leadership of Humanist Explorer has the responsibility for clarifying and interpreting the standards of acceptable behavior, responding to and investigating reports of behavior that is not aligned with this Code of Conduct, and determining appropriate and fair corrective action in response. The leadership of Humanist Explorer will perform these functions along with the Heartland Coalition of Reason and with outside counsel, as appropriate.
If you need help
We take our community’s health seriously and want to ensure everyone has a good experience. Please also keep in mind that public shaming can be counter-productive to building a strong community. We do not condone nor participate in such actions. Instances of behavior inconsistent with this code may be reported by sending an email to [email protected]. If the incident occurs at an event, the local event staff should be contacted in addition to sending an email.
All reports will be kept confidential. When we discuss incidents with anyone, we will anonymize details as much as we can. This means that the identities of all involved parties will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise or we are required to make disclosures under the law.
When relevant – in an effort to be as transparent as possible – Humanist Explorer organizers will communicate with the community about Code of Conduct violations and any actions taken. All efforts will be made to communicate in a timely manner while respecting the privacy of those involved.
The Humanist Explorer Code of Conduct is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. Our Code of Conduct was inspired by and borrows content from Codes of Conduct of other open source projects, including:
Contributor Covenant | The Fedora Project | Tech Omaha | Ubuntu
