Rules for posting controversial topics

At AE we welcome intellectual debates. The understanding of history is to a large extent an interpretation of historical facts, and we encourage those at our forums.

Unfortunately, many recent �debates� end up being nothing more than angry fights that contribute nothing to our understanding of history.

If you wish to start a new controversial topic, follow these rules:

1.     Search for an already open topic on the subject. Redundant topics will be closed as soon as the moderators identify them.
2.     Write the entry yourself. As soon as we identify a copy-and-paste job, we will close the topic.
3.     Provide evidence to support your arguments. Failure to do so may close the topic.
4.     Provide references for your quotes; at least one of them should be an online reference. Members should be able to access at least one source to immediately to assess its worth. Failure to comply with this point may close the topic.

The more inflammatory the comment, the more stringently these rules will be applied.

If one is posting a response in the thread, the same rules apply, but instead of closing the thread, one's comments may be erased by the moderator.

Thank you

Edited by hugoestr