3

If you look at these edits you will see a pattern by the poster of using provocative language that is technically erroneous.

Of significant interest is EDIT #3 where the poster deliberately chose to change "stars" to "pentagrams" in the title of the Question, one hour after asking the question.

Additionally, when technically accurate clarifying language was added to the Question's text (see EDIT #5) the poster immediately removed the clarifications (see EDIT #6) with the statement:

  • "I don't subscribe to any of these beliefs. I have included these descriptions to show why religious people might be offended, not why there is something conspiratorial or occult going on."

There is nothing wrong with including descriptions to show why people might react a certain way, but to intentionally remove clarifying language seems a bit suspect that the poster wants the question to be provocative.

If that isn't/wasn't his intent I apologize but in the meantime I would like some clarification on what the policy is for such content please?

2

Priority number one of this website is to spread knowledge about governments, policies and political processes through objective questions (see help center)

It is not a platform to promote political agendas.

When a question is unnecessarily one-sided and loaded or includes an unnecessary rant, it should be fixed by rewriting it in a more neutral tone and removing the ranting so only the actual question remains.

  • 1
    What if the "loading" is not a rant but rather a more subtle form such as bait (i.e.: a word/phrase designed to bias the question) ? In the above example the poster deliberately chose to change an accurate word "stars" to a less accurate word "pentagrams" in his title an hour after posting his question. The latter word carries an enormous amount of emotional baggage in the religious conservative community. Was it necessary/appropriate to use such a word in the title in order to ask a question or should posters avoid using such heavily biased words when good alternatives exist? – O.M.Y. Jun 3 '16 at 12:15
4

If we determine that the asker of a question is more interested in making some sort of point than asking a question, then we will close that "question", because it is not truly a question.

With that in mind, the question you've linked to doesn't even come close to crossing that line.

Additionally, Your edit of the "clarifying" comments was actually a bad edit. The OP's concern was that the stars pointing down kinda look like a pentagram. You should not write another sentence in the question that essentially dismisses that concern. If you think his concern is unfounded, then you can write a comment or an answer.

Of course, you can downvote for almost any reason you please, If you don't like what the OP of the question is doing, you can down-vote it if you want.

  • You are right, the poster is not trying to make a point as far as I can tell either. IF there is any agenda it could likely be to attract religious conservatives and/or occult-in-politics conspiracists thus raising the question's view/comment/vote count. I have no issue with this poster, this is just an example for discussion. I am asking about the policy on posting "loaded" questions. Do we have one? – O.M.Y. Jun 1 '16 at 16:34
  • 1
    @O.M.Y. See the first sentence. If a question is not actually a question, we close it. – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jun 1 '16 at 16:37
  • Why is it "bad" to de-bias a question? The poster can and should state his concern in unbiased language such as "American flag stars bear a close resemblance to [pentagrams] and [pentacles] (but they are not the same) which are associated with Satanism when drawn with the point down." but for the rest of the Question the word stars should be used because that is the most accurate and unbiased word available. – O.M.Y. Jun 3 '16 at 13:15
  • Interestingly I notice that the OP of that question is in fact trying to de-bias his own language somewhat in the vein of what I said above. Kudos to @Fiksdal. – O.M.Y. Jun 3 '16 at 13:22

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .