The
Use The Internet Responsibly
Crusade
About this Photograph
The Armory
Armament is provided in the form of Resolutions to be followed by each Crusader,
Some are protective, to be used as chain mail, helmets, breastplates or shields.
Some are weapons to be used as swords, lances, maces, battle axes or bows and
arrows. All are considered to be essential to the crusade. Crusaders are
expected to use them all in the course of the crusade. None are to be omitted.
More will be added from time to time and members are invited to suggest
additional resolutions. Some are both protective as well as weapons. A shield,
primarily for defense, can be used to strike the enemy. A sword, is used both to
deliver a blow and ward of that of the opponent.
Protective Items:
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I
resolve to protect my computer from infiltration from the enemy by employing
a good and sufficient firewall and virus protection software so that my
ability to participate in the crusade will not be impaired.
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I
resolve to avoid downloading harmful software items. I am aware that many so
called “free” offers only intend to function as a Trojan horse in order to
bring harmful software to my computer to sabotage my effectiveness as a
crusader.
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I resolve to avoid visiting immoral and illegal web sites. Their sole
purpose is to undermine my values and to recruit me to their ways.
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I resolve not to divulge any personal information, either my own or that of
another in an unsecure web site or in an email.
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I resolve to be kind, honest, compassioned and truthful. These can be my
greatest amour and at the same time my most effective weapon.
Weapons:
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I
resolve, in keeping with the Lord’s commandment not to bear false witness,
and that I will not originate nor forward attacks on anyone or any cause
which are based in falsehood, half truths or distortions of the truth. I
know that the truth is my most powerful weapon and my veracity is damaged or
destroyed by untruth. I also know that to repeat and disseminate the
falsehoods of others can be, and usually is, taken as my endorsement of the
lie and thus my character and effectiveness is damaged.
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I resolve, in keeping with truth and kindness, that I will not proliferate
false warnings of any kind. These generate undue concern and worry in a
world that doesn’t need more of either. I will make every effort to verify
the truthfulness of warnings received and if not true, delete them. If the
warning is doubtful as to veracity or need, I will not forward it.
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I resolve, in keeping with the virtues of dignity and kindness, not to
demean myself or others by shaming or coercing them to express friendship to
me by asking them to return an email or by measuring the number of emails
returned. Friendship is freely shared based on common interests and values.
I lower myself by begging for it and insult my friend by asking him to prove
it in such a trivial way. A friend will respond as a friend will.
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I resolve, in keeping with God’s gift of free will and His desire for us to
love Him by our own volition, not to attempt to shame or coerce others into
“proving” their love for Him by forwarding messages to others. If the
message, be it prayer, inspiration or otherwise, is a worthy one, the
receiver, if so inclined, will share it through love. To assign numbers to
it or promise results of any kind is suspect of superstition and contrary to
Christian faith. If I receive such messages and I find the message itself to
be worthy, beautiful or inspirational, before sharing it with others, I will
strip all else from it prior to forwarding it to those I feel will
appreciate it. The faithful will respond in their faith.
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I resolve, in keeping with God’s gift of free will and in the avoidance of
superstition, to refrain from participating in “chain prayer”. I should pray
often and spiritually join my prayers with those of the entire world. A
superstitious “chain” of prayer is not faith. God, not people, is the only
one who will respond to our prayers and people can not make promises of any
kind for Him.
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I resolve, in keeping with God’s love for us and His desire that we all
share good things with each other, to share worthwhile thoughts, stories and
other inspirational items with others based in truth, kindness and love.
While doing so, I am aware that both true stories and parables have merit
but the two should not be mixed together. A parable should be recognizable
as such. A parable which has been embellished falsely by using the names of
celebrities or other actual people, living or dead, has lost its veracity
and should be deleted and certainly not shared.
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I resolve, in keeping with fairness and Christian honesty, to respect the
copywrite and other laws as well as the intellectual property of others. I
will not plagiarize, but give due credit where credit is due.
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I resolve, in keeping with the respect for the work of others and God’s
commandment not to steel, not to take and use software without remuneration
to the owner unless it is freely offered.
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I resolve, in my communications on the internet, to be positive in thought,
discarding negativity. It is in this way I fight evil with good. I find it
more effective to win over the enemy by good example rather than attacking
his faith or beliefs. Winning by conquest is not near as effective and
lasting as winning by the moral persuasion of my conduct and having the
opponent decide for himself, internally, that he wants to come over to my
side. I follow the advice of St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel
always. It necessary, use words.”
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Revised 24 August 2009
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