The FUUCI is an Internet community
sharing interesting and sometimes controversial ideas.
When cyber-sermons are released to the whole world on our Facebook Page,
thoughtful responses will be invited from all readers.

     People who respond to controversial ideas on the Internet
are often more outspoken and impolite
than they would be talking on the phone or in person.
(Why the Internet causes some people to be mean
needs to be studied by some investigators of such communication.)
Thus, a wide-open Internet community like the FUUCI
seriously needs a good panel of flame-catchers.

     The following are the seven outstanding characteristics
of good flame-catchers.

1.  Flame-catchers must be available almost every day.

     In order to avoid backlogs of unread responses,
each day's incoming responses should be reviewed within 24 hours.
This makes the role of flame-catcher ideal for someone
who is at a computer on a regular basis
and who has the time and interest to read diverse responses.
If you are homebound for one reason or another,
and/or if you spend a lot of time at your computer anyway,
being a flame-catcher might be more meaningful than surfing the Internet.

2.  Flame-catchers must be tolerant and non-judgmental.

     Some of the responses to cyber-sermons will be dogmatic,
orthodox, authoritarian, &  politically correct.
The function of flame-catchers is not to counter one dogma with another
but to empower originally-dogmatic thinkers to become more rational.
The Flame-Catchers' Handbook describes and illustrates
many of the ways that human thinking becomes narrow and petty.
The the flame-catcher's role is not to restore orthodoxy
(as it might be in a religious movement with a creed)
but to help everyone to become more open-minded and thoughtful.
Flame-catchers must be intelligent enough to see the difference
between politically-correct thinking (intellectual conformity)
and a well-reasoned argument.

4. Flame-catchers must be self-starters and careful-finishers.

     If you volunteer to be a flame-catcher,
you will be inventing this role without supervision.
Thus, you must be someone who can carry thru a project
without someone else telling you how or when to do it.
However, where there is a panel of flame-catchers,
you will have some other people whose opinions might be helpful
for dealing with difficult cases.

5. Flame-catchers must be members of the FUUCI.

     Because some responders will be angry at the flame-catchers
for deleting their responses,
the flame-catchers will remain anonymous to the general public.

     This does not prevent flame-catchers from ever creating cyber-sermons.
However, when their cyber-sermons are published,
others will do the flame-catching for them.