user-1: Having come accrss the really strange usual to kill and destroy questions and answers, if they carry a notion not coming from a self-declared Buddhist.
Is neither proper to do such categorical nor is it sure that because of ones teacher, lineage... speaks Dhamma and vici-versa. You do not kill and destroy the 70-90% Adhamma of "Buddhists" as well.
It would be good to consider that in line and conduct taught by the Buddha, using his name and teachings here, yet of course it's your choice your destiny headed to, of whom ever approves such ways, or even acts on such.
It's possible necessary to account that the Buddha gave preference, even in regard of ordination, to believers in Kamma, while those many other preachers here often would not easy gain any footing.

user254: Having come accrss the really strange usual to kill and destroy questions and answers, if they carry a notion not coming from a self-declared Buddhist.
I'm not sure where you came across that -- I don't think I'd word it that way.
For a start, people who ask questions aren't required to be Buddhist. There are meta-answers ...

buddhism.SE not a sangha

This is the approach I took in the beginning as a moderator; when we got posts that were too "Buddhist", it seemed we were expected to remind them that this is not a Buddhist site. Or, in the words of this post, "this is a Q&A web site, not a church".
But, after being on the receiving end of some textual abuse from irate answerers (e.g. being called "passive aggressive"), and doing a bit of digging and a bit of reflecting, I'm not so sure there isn't room for a bit of church-ness here.

Not sure if I belong here

I want to make it clear that this site is not a Buddhist site and its not only for Buddhists. Its both for Buddhists, Non-Buddhists, people interested in Buddhism and the like.
Just because you are not Buddhist does not mean that you do not belong here. Buddhism is just a conventional word.

How to ask questions about different traditions of Buddhism?

People with little or no knowledge of Buddhism may come to this site for information. The tone set on a site called Buddhism.SE can shape opinions of newcomers to Buddhism. Are we practicing Right Speech? (Granted it's a site about Buddhism, not a Buddhist site; but the majority of active participants in the site indicate in one way or another that they are practicing Buddhists and as such our behavior reflects on how Buddhism is practiced in daily life.)


That said, the question should be about Buddhism -- e.g. a question about Christianity would be deemed "off-topic" and closed.
Similarly, answers on this site should be "about Buddhism":

Answers which are explicitly from the perspective of another religion-- e.g. which quote "non-Buddhist" scripture or doctrine -- are likely considered off-topic
Answers aren't required to cite references -- though that may be preferable -- even where there isn't an explicit quote, a reader who knows some of the scriptures can usually see (and therefore approve) how an answer paraphrases Buddhist scripture even without referencing it
Answer which are only based on personal experience, and which don't appear to be explicitly related to Buddhism somehow, may be challenged by other users -- in which case a user might be asked to clarify how their answer related to Buddhist doctrine --  for example:

Off Topic Content
Should content the from a Buddhist POV or Perspective or presented in relation to Buddhism


In practice, few (i.e. only a small percentage of) posts are closed or deleted for not being Buddhist -- if in doubt I think we usually decide to be permissive rather than exclusive.
If I recall correctly, if (very rarely) a post is deleted for being non-Buddhist, it tends to be "Hindu" (rather than "Christian" or "Islamic" for example). The most recent example was this answer (4 days ago). The previous one was this question (a month previously). An answer which talks about the Self, and maybe Brahman and so on, would tend to be viewed with some suspicion.
I hope that users' (the community's) sorting answers into "Buddhist" and "not Buddhist" might be helpful.

One place where being a "self-declared Buddhist" was in the site's definition of what content is on-topic.
It was decided that this site should accommodate all schools of Buddhism -- and that arguments like ...

Zen isn't really Buddhism ... shouldn't be on-topic on this site
Vajrayana isn't really Buddhism ...
Theravada isn't really Buddhism ...

... aren't what we want. So I think the policy is that any school which is "self-declared" Buddhist -- and so for example Shin Buddhism is on-topic; so is Sokka Gakkai; and, Secular Buddhism. If a question or answer is specific to a particular school then it's often better if that's stated explicitly (in the answer or using a question's "tag").
Using that definition, I don't remember many difficult "edge cases" where it's difficult to decide whether a topic is or isn't Buddhist.

As a "privileged" user (i.e. with a reputation above 2000) you can see all deleted posts -- so you can help to review whether any deleted posts were deleted in accordance with site policy.

Viewing deleted posts
You now have privileged access to posts that have been removed, either by their authors, by users with access to moderator tools, by moderators, or by the system.
Use this privilege wisely:

Make sure what is being deleted should have been deleted, and bring unnecessary or harmful deletions to the attention of the community and/or moderator team.
Watch for signs of abuse being obscured by deletion.
Don't abuse this privilege to stir up trouble when someone has wisely decided to remove a problematic post.

You also have a new search operator available to find your own deleted posts: deleted:1.

As I'm a moderator this search shows me every post that's been deleted.

-1: <p>Having come accrss the really strange usual to kill and destroy questions and answers, if they carry a notion not coming from a self-declared Buddhist.</p>

<p>Is neither proper to do such categorical nor is it sure that because of ones teacher, lineage... speaks Dhamma and vici-versa. You do not kill and destroy the 70-90% Adhamma of "Buddhists" as well.</p>

<p>It would be good to consider that in line and conduct taught by the Buddha, using his name and teachings here, yet of course it's your choice your destiny headed to, of whom ever approves such ways, or even acts on such.</p>

<p>It's possible necessary to account that the Buddha gave preference, even in regard of ordination, to believers in Kamma, while those many other preachers here often would not easy gain any footing.</p>
 254: <p><strong>Having come accrss the really strange usual to kill and destroy questions and answers, if they carry a notion not coming from a self-declared Buddhist.</strong></p>

<p>I'm not sure where you came across that -- I don't think I'd word it that way.</p>

<p>For a start, people who ask questions aren't required to be Buddhist. There are meta-answers ...</p>

<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/a/214/254">buddhism.SE not a sangha</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>This is the approach I took in the beginning as a moderator; when we got posts that were too "Buddhist", it seemed we were expected to remind them that <strong>this is not a Buddhist site</strong>. Or, in the words of this post, "<strong>this is a Q&amp;A web site, not a church</strong>".</p>
  
  <p>But, after being on the receiving end of some textual abuse from irate answerers (e.g. being called "passive aggressive"), and doing a bit of digging and a bit of reflecting, I'm not so sure there isn't room for a bit of church-ness here.</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p><a href="https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/a/1855/254">Not sure if I belong here</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>I want to make it clear that this site is <strong>not a Buddhist site</strong> and its not only for Buddhists. Its both for Buddhists, Non-Buddhists, people interested in Buddhism and the like.</p>
  
  <p>Just because you are not Buddhist does not mean that you do not belong here. Buddhism is just a conventional word.</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p><a href="https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/a/1513/254">How to ask questions about different traditions of Buddhism?</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>People with little or no knowledge of Buddhism may come to this site for information. The tone set on a site called Buddhism.SE can shape opinions of newcomers to Buddhism. Are we practicing Right Speech? (Granted it's a site about Buddhism, <strong>not a Buddhist site</strong>; but the majority of active participants in the site indicate in one way or another that they are practicing Buddhists and as such our behavior reflects on how Buddhism is practiced in daily life.)</p>
</blockquote></li>
</ul>

<p>That said, the question should be about Buddhism -- e.g. a question about Christianity would be deemed "off-topic" and closed.</p>

<p>Similarly, answers on this site should be "about Buddhism":</p>

<ul>
<li>Answers which are explicitly from the perspective of another religion-- e.g. which quote "non-Buddhist" scripture or doctrine -- are likely considered off-topic</li>
<li>Answers aren't required to cite references -- though that may be preferable -- even where there isn't an explicit quote, a reader who knows some of the scriptures can usually see (and therefore approve) how an answer paraphrases Buddhist scripture even without referencing it</li>
<li><p>Answer which are only based on personal experience, and which don't appear to be explicitly related to Buddhism somehow, may be challenged by other users -- in which case a user might be asked to clarify how their answer related to Buddhist doctrine --  for example:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/2046/254">Off Topic Content</a></li>
<li><a href="https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/2049/254">Should content the from a Buddhist POV or Perspective or presented in relation to Buddhism</a></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>In practice, few (i.e. only a small percentage of) posts are closed or deleted for not being Buddhist -- if in doubt I think we usually decide to be permissive rather than exclusive.</p>

<p>If I recall correctly, if (very rarely) a post is deleted for being non-Buddhist, it tends to be "Hindu" (rather than "Christian" or "Islamic" for example). The most recent example was <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/33769/254">this answer</a> (4 days ago). The previous one was <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/33675/254">this question</a> (a month previously). An answer which talks about the Self, and maybe Brahman and so on, would tend to be viewed with some suspicion.</p>

<p>I hope that users' (the community's) sorting answers into "Buddhist" and "not Buddhist" might be helpful.</p>

<hr>

<p>One place where being a "self-declared Buddhist" was in the site's definition of what content is on-topic.</p>

<p>It was decided that this site should accommodate all schools of Buddhism -- and that arguments like ...</p>

<ul>
<li>Zen isn't really Buddhism ... shouldn't be on-topic on this site</li>
<li>Vajrayana isn't really Buddhism ...</li>
<li>Theravada isn't really Buddhism ...</li>
</ul>

<p>... aren't what we want. So I think the policy is that any school which is "self-declared" Buddhist -- and so for example Shin Buddhism is on-topic; so is Sokka Gakkai; and, Secular Buddhism. If a question or answer is specific to a particular school then it's often better if that's stated explicitly (in the answer or using a question's "tag").</p>

<p>Using that definition, I don't remember many difficult "edge cases" where it's difficult to decide whether a topic is or isn't Buddhist.</p>

<hr>

<p>As a "privileged" user (i.e. with a reputation above 2000) you can see all deleted posts -- so you can help to review whether any deleted posts were deleted in accordance with site policy.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/moderator-tools">Viewing deleted posts</a></p>
  
  <p>You now have privileged access to posts that have been removed, either by their authors, by users with access to moderator tools, by moderators, or by the system.</p>
  
  <p>Use this privilege wisely:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Make sure what is being deleted should have been deleted, and bring unnecessary or harmful deletions to the attention of the community and/or moderator team.</li>
  <li>Watch for signs of abuse being obscured by deletion.</li>
  <li>Don't abuse this privilege to stir up trouble when someone has wisely decided to remove a problematic post.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>You also have a new search operator available to find your own deleted posts: <code>deleted:1</code>.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As I'm a moderator <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/search?tab=newest&amp;q=deleted%3a1">this search</a> shows me every post that's been deleted.</p>
