General Assembly Q&A

[Yaak]

Is slavery banned.

[Imperium Anglorum]

Yes. GA 23 'Ban on slavery and trafficking'.

[Yaak]

Yes. GA 23 'Ban on slavery and trafficking'.

Discrimination?

[Separatist Peoples]

Yes. GA 23 'Ban on slavery and trafficking'.

Discrimination?

Yes.

[Yaak]

Discrimination?

Yes.

Freedom of Breathing?

[Separatist Peoples]

Yes.

Freedom of Breathing?

Yes, just not explicitly.

[Outer Sparta]

Yes.

Freedom of Breathing?

Doubt you could structure one entirely of that.

[Imperial States of Duotona]

What is the role of a GA Secretariat? Do they act like moderators but only in the GA forums or are they more for writing advice?

[Imperium Anglorum]

What is the role of a GA Secretariat? Do they act like moderators but only in the GA forums or are they more for writing advice?

General overview at https://www.nationstates.net/page=gensec. The GA has a complex ruleset; members of the Secretariat adjudicate proposals against that ruleset. As players, members also offer advice on proposals, but the formal role of GA Secr members is mostly in the capacity of resolving legality challenges and ruling on proposals submitted to the queue.

[Thamesholm and Wallborough]

If schools taught that “there is no God” (I don’t mean teaching about atheism I mean teaching it as a fact) would that count as discrimination and/or a freedom of religion violation under WA Law?

(Note: this assumes children are forced to attend these lessons regardless of either their wishes or those of their parents).

[Sierra Lyricalia]

If schools taught that “there is no God” (I don’t mean teaching about atheism I mean teaching it as a fact) would that count as discrimination and/or a freedom of religion violation under WA Law?

(Note: this assumes children are forced to attend these lessons regardless of either their wishes or those of their parents).

Research on this topic would best be undertaken in the Passed Resolutions thread.

...but the one you're really looking for is GAR #430 "Freedom of Religion." Crucially, that resolution defines religious practice as practices related to a religion, rather than related to religious belief (which the resolution ties specifically to supernatural concepts). The implication of that is that while state-run schools may teach a particular religion, such teachings (even atheistic teachings) likely count as a religious practice, and so no one may be forced to participate (including participation by passively being lectured at).

TL;dr - you can teach atheism as the state religion, even in state-run schools, but parents must be able to have their children excused from those lessons.

- 1/6 GenSec

---

General overview at https://www.nationstates.net/page=gensec

Hmm, I see we've abandoned the previous commitment to alphabetical order of nations...

[Imperium Anglorum]

...but the one you're really looking for is GAR #430 "Freedom of Religion." Crucially, that resolution defines religious practice as practices related to a religion, rather than related to religious belief (which the resolution ties specifically to supernatural concepts). The implication of that is that while state-run schools may teach a particular religion, such teachings (even atheistic teachings) likely count as a religious practice, and so no one may be forced to participate (including participation by passively being lectured at).

TL;dr - you can teach atheism as the state religion, even in state-run schools, but parents must be able to have their children excused from those lessons.

While I agree that sitting in a room being lectured at is a practice, I don't agree that atheistic teachings are a 'practice associated with a religion'. They are, instead, a practice unassociated with any religion at all, at which point GA 430 s 3 no longer applies. On the other hand, a lecture from some established church nuns about the divinity of Ichthys is a religious practice, and would be barred under s 3.

Edit. I saw this too:

"religious belief" as any set of spiritual beliefs regarding the nature and origins of the universe involving a concept of the divine or supernatural,

But 'involve' requires that this concept of the divine or supernatural 'have or include (something) as a necessary or integral part or result'. Oxford Dictionary of English. The nature and origins of the universe in a universe without a God do not involve divine or supernatural matters as an necessary or integral part. Nb also that I'm not set in stone on this topic. One would also need to establish that the religious belief clause (s 2) when applied facially equally somehow punishes or persecutes people for holding religious beliefs.

Edit 2. I wanted also to note explicitly, rather than just implicitly, that the definition of 'religious practice' is not governed by the definition of 'religious belief'. A religious practice is read only with reference to the practice being 'associated with a religion'. It is not read in terms of it being motivated or vitalised by a 'religious belief'.

[Hegvanigson]

I Created Several Proposals,But 100% Of Them Failed. What Is The Secret To Make The Most *PERFECT* Proposal?

[Molotovsk]

Wrong thread, my mistake.

[Tinhampton]

The World Assembly has not enacted a "ban on automobiles."

[Molotovsk]

The World Assembly has not enacted a "ban on automobiles."

Really?

I meant to post this in the Writer's Block. My bad.

[Outer Sparta]

I Created Several Proposals,But 100% Of Them Failed. What Is The Secret To Make The Most *PERFECT* Proposal?

Actually listening to feedback and reading the resources provided would be a start. So is doing the research. So far, you have done nothing of that sort.

[Yaak]

Can I used NSD to describe NSD legally?

[Separatist Peoples]

Can I used NSD to describe NSD legally?

Nope.

[Yaak]

Can I used NSD to describe NSD legally?

Nope.

Then how can I force mininum wage?

[Xanthorrhoea]

Nope.

Then how can I force mininum wage?

That’s up to your creativity

[Yaak]

Then how can I force mininum wage?

That’s up to your creativity

Did a hundredth of cost of living. Thanks!

[Neniisotoyouu]

Would a reference to a piece of fiction in RL as if it were non-fiction (say for instance that we assume the events of LoTR actually took place within the NationStates universe) constitute a reference?

One may see that this author recently submitted a proposal (The WA Sensha-Do Tournament), and it is very much understood why it was almost immediately made illegal. Among other issues, it was never drafted or critiqued by any other players; bad form, really. Honestly, this author had never drafted a WA proposal before and was somewhat excited late at night after a few drinks, so legality is not really on the table here anymore.

However, the author did not expect to see any RL reference issues as any reference to real-world nations were expunged barring the languages. It was expected that maybe the proposal would be seen as a joke. Instead, this author assumes it is a reference to RL fictional media that caused the violation. It is understood that the RL reference rules do not limit RL fiction as protected (unlike languages and other references).

However, this author wonders if references to fictional media are banned as a whole. It could be argued that since one issue in the game references 'Harry Potter', wouldn't that set a precedent for other pieces of media? If one were to write a proposal banning the use of Dark Magics in reference to 'Harry Potter' as if the events of the book were real and happened in NS universe, does that violate the rules?

Understanding that this may sound like an argument for the legality of this author's proposal, it is necessary to state again: this author has no intention of revising or arguing for The WA Sensha-Do Tournament ever again. This author is simply wondering about this odd grey area to guide future proposals on entirely different subjects.

[Graintfjall]

However, the author did not expect to see any RL reference issues as any reference to real-world nations were expunged barring the languages.

This forum poster believes that those languages are indeed RL references, as is the date 1945. That said, this player of NationStates notes the person who marked the proposal illegal is especially prickly about such matters.

However, this author wonders if references to fictional media are banned as a whole.

This owner of a NationStates account notes that's a complicated question as it falls, not under the rules on RL references, but on MetaGaming, which have never been satisfactorily explained. So the answer is "probably?".

[Separatist Peoples]

If you need to use proper nouns to name the concept, object, or idea, then you can comfortably assume its a RL Reference.