How does the community 'make the rules' on C.SE?

Question

In a recent answer to another question O posted, I was told that the community, not the moderators, are the ones making the rules on C.SE and H.SE. This came as an epiphany of sorts since the impression I got from day one was that it was the moderators' responsibility. Upon learning this I wondered how the community 'makes the rules' since the community seems to differe so much in their opinions and views about the only thing they do have in common - Christianity.

Answer 1

I suspect that "the rules" made by the community are those that define what is considered "on-topic" for each specific site. E.g. asking about the Crucifixion is okay on Christianity.SE, but asking about exothermic reactions isn't, and would result in a suggestion to post it on Chemistry.SE. Similarly asking about translation of Hebrew is on-topic on Biblical Hermeneutics.SE, while asking about doctrines isn't, but it would be okay on Christianity.SE.

A general rule on all Stack Exchange sites is that questions that generate opinionated responses are not allowed. E.g. "Which is the best ice cream, rocky road or cherry garcia?" is asking for an opinion. Asking which has more calories, or which is preferred by John Travolta, is asking for a fact. Ideally, each question should have exactly one correct answer, where "correct" is objectively recognized by all people regardless of their personal beliefs.

On Biblical Hermeneutics, only questions that are about specific scriptures are considered "on-topic". And they should be asked in a way that could be correctly answered by an atheist. Asking "Does [scripture] mean that …" could generate different answers from people with different personal beliefs. Asking "Could [scripture] mean that …" will generate much more objective answers.

Similarly on Christianity.SE, one can objectively answer questions about what specific denominations believe, but no one can objectively answer questions about whether a specific doctrine is true. If the question can't be answered by an atheist, it wasn't asked correctly.

"Which denominations believe that the biblical sabbath is still binding on Christians?" is an appropriate question. Some answers might include denominations that others have missed, but there shouldn't be any contradictions between the answers. This makes it much easier to objectively rate the individual answers, and to combine them to arrive at an even better answer.

"Is the biblical sabbath still binding on Christians?" is not an appropriate question. Seventh Day Adventists would reply "Yes". Catholics would reply "No, because the Pope had the authority to declare Sunday as the special day.". Protestants would say "No, but not because of anything the Pope decided.". Atheists would reply "Of course not, it's just silly superstition.". The result would be confusion, and the person that asked the question would have no idea what the "right" answer is.