Privacy Policy
Basilikos Nomos Institute, basilikosnomos.com, and/or basilikosnomos.institute, a North Carolina Association and a Church, and its related entities collectively The Church, hereinafter referred to as “us”, “we”, “our”, and/or “the Church has adopted a set of information management guidelines, which serve as the basis for our customer and advertiser relationships. These guidelines disclose The Privacy Policies for our Web site, hereinafter “site”. These guidelines have been developed with the recognition that Internet technologies are rapidly evolving, and that underlying business models are still not established. Accordingly, guidelines are subject to change. Any such changes will be posted on this page.
We are not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of Web sites to which it may link.
Registration. When you register to receive free services from us, we require that you supply your full name, E-mail address, and Phone Number. Customers who register must agree to the Terms of Service of Use for use of the relevant service and/or the Web site. Similarly, when you register to receive services, subscription, and/or memberships on basilikosnomos.institute requires that you supply your full name, street address, telephone number, E-mail address, and a unique subscriber ID. Customers who register must agree to the Terms of Service and Use for use of the relevant service and/or the Web site.
Premium Services. Many of premium services, also called Memberships use an order form for you to subscribe to the premium content on the site. We collect a customer’s contact information and, in some cases, credit card information to bill the subscriber for these optional services. All other areas of our sites are offered free of charge.
Anonymous Information. We may also gather anonymous information, which may be used by us and be shared with third parties. This is information which does not personally identify you, but which may be helpful for marketing purposes or for improving the services we offer. Generally this information is collected through “traffic data” and may entail the use of “cookies,” “IP addresses,” or other numeric codes used to identify a computer.
Cookies. We may employ cookies to recognize you and your access privileges on the Web site, as well as to track site usage. Subscribers who do not accept cookies from the domain cannot access most areas of the Web site. If we use an advertising server developed by a third party, it may display ads on our site. Some of these ads may contain cookies that are set by third parties i.e., advertising agencies or advertising clients. We do not have access to these cookies or any information that they may contain. Acceptance of cookies from domains other than basilikosnomos.institute is optional.
IP Addresses. We also log IP addresses for systems administration and troubleshooting purposes. Your IP address indicates the location of your computer on the Internet. We do not log IP addresses to track your session, nor do we link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable.
Credit Card Information. If you use a credit card to pay for a subscription, we will continue to charge your account for the length of the subscription term or until you cancel. If you give us credit card information for any other purpose or to pay for any other type of purchase, it will be used one time only to fulfill one order, and we will not store your credit card information.
Tithes, Offerings, and Donations. We collect information related to tithes, offerings, and donations, including donor name, amount contributed, date of contribution, and specified purpose (if any), to manage church finances and comply with any possible regulations. These records are retained for at least 7 years to ensure legal compliance and operational transparency.
Statistical Analysis and Banner Advertising. We may perform statistical analyses of user behavior in order to measure interest in the various areas of our site for product development purposes and to inform advertisers as to how many consumers have seen or “clicked” their advertising banners. We do not use demographic information to allow advertising banners on our Web site to be targeted, in aggregate, to the readers for whom they are most pertinent. Third parties may use demographic information that is outside of our control. This means that readers see advertising that is most likely to interest them, and advertisers send their messages to people who are most likely to be receptive, improving both the viewer’s experience and the effectiveness of the ads. In this statistical analysis and banner advertisement targeting, we may disclose information to third parties only in aggregate form. Personal information about you as an individual subscriber or registrant will not be provided to any third party, except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, as described in our Terms of Service and Use.
E-mail. Using the E-mail addresses provided at registration, we may periodically sends promotional E-mail’s to its subscribers about services offered by us and its advertisers. We may contact you regarding account status, changes to the subscriber agreement, and to confirm registration. Occasionally, We share data collected about subscribers with other units within the our organization and/or third parties whose products or services we feel may be of interest to you. Many of our subscribers find these mail or E-mail promotions valuable, whether they are shopping for merchandise, taking advantage of a special offer or purchasing unique services. If you prefer not to receive promotional materials from companies outside our organization, please see the “Opting Out” provision below.
Data Security. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the appropriate use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to protect the information we collect online, including 128-bit encryption provided by for security for credit card submissions. Detailed information about these security features for credit card submissions is available in the paragraph below.
The Authorize.Net Payment Gateway manages the complex routing of sensitive customer information through the electronic check and credit card processing networks. See an to see how it works.
The company adheres to strict industry standards for payment processing, including:
128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology for secure Internet Protocol (IP) transactions.
Industry leading encryption hardware and software methods and security protocols to protect customer information.
Compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
For additional information regarding the privacy of your sensitive cardholder data, please read the .
Basilikosnomos.institute is registered with the Authorize.Net Verified Merchant Seal program. And, the PCI Compliance certification.
We share the information it gathers, in aggregate form, with advertisers and other partners. We do not release personal information about you as an individual to third parties, except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, as described in our Terms of Service and Use. We will provide you all of your personal information provided at registration upon request. This information will only be sent to the E-mail address on file for the subscriber ID associated with it.
Discussion Groups. Our Web site may offers a variety of discussion groups, chat areas, bulletin boards, and message boards (collectively, boards). These boards are not freely accessible to anyone and are only accessible to our members that have met the proper requirements according to the membership terms. These guidelines do not cover the transfer of information in this context. Any information you disclose when posting a message in a board is not public. Moreover, users who post messages in a board may make their E-mail addresses available to others in that community, which could result in unsolicited E-mail from other users or third parties. You should always be careful when distributing your personal information in this manner. If you choose to participate or post messages in basilikosnomos.institue boards, we will collect such information about you as you choose to disclose. If you use a third party service, the third-party service provider may provide information about you to us. If you send us personal correspondence about your activities or postings on our Web site, we may collect such information in a file specific to you. The boards may be used only for noncommercial purposes. You may not post any material concerning promotion, advertising or solicitation for goods or services. From time-to-time the boards may be monitored by us in order to maintain professional decorum and to prevent prohibited uses of the boards. We reserve the right to remove any material, message or discussion thread that is, in the sole judgment of us as inappropriate. For more information about the boards, please review our Terms of service and Use or contact us by E-mail.
Financial Information Privacy. Information collected regarding tithes, offerings, and donations remains confidential and is not disclosed to third parties without your explicit consent, except as required by law (e.g., during IRS audits). Aggregate financial data may be used for reporting purposes, but individual details are protected in accordance with our commitment to donor privacy and our Code of Ethics.
Children are not eligible to use our services, and we ask that minors not submit any personal information to us. If you are a minor, you may use this service only in conjunction with a parent or guardian.
The Bible consistently places the primary responsibility for raising and guiding children on parents, rather than the church, government, or other entities. While communities and institutions may play supportive roles, scripture emphasizes that parents are the first and foremost stewards of their children’s upbringing. Here’s how this aligns with biblical teaching:
Parental Authority and Duty
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (as mentioned earlier) instructs parents to diligently teach God’s commands to their children in all aspects of daily life. This is a direct mandate to parents, not a delegation to priests, leaders, or external authorities.
Proverbs 22:6 speaks to parents training their child individually, implying a personal, familial responsibility rather than a collective or institutional one.
No Explicit Delegation to Others
The Bible does not assign the church, government, or other figures as the primary caretakers of a child’s moral or spiritual development. For example, while the church (or in Old Testament times, the priesthood) supports faith through teaching and community (e.g., Hebrews 10:24-25), it’s not tasked with the intimate, daily role of raising children—that remains with parents.
Government or secular authority is rarely mentioned in the context of child-rearing in scripture, except in cases like Romans 13:1-7, which speaks to general obedience to governing authorities but not to their role in parenting.
Examples of Parental Responsibility
Timothy’s Upbringing (2 Timothy 1:5): Paul praises Timothy’s faith, crediting his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice for passing it down, not a church or civic institution.
Abraham (Genesis 18:19): God chooses Abraham because “he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord.” This is a personal charge, not outsourced.
Support, Not Substitution
The broader community, including the church, can reinforce parental efforts (e.g., Titus 2:4-5, where older women guide younger women in family roles), but this is secondary. Parents remain the primary influencers.
Even discipline, a key aspect of raising children (Proverbs 13:24, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him”), is framed as a parental act, not one relinquished to others.
Elements. Information is covered by this privilege if it is communicated by a person seeking spiritual counsel from a priest, rabbi, accredited Christian Science practitioner, or clergy person or ordained minister of an established church, and the communication was entrusted to the clergy person in his or her professional capacity and necessary to enable him or her to discharge a function of the office. G.S. 8-53.2.
Waiver. The communicant may waive the privilege in “open court.” G.S. 8-53.2. It is unclear whether a court also would approve of an express or implied waiver made outside court.
Clergy Member’s Competency to Testify. A member of the clergy is not competent to testify about the privileged information, and unlike other privileges, such as physician-patient, see Section V. above, there is no provision in the statute to allow a trial court to order testimony as necessary for the administration of justice. State v. Barber, 317 N.C. 502, 510 (1986) (noting statute had previously permitted trial court to order testimony, but provision was deleted in 1967).
Illustrative Cases. The statute has been interpreted in relatively few cases. For cases on point see:
State v. Jackson, 77 N.C. App. 832, 833-34 (1985) error to allow the defendant’s aunt, who also was a minister, to testify for the State; the aunt was acting at least in part in her professional capacity as the defendant’s admission came after they prayed together; the comfort and encouragement she gave him may be described as spiritual counsel.
State v. Barber, 317 N.C. 502, 509 (1986) no clergy-communicant privilege when the statement was made to a non-ordained minister who did not hold office in a church; the court held that the defendant was not seeking spiritual comfort and guidance; the statement was merely a conversation among friends.
State v. Crisco, _ N.C. App. _, 777 S.E.2d 168, 174 (2015) no clergy-communicant privilege when the defendant told third party who was not a member of clergy that he had confessed to a pastor about a murder.
Updated March 4th 2025