The Baha'i Faith & Religious Freedom of Conscience

From:         Ron House <house@usq.edu.au>
Date:         1998/02/02
Message-ID:   <34D55FB9.900CAA7@usq.edu.au>
Newsgroups:   news.groups,alt.religion.bahai
Subject: Re "Bahai Leaders Vexed by on-line Critics"
</b>
Donald Zhang Osborn wrote:
&gt; 
&gt; Rick Schaut wrote:
&gt; &gt; Ron House wrote in message &lt;<a
href="/profile.xp?author=34CD6CED.4ED50ED9@usq.edu.au&amp;ST=PS">34CD6CED.4ED
50ED9@usq.edu.au</a>&gt;...
&gt; &gt; &gt;Rick Schaut wrote:
&gt; &gt; &gt;&gt; Ron House wrote in message &lt;<a
href="/profile.xp?author=34C7078A.FAFE564@usq.edu.au&amp;ST=PS">34C7078A.FAFE56
4@usq.edu.au</a>&gt;...
&gt; &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt;But what does the truth concern? This proposal?
&gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;
&gt; &gt; &gt;&gt; It concerns the possible effects that this newsgroup can have on
&gt; &gt; &gt;&gt; undeepened Baha'is.  Is this, somehow, not worth consulting about?
&gt; &gt;
&gt; &gt; &gt;Not to me it aint. As I said, I don't care what
&gt; &gt; &gt;effect this NG has on Baha'is of any colour.I
&gt; &gt; &gt;just want people to be able to follow
&gt; &gt; &gt;Baha'u'llah's advice without interference by
&gt; &gt; &gt;wiser-than-thou moderators.
&gt; &gt;
&gt; &gt; I could understand this attitude if both concerns were mutually
&gt; &gt; exclusive rather than simply competing concerns for which we should
&gt; &gt; strive to find a solution that satisfies both.
&gt; 
&gt; A few quick (if not brief enough) observations, if I may:
&gt; 
&gt; 1.  I agree that on this point it is best not to be limited by &quot;either-
&gt; or&quot; thinking.
I'm not.
 
&gt; 2.  I am disturbed by the negative characterizations about the s.r.b.
&gt; moderators that one encounters in some messages in the t.r.b.
&gt; discussion.  IMHO it is important to remember that (a) the moderators
&gt; are volunteers who render a service as best they can, and as such
&gt; deserve some respect, even if they one may not always agree with their
&gt; decisions -- in any event, I don't see how one could characterize them
&gt; as &quot;wiser-than-thou&quot;; and (b) criticism of s.r.b. moderators seems to
&gt; me to be one of the weakest arguments for t.r.b., yet one of the most
&gt; controversial.
The mere fact that they ARE moderators is the essence
of the main problem. For those of us who want freedom
of speech, a moderator is not performing a service.
I characterise some of those moderators I have had
experience of as &quot;wiser than thou&quot; because that is
precisely my experience of their dealings. How else
would you characterise someone who rejected an article,
not for lacking relevance, not for being abusive,
but for LACKING A CONCLUSION?????
-- 
Ron House
  house@usq.edu.au
An age is called Dark not because the light fails to shine, but
because people refuse to see it.         -- James Michener, &quot;Space&quot;</pre>
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