Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt01614)

Hi Eldon-

I'm new here. You mentioned that this list is starting
to resemble a chat line. Maybe that's the natural path
it needs to take right now. Maybe this is where more
growth will occur.

Do you want to control the list? Maybe something
fantastic will come out of all this. Ahfter all, a
lotus has to sink into the muck before it rises
pristine and lovely.

Maybe this is the muck ere the beauty...

Love,

Niki


--- Eldon B Tucker <eldon@theosophy.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Over the past month, the number of messages on the
> list has doubled, 
> exceeding 2000 for April. At the same time, the
> quality of the 
> postings has gone downhill. There has been a lot of
> noise, anger, 
> judgment, and superficial and flippant provoking of
> other people, 
> and there has been an overwhelming flood of
> materials that most 
> people joining this list to learn and exchange views
> on Theosophy 
> would consider off-topic.
> 
> The percentage of ultra-short, often one-line
> messages has gotten so 
> high and the back-and-forth exchange so frequent
> that the list is 
> rapidly taking on the appearance of a chat line. The
> list is a place 
> where people with a shared interest in Theosophy may
> meet, get to 
> know each other, and exchange ideas. If someone
> wants to engage 
> another in a chat, there are plenty of free places
> to do so like AIM 
> and ICQ. Simply email the person an invitation to
> chat directly (and 
> not post one to the list). If someone wants to
> engage another in a 
> philosophical discussion, the list is a good place,
> if one takes the 
> time to write out his or her thoughts.
> 
> At this point, I am asking that everyone stop the
> name-calling and 
> judgment of others on the list. I am also asking
> that everyone 
> voluntarily cut back on the volume of chatter (read
> "noise"). Worst 
> of all are the one-line messages that refer to
> something previously 
> said by someone else, but with nothing it the
> message itself to give 
> someone a clue as to what the other person was
> talking about.
> 
> Although there may be an occasional intentional barb
> that someone 
> writes to provoke another, there are more frequently
> messages that 
> contained no ill will but were misinterpreted,
> drawing forth angry 
> replies. Both are bad. Let us have no provocations
> and taunting, and 
> be less quickly to rise to anger at imagined wrongs.
> 
> We are all entitled to share what we think. The
> subject of 
> Leadbeater, Blavatsky, life after death,
> communication with the 
> dead, the Masters, or the merits of the respective
> theosophical 
> groups may come up because of a passage quoted from
> a book, an idea 
> someone expresses, or someone recounting a personal
> experience or 
> belief. Regardless of the original context, any
> philosophical topic 
> is ok to discuss; we can all share our ideas. This
> in no way judges 
> others holding views that differ from our own. 
> 
> In the past month, I have seen about 30 subscribers
> leave the list, 
> some long-time subscribers. They have been partially
> replaced by 
> some new lurkers, but the list has lost some good
> members. I do not 
> want to see this continue to happen. At this point,
> if things do not 
> start to show signs of improvement, I may have to
> moderate selected 
> participants if they get carried away, or even
> unsubscribe them. We 
> are all here to learn, share, and grow. Everyone
> stop the petty 
> bickering and behave more considerately to others.
> 
> New people come across us and similar lists and
> sites as they seek 
> answers to the questions of life. The theosophical
> philosophy 
> provides one set of workable answers, providing some
> with a starting 
> point to their quest. Without it and the framework
> for questing that 
> theosophical groups provide, we have little to
> offer, so when the 
> philosophy is obscured and the sangha or sense of
> spiritual 
> community is destroyed, people are turned away cold,
> not allowed to 
> share in the esoteric philosophy. I do not want to
> see this happen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> theos-talk-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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