Re: the ASA email list

I prefer an email list, partly because I have gotten to know non-ASA contributers like Michael, whose commentary and humor I appreciate. As for the "fringe" topics posters and political ideologues, like Iain I've put those people on my "Block Sender" list and only know what they say if someone else bothers to respond (it would be better if people simply ignored them) and I bother to read. On a very few occasions the responses are useful because of the information in them. Even so, I do a lot of deleting without reading very far. I am impatient with looooong messages that are point-by-point arguments. And if someone is on a roll and stuck on their favorite topic, I'm likely to delete unless it is a topic I'm currently very interested in. It's fine with me if others respond to me the same way. I realize that some topics reoccur in part because there are new people on the list who raise them.

I agree with Terry that shorter messages are better, and that brief queries for clarification might be sent off-line.

Bob

"Science and Faith: perspectives on Christianity and science"
community.berea.edu/scienceandfaith/
"A Catechism of Creation"
www.episcopalchurch.org/science/

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Iain Strachan
  To: George Murphy
  Cc: Terry M. Gray ; asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 8:09 AM
  Subject: Re: the ASA email list

  On 6/12/06, George Murphy <gmurphy@raex.com> wrote:
    Terry's statement, "Also, I don't see what's happening on the list these days to be particularly beneficial to the reputation of the ASA," is important. I recently got a post from someone in a 3d world country looking for some guidance in studying science & theology. In replying yesterday I thought of mentioning the ASA list, then reflected for a moment on some of the political harangues and fringe stuff & thought "Naah."

  I'll second that from George. But when I complained about political propaganda on the list from a certain enthusiastic Republican supporter, as being irrelevant to Science/Faith, I got shouted down by a whole bunch of other Republican sympathisers, and accused of being a Liberal. (Despite the fact that in the UK I vote Conservative; I think a few of my British typically ironic comments got misinterpreted). It'd be good if the list could keep to topic, but I feel that excluding those of us who aren't paid up ASA members is a bit exclusivist.

  A better way to deal with political haranguers who insist on off-topic posts is simply to ignore them - preferably by setting up an email filter so you don't even have to read their stuff. If enough people did this rather than responding to them and giving them attention, then the principle of Natural Selection might indicate that such posts will die out. But if their threads continue to burn with folks remonstrating with them, then equally Natural Selection will ensure the survival of this kind of thing.

  Iain
Received on Mon Jun 12 08:56:21 2006