[asa] ASA discussion protocol

Many of you have expressed concern about the gap between the tone that often characterizes this list and the official ASA policy that "As an organization, the ASA does not take a position when there is honest disagreement between Christians on an issue. We are committed to providing an open forum where controversies can be discussed without fear of unjust condemnation. Legitimate differences of opinion among Christians who have studied both the Bible and science are freely expressed within the Affiliation in a context of Christian love and concern for truth."

We have preferred to minimize constraints on our discussion in order to foster a lively and effective dialog with diversity. However, the all-too-frequent use of ridicule and personal attacks is in direct contradiction to the notion of a context of Christian love and concern for truth. We have heard your concerns and have decided to be more aggressive in enforcing compliance with our policy. This is an ASA list, and, though we do not restrict participation to ASA members, we do want to ensure adherence to our policies.

This will necessarily be a subjective judgment call, generally made jointly by Ted (or another council member), Terry, and me. We will give a private warning to those who flagrantly abuse those policies. If those warnings are not heeded, we will switch that person's status to "read-only." We have switched Janice Matchett to that status today.

I urge all of you to think carefully about your notes and to avoid ridicule and personal attacks of any kind. Such an approach never helps make your point. Rather, take the time to consider whether your note will be viewed by those who disagree with you as being in a "context of Christian love and concern for truth."

Randy

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Received on Mon Feb 4 21:38:53 2008