Re: [asa] Fear and Loathing on this list

Its just like church, full of people and you know what that means. I admit I cross the line sometimes and I will try to be more aware but not all ideas are equal and some need to be called out. I think Jesus works with us on that and understands.

Yes we all need to be more responsible and always aware of people who may be listening in, just like in life, but I suggest we not fall for an idealized notion of behavior that takes away from the vigorous, much needed debate that this list provides to the Body. I have met a lot of people in church that made it their business to be nice to me, but some of them also taught me YEC if they bothered to teach me anything at all, and that can be just as much a disservice to someone as not being nice.

Thanks

John

--- On Mon, 2/16/09, Ted Davis <TDavis@messiah.edu> wrote:

> From: Ted Davis <TDavis@messiah.edu>
> Subject: Re: [asa] Fear and Loathing on this list
> To: "Preston Garrison" <pngarrison@att.net>, "David Opderbeck" <dopderbeck@gmail.com>
> Cc: "ASA list" <asa@calvin.edu>
> Date: Monday, February 16, 2009, 11:00 AM
> As both a long time participant on the ASA list and current
> ASA V-P, I have
> often wondered how much good the list actually does, both
> for those who
> participate on it and for the organization itself.
>
> On the one hand, several non-members have been attracted
> into the ASA
> partly or primarily b/c of the list. That is good. Also,
> it does provide
> space where views of interest to the relatively small
> number of members who
> participate can be discussed in a serious way--though quite
> often the
> discussion is not very serious, and that is not good. We
> have sometimes
> discussed articles in PSCF, and that can be very good if it
> stays respectful
> and on-topic. We've implemented some policies and made
> some decisions that
> IMO have helped, but it has never been a heavily moderated
> list where we can
> really ensure that. I do not know if we would move in that
> direction.
>
> On the other hand, the list represents the views of a
> relatively small
> percentage of our members (e.g., ID is not well
> represented, though a
> significant percentage of our members support aspects of
> ID), and the kinds
> of exchanges that I have sometimes seen here do not
> represent the highly
> positive, even warm interactions that are typical for our
> annual meetings.
> Probably it isn't possible for us to duplicate that
> type of fellowship and
> exchange in an on-line forum. Oh that we could! To that
> extent, the list
> can give inquirers (and members alike) a very inaccurate
> view of what our
> meetings are like, and it's our meetings and the
> journal that really make
> the ASA what it is. One solution would be just to end the
> list, but for
> reasons stated above that wouldn't be the best thing
> either.
>
> Whatever happens, my top concern as ASA V-P is that we find
> some ways to
> move toward having a list that attracts a good number of
> people to become
> members, and also to attend our meetings. The topics and
> range of views,
> not to mention the respectful exchanges, that we have at
> annual meetings are
> not adequately mirrored here. Those on this list, esp ASA
> members, are
> invited to contact me *privately* with any comments and
> suggestions relative
> to this. This is a concern that I brought with me when
> elected to Council,
> and it's one that I have not made much progress
> with--an ongoing source of
> frustration. I'm sure we can do much better, but
> I'm not at all sure just
> how, and I'm all ears.
>
> Ted
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the
> message.

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Mon Feb 16 18:01:37 2009