The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Dear Susan Brill de Ramirez,
The following is just my opinion.
Part of the problem may be that this is only a partly-moderated list.
Mark needs to give the co-moderator the ability to remove posts if he is
not going to monitor this list, and long practice seems to show that he
is not. Otherwise, Covenant Breaker and enemy of the Faith material has,
and will be, occasionally posted here. The friends who are responding in
this case are correctly identifying that the scholar discussed below
fits into this category. The desire to point out the severe problems
with this person stems from a desire to protect the Faith and
individuals who don't know the history of such people. That means we
will have, de facto, negative responses to such people and materials. It
is possible that the atmosphere may not be to everyone's liking, either
in the first instance of bringing up the issue or, then, in the
response. It is not simply a "live and let live" when there are
corrosive individuals who have repeatedly slandered the Institutions and
have sought leadership; that's the first negative. If you don't know the
history, if the discussion feels like individuals backbiting, you can
email Dr. Maneck who has had to deal with these people repeatedly.
There's a reason you see what you see. There was a Baha'i list that was
created for, and dealt specifically with, scholarly study of individuals
who attack the Faith and where such a discussion is unreservedly
appropriate, but I don't know what's happening with that list these days.
Having said that, the originators of this list can clarify what purpose
is served in these instances. Unless the originator permits removal of
posts, there is no ultimate moderation function. That is a shame,
because this kind of issue has come up from time to time in virtually
every Baha'i list I've read. That is the nature of the disease of
opposition to the Covenant. I, personally, skip the discussions that I
find unpleasant and read the more enlightening ones. The moderators can
clarify the purpose of the list, altho' I suspect I could just look
around at all the links at the bottom and figure it out. ;-)
Yours,
Jeanine
On 9/14/2010 10:19 AM, Brill de Ramirez, Susan wrote:
> The Baha'i Studies Listserv
> In reviewing the posts over the last number of weeks, I have a request:
>
> Would the moderators of this listserve please remind us all of the
> purpose for this discussion group? I would greatly appreciate that. When
> individuals come together in good spirit to learn together, that is a
> gift. When we can do this across great geographic distances via this
> listserve, that is also a great benefit to us all.
>
> There is such a fine line between argument for the sake of argument and
> disagreement in the course of learning. There is also a fine line
> between being informed about the work of various scholars and descending
> into the realm of scholarly" backbiting.
>
> I read the attachment that maligns the recent scholarly work of
> Professor Juan Cole. I regret that I did so. It is not my business why
> or why not a fellow scholar receives a position . . . unless it is in a
> department over which I have some jurisdiction or involvement. None of
> us are perfect; professors make mistakes, some small, some large. If
> Professor Cole has produced some work that is weak, then I would rather
> recognize the good scholarly work that he has done and is still doing.
> If he was a Baha'i, but is no longer, that too is not my business. That
> is between him and Baha'u'llah. I would much rather read about the
> positive contributions that various Baha'i scholars are making that can
> help us to grow in our understandings of the Faith and the world.
> Negative attacks about scholars, negative attacks about the Faith, these
> do not serve the larger purpose of a unified and engaged search for
> knowledge.
>
> To look always at the good and not at the bad. If a
> man has ten good qualities and one bad one, to look at the
> ten and forget the one; and if a man has ten bad qualities
> and one good one, to look at the one and forget the ten.
> Never to allow ourselves to speak one unkind word
> about another, even though that other be our enemy.
> ("Abdu'l-Baha cited by Dr. J.E. Esslemont in _Baha'u'llah and the New
> Era_, 83)
>
> Does this not apply also to scholars? We certainly must correct errors
> in the scholarship, but not the errors in the person.
>
> I will look forward to clarification regarding the purpose of this
> listserve so that I can decide whether to continue my involvement
> (whether posting or simply reading).
>
> My sincere regards to you all,
>
> Susan
> _______________________________________
> Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A., B.A.
> Caterpillar Inc. Professor of English
>
> Department of English
> Bradley University
> 1501 W. Bradley Avenue
> Peoria, IL 61625 U.S.A.
>
> (309) 677-3888
> (309) 677-4560 (fax)
> [email protected]
> http://www.bradley.edu/las/eng/faculty/bios/ramirez.shtml
> http://www.bradley.edu/academic/galleryofexcellence/cp-brill.shtml
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Maneck
> Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:23 AM
> To: Baha'i Studies
> Subject: Re: Baha'i Review
>
> The Baha'i Studies Listserv
>
>> This is interesting reading.
>> http://www.keshertalk.com/archives/2006/07/juancoleyale.php
>>
> I have to agree with this writer of this blog that Juan is inclined to
> conspiracy theories. As some of you know I initially sided with Juan
> when he first broke with the administration, but I began to have
> second thoughts as a result of his verbal tirades. When I began to
> pull away he sent me private messages saying he believed the Baha'i
> Faith had been taken over by a secret cabal going back to Mason Remey
> and Horace Holley.
>
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