At 07:35 AM 7/19/2003 -0700 Gautam Mukunda wrote:
>Frankly, Ray, I think that I'm showing a lot more
>respect for people on the list who disagree with me
>than most of the people on this list are showing to
>me. The difference is that I'm in the minority, so it
>just looks different.
One of the original principles of this List is that it should be open to
"rough-and-tumble" adult conservation. So long as Gautam is employing a
semblance of rasoning and attempting to engage in constructive discussion,
I think that there is nothing wrong with him being a little heated in his
language. Or to put it simply - I hardly think that Gautam was engaging
in particularly uncivil behaviour to warrant the level of on-list
rebukement generated.
I know that I've said this one way or another 1,000 times - but it is worth
reiterating.... We are all friends here, and if we are *serious* in
wanting to make constructive changes in a friend's behavior - then we pull
that friend aside OFFLIST to quietly let them know that we think they are
starting to step over the line. Or to use another popular list analogy,
you don't try to correct a friend's behavior at a party by criticizig that
friend in a loud voice that the entire party can hear. Note only is that
far ruder behavior than the original offence, but it is likely to be
counterproductive as well.
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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