Kakki wrote: "I think exactly the same can be said about many other unsupported claims and conclusions which are made here on the list."
Kakki, if you believe that, then I, too, strongly encourage you to ask for verification or documentation when the item is posted. The person doing the posting may not have time to search for it, or may, as is often the case with me, be dashing something off rather quickly from memories of past reading or news broadcasts, but not be able to cite the exact source at the moment. On the other hand, s/he MAY be able to locate those sources quickly, or even have them directly at hand. I know that part of the beauty of a list like this is precisely that we are writing far less formally than we would be for publication in a magazine, or for, say, submission of a brief to a court. But, where it is possible, we can only learn from careful documentation. I CAN say that I will take far more seriously a specific plea for documentation at the time an item is posted, and the dialogue that may ensue from that request, than I will a general statement that, at some unspecified time, documentation for certain unspecified assertions was lacking. You also wrote: "I could provide support for my experiences, claims and opinions but I don't think the audience here is really all that receptive to hearing them and would rather "shoot the messenger." Please do provide it! I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I am *always* interested in seeing support, as I am open, I hope, to being convinced by the evidence. Of course, the *interpretation* of that evidence can only be filtered through the lens of one's own belief system and experience, so any one of us may not be convinced by the sources posted by someone holding another view . However, I hope that we would consider them seriously, and even ask questions that leads to a whole new way of looking at things. I can tell you that I will surely try. Finally, Brenda wrote: "I hope you will provide the support for what you believe and that you will call people out to substantiate what they claim as well. Don't be deterred; as you may know you have to work harder to present your position when it is a minority view. I've certainly been faced with it enough in my life to know. " I've never been a member of a racial minority in the society I live in, nor a member of an ethnic minority facing significant discrimination within my lifetime (although, if I had been born a few generations earlier, things would have been different). But I certainly hold minority political views in contexts other than this list, and religious beliefs which are treated, in certain circles I travel within, with a range of reactions from benign tolerance to outright contempt. There have been times when I've taken stands, and times when I have not, only to regret it later. I know how difficult it can be to take those stands. Please know, Kakki, that although I will most likely continue to disagree with the vast majority of your views on political topics--I would say, to put it mildly, that we're never going to be political soulmates--I deeply respect and admire you for putting your views out there and daring to stand up for and document them, even, or maybe especially, at those times when you are in the minority here. That does not mean that I will not counter what you write with another view, or another source, if I think the subject warrants it. It does mean, however, that I hope to always do so with respect, and that I hope you will always know that that respect is there. Mary P.
