In a message dated 1/27/2003 4:08:33 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
> The only real hostility I've seen on this list has been in posts from
> Joni-only people, pissed off because someone forgot to put NJC in the
> subject line.
Hi Sarah!
I really don't think the anger comes because of people who occasionally
forget. I think the hostility comes when members decide that their own
political beliefs must be heard by all, and these posts are even prefaced
with something like "I realize this is NJC, but it's an issue that concerns
us all etc., etc." That kind of presumption angers those of us who don't use
this wonderful service for political discussion. And my perception of
members is that none of us would mind someone exploiting the NJC rule to
proffer info about a lister who needs our help or prayers because of some
difficulty or something like that. But 99% of the time, the discussion is
political in nature, and though sometimes someone simply forgets, some
members have intentionally elected to initiate a dialogue about politics,
war, etc.
Members who purposefully break the NJC rule are acting in a hostile
manner by their actions. This includes those who insert some non-related
piece of pithy Joni content in what is clearly a political post. That is the
real hostility, here. Certainly there are times when posts are accidentally
sent without the NJC label, and, speaking for the Joni-onlies, its very easy
to forgive and delete in these instances. But, when you are seeing a hostile
reply, it's not someone overreacting to a genuine accident. It is someone
reacting to an intentional omission by a member who has done this before and,
despite being gently reminded, decides to do it again. When I first joined
the list a few years ago, it was a lot easier to just go through and delete
the untagged posts. It still is easy to do when they are clearly accidental.
But you do begin to recognize those posts that are intentionally sent to all
in order to disseminate a person's political ideology. It is especially
irritating when their viewpoints on the unasked-for issues are different from
yours. Because I disagree with much of the political discussion that goes
on, I know that I don't want this service to involve politics, and when
someone intentionally overrides that decision, it does infuriate me.
Ken
