"John W. Nichols, M.A." wrote: > I would not assume that anyone is posting as a representative of their > institution or organization unless that say they are. Short of a > statement to the effect "As president of American Psychologists In Favor > of All Things Good, I feel compelled to point out to you that ....", I > would not take the expression of any viewpoints, especially > controversial viewpoints, as being representative of the organization. > Absent such a statement, the fact that the .sig file includes > "President, American Psychologists In Favor of All Things Good", would > carry no weight as far as I am concerned. Unless, of course, the > posting addressed advocacy of some "good thing". Even then, I have been > a member of enough organizations to know that even the president does > not necessarily represent the views of everyone in the organization.
If you are using your employer's equipment, and the employer has explicit rules against promoting a religious or political point of view (as is the case in Arkansas), then, regardless of what is included in your sig file, it would be wise not to promote these points of view. Even if you use your personal equipment, and you choose to identify yourself with an organization (your employer or a professional organization) in a sig file, then it would be best for everyone if a disclaimer was provided. For example, if you worked for Ford and said, "Ford makes Suddenly Unstable Vehicles -- Joe Blow, Safety Engineer", you would probably feel that you were on high moral ground as you stood in the unemployment line. It would be much better if you said, "I am Joe Blow, but my opinions do not express those of my employer." (And, still hope that you have a job tomorrow!) At our institution, at least one (former) faculty member got in very hot water on at least two occasions for failing to indicate that his opinions of the university did not necessarily represent those of the general university community. (If you would like more background on this, see: http://www.aaup.org/MA00UCA.htm) > Unless it is patently offensive, I see no reason for someone to not > display any quote, or tag line, they wish to show. If is expressive of > some guiding principle in their life (even religious), it is fine with > me -- even if I do not hold that religious belief. " The problem is, you don't know that your religious belief will not be patently offensive to someone of another belief. This is less important if you are using personal, rather than your employer's, equipment. The signature file that caught my eye might not have been so offensive 32 days ago: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 Am I the only one who thinks this reeks of Jerry Falwell? His comments: "Well, as the world knows, the tragedy hit on Tuesday morning, and at 2:00 in the afternoon, we gathered 7,000 Liberty University students, faculty, local people together, and we used the verse that I heard you use a moment ago, Chronicles II, 7:14, that God wanted us to humble ourselves and seek his face." "I therefore believe that [the secularization of the U.S] created an environment which possibly has caused God to lift the veil of protection which has allowed no one to attack America on our soil since 1812," -- ***************************************************************** * Mike Scoles * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Department of Psychology * voice: (501) 450-5418 * * University of Central Arkansas * fax: (501) 450-5424 * * Conway, AR 72035-0001 * * ********* http://www.coe.uca.edu/psych/scoles/index.html ******** --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
