Actually, there are no rules except these guidelines on the TMIC web site at http://www.myelitis.org/tmic/#guidelines:
- Please keep messages plain text. - *Do not *post personal information that you don't want the world knowing. The message archive is searchable by anyone with Internet access. - Please *do not* use excessive quoting when replying to a message. - Please *do not *use graphics in messages. - Please *do not* forward or post long jokes or fictional stories. - Please *do not* forward virus warning *unless* you have verified it to be true and not a hoax. Everything else is by general consensus. People did used to put OT in the subject line for off-topic posts, which is ideal. Politics and religion have been fine if in regard to TM, if kept civil, and if not bashing anyone else's point of view. I have been a TMIC member since '96, and the consensus back then was that talking about religion in natural way, as in regard to how seeking the Lord's grace helps me deal with TM, was ok, but using the list as a "bully pulpit" was not. I've assumed the consensus is still the same. This is the first I have heard of Muslim or Hindu contributors being discriminated against. We used to have a New Age person on here whose views I disagreed with personally, but never in public or on the list or even privately to her, because she had the same freedom of expression I did. These types of conversations come around every now and then on the list. Arguments against OT topics are that they clutter people's e-mails with stuff they don't want, they may be offensive, they clutter the archives and may therefore hinder people who are searching for help, and may be a problem for people at work with limited time or bandwidth. Arguments for are that they give people something besides TM to focus on. Usually every time it comes up we get back to some kind of balance for a while. Since Jim Lubin is the only real authority for the list as the creator and webmaster, inquiries for clarification can be directed to him at [email protected]. Barbara H. http://barbarah.wordpress.com On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 6:31 PM, Mindy King <[email protected]> wrote: > You are absolutely right! > there are rules regarding what should be discussed here and this has > crossed the line. If its not about TM but may be of benefit to us "OT" or > "off topic" is supposed to be in the subject line, politics and religion are > not supposed to be. We used to have Muslim and Hindu contributers who had > great wisdom to share about surviving TM in this group but were > discriminated against in posts and they left! This used to be strictly > enforced! we do everyone a disservice when we offend and lose members who > could offer much help when we banter on about non TM subjects that have a > narrow view point!!!!!!!!!! > Mindy King > [email protected] > > > > > >
