avi@pegasus.UUCP (02/15/84)
... after receiving 2 flames in 2 days accusing me of being
anti-semitic for opposing net.religion.jewish ...
-- Darth Wombat
This has been getting serious. I deplore as much as anybody when someone
charges anti-semitism, racism, sexism, chauvinism and any other isms -- just
because somebody disagrees with you. However, a sample of two is not
representative of the net as a whole, and I would like to actually see the
two letters involved, before I agreed that they were actually accusing him
of being anti-semitic. For the record, I did not think Darth was anti-semitic.
It is quite possible that the authors of the letters were not even Jewish,
since many of the "supporters" of the newsgroup are not. Jews are often
rather careful about making statements of this kind -- with good reason. It
has a tendency to backfire -- even when it may be true.
I was rather unhappy with the comments made by nsc!chuqui:
- As a staunch supporter for the formation of subgroups where applicable,
n I hereby remove my previous support for net.religion.jewish. There is
s ***NO*** excuse for personal attacks on a person simply because he
c disagree's with you. I can not condone that conduct, and I will not be
! associated with it in any way, shape or form.
c
h For the first time in a long time on the network, I am truly p*ss*d
u off at two anonymous people who seem to have forgotten that there is
q a difference between an argument and an attack.
u ...
i True, the fight for net.religion.jewish has been going against its
- creation, but that does not mean you have the right to attack those
- that disagree with you.
Although I respect his right to make these decisions, I don't think the
issues are related. I repeat, I do not want the creation of a .jewish
subgroup to be treated any differently than we did the creation of a gay,
womens, women.only, and innumerable micro-computer groups. However, using
the stupid "anti-semitism" argument as a reason for not creating a newsgroup
is rather stupid. As far as I can tell, chuqui is wrong about the battle
going against the formation of this newsgroup. Dave Sherman has posted an
article detailing the response he has received so far, and it is heavily
weighted toward the creation of the newsgroup. Unlike the anarchy that
happened with the creation of net.motss - where more than enough of a need
for the group was demonstrated but everybody was afraid to create it - I am
not going to let that happen here. I am taking the responsibility of
creating it and giving it a chance.
Jews are not a small minority on this network, and this group is not
intended to be just for Jews. Everyone is welcome! This is not like
net.women.only! I resent the way that chuqui refers to the two "anonymous"
mailers as being "anonymous". They are only anonymous because Darth Wombat
has not named them, or quoted them. It is even possible that Darth construes
disagreement with him as being equivalent to a charge of being anti-semitic!
I just don't feel I have enough information to know. There is undoubtedly
anti-semitism in our society. One of the purposes of the newsgroup would be
to have a forum for discussing this problem, among many others, without
being in a position where we are being judged for being Jewish.
Enough said. As of now, I still intend to create the group this friday. Any
"coup" attempts like in net.motss will be strongly resisted. If the
newsgroup turns out to cause too many problems, or does not have enough
interesting converstaion, I may rmgroup it myself -- after appropriate
debate. I doubt that this will happen. In the meantime, anyone who really
can't stand the thought of having this discussion group around, is welcome
to unsubscribe to the group. :-)
I am considering the possibility of posting a digest of the activity to
net.religion on a periodic basis -- similar to the mod.ber method. It will
depend on the type of activity in the group. Any thoughts on this?
--
-=> Avi E. Gross @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6241
suggested paths: [ihnp4, allegra, cbosg, hogpc, ...]!pegasus!avi