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Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!tank!toto
From: toto@tank.uchicago.edu (Sandra Jessica Smyth)
Newsgroups: news.groups,soc.motss
Subject: Re: keep this OUT of soc.motss (was: Re: Uh...)
Message-ID: <6734@tank.uchicago.edu>
Date: 14 Dec 89 15:32:23 GMT
References: <8912130736.AA21140@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <18041@netnews.upenn.edu> <1989Dec13.220631.23749@cs.uoregon.edu> <1004@male.EBay.Sun.COM>
Organization: University of Chicago
Lines: 33


In a long posting, Harry Ugol (harryu@Ebay.sun.com) proposed to ammend
the charter of soc.motss to exclude discussions of whether
homosexuality is something one chooses and whether it is "natural."
To justify this charter change he notes that flame wars regularly
break out in soc.motss.

>These flamewars have all started by some incendiary article appearing,
>usually as a cross-post from some unrelated group, taking a homophobic
>view of one or more of the above issues.  Some righteously indignant
>motss politico or other rises to the bait - usually a whole cadre of
>them - and the war is rolling right along within a day or two...

It seems to me that what we have here is not a problem with the
charter, but a problem with the people who fan the flames, as it were.
An "incendiary article," in and of itself, should not mean flames.
Posters have to follow-up, flaming the original poster.

Note that Mr. Ugol is not suggesting to do away with flame wars, per
se, but rather to do away with two subjects of discussion. I would
assume that members of soc.motss are able to discuss these matters
without strum und drang, and might, in fact resent Mr. Ugol's reining
in their liberties.

If you don't want flame wars, don't respond to "incendiary articles,"
and encourage your colleagues likewise.  But don't start on that 
slippery slide of outlawing legitimate topics of discussion.

 
 
-- 
Sandra Jessica Smyth                    Believer in lost causes
toto@tank.uchicago.edu