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Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!decwrl!megatest!djones
From: djones@megatest.UUCP (Dave Jones)
Newsgroups: news.groups,talk.religion.newage
Subject: Re: CALL FOR VOTES: talk.religion.pagan (moderated)
Message-ID: <11343@goofy.megatest.UUCP>
Date: 15 Dec 89 03:12:20 GMT
References: <22198@ut-emx.UUCP>
Organization: Megatest Corporation, San Jose, Ca
Lines: 23

From article <22198@ut-emx.UUCP>, by walt.cc.utexas.edu!olorin@cs.utexas.edu (Dave Weinstein):
> ... It is explicitly not a place for 
> 	proselytizing or preaching. The newsgroup shall be
> 	moderated, but the moderation is explicitly limited
> 	to the weeding out of off-charter messages ...


I have not responded to any of the previous calls for discussion for
several reasons: 1) Although I have posted a few articles to talk.religion.
newage, I am not keenly interested in "pagan" issues, (except in the sense
of "pagan: one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual
pleasures and material goods," the second definition in my dictionary).
2) There was so little discussion that it seemed that the issue would be
dropped for lack of interest, and 3) The suggestion that the group be
moderated seemed to have been roundly hooted down.

I will, however, vote *against* the creation of this group, or any "talk"
group that is to be moderated. An expert moderator can be of great value in
a technical group, but in a talk group, is only a censor. I much prefer 
to skip past the proselytizing and preaching when I choose, rather than to
empower a censor to repress it.  The proselytizing and preaching, unwelcome
as it may be, is not "off-charter". It is in direct response to the ideas
being discussed, due to difference of opinion.