Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!ames!amelia!prabhu
From: prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Dinesh K. Prabhu)
Newsgroups: news.groups
Subject: Re: CALL FOR DISCUSSION: talk.religion.eastern (was soc...)
Message-ID: <4458@amelia.nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 10 Jan 90 21:46:59 GMT
References: <4412@amelia.nas.nasa.gov> <355@dbase.UUCP>
Reply-To: prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Dinesh K. Prabhu)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Lines: 78

In article <355@dbase.UUCP> dveditz@dbase.A-T.com (Dan Veditz) writes:
>>In article <4412@amelia.nas.nasa.gov> prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Dinesh K. Prabhu) writes:
>>>
>>>    1) The word eastern in the title of the newsgroup signifies religions
>>>       with origins in south/south-east/far-east asia. For example,
>>>       Hinduism, Buddhism (all forms), Jainism, Sikhism, and Shintoism.
>>>
>>How much interest do you expect to get on these topics?  Have you tried
>>using t.religion.misc or t.r.newage?  (I've seen some discussions on these
>>topics in both places.)  Do you have a mailing list going, or a rough 
>>count of how many articles in s.c.indian have dealt with these topics?

       Ramesh Sitaraman (rks@princeton.edu) brought this up sometime during
  the middle part of last year and there was sufficient interest expressed
  then. I brought up the idea in s.c.indian and there was sufficient interest
  then too. I did not bring it up in the other relevant newsgroups and I
  have no idea how much interest there is in those groups. I'd hoped this 
  discussion would give me a fair idea. I have tried t.religion.newage but 
  not t.r.misc. There is no mailing list and I don't have an estimate of the 
  number of articles that dealt explicitly with the topics.

>>
>>>    2) The newsgroup will be unmoderated. It is up to the people posting 
>>>       articles to make sure that their articles are in good taste and
>>>       not inflammatory.
>>>
>>The convention so far is that talk.religion groups are unmoderated and 
>>the soc.religion ones are. 

       Note that the title of the newsgroup has been changed to t.r.eastern.
  That should take care of the question of fitting the newsgroup into the
  right hierarchy.

>>
>>>    5) This forum CANNOT be used for proseletyzing.
>>>
>>It WILL be (at some point) if it is unmoderated, but you can always put the
>>proselytizer in your KILL file (it's usually just a few people).  A better
>>reason for moderation is to put a cap on pointless discussions.

       I had not planned to put this clause in the charter originally. This
  was more of an afterthought. There will always be that odd kook who'll try
  to hijack the agenda. One cannot protect an unmoderated group against such
  an attack. However, one cannot deny the person a right to post what he or
  she thinks is relevant. The 'n' key and/or KILL files help in a situation 
  like this. I think it is better to start the group as an unmoderated one 
  and see how things go. As and aside, most Eastern systems do not have a
  proseletyzing feature built into them and so, this clause is actually not
  necessary.

>>
>>>    6) Articles about western religious systems (Judaism,Christianity,Islam
>>>       etc.) are also welcome if the aim is make rational/objective comparisons
>>>       of these systems with those discussed in this newsgroup.
>>>
>>I'm glad to see this -- it is easier for me to understand things when I can
>>compare them to a reference I know about, so this point open the possibility
>>of the group being of use/interest to more than just adherants of eastern
>>religions.
          
           I am glad you liked this idea. This idea should give the group a
  wide appeal.

>>
>>>    4) Articles should deal with the philosophy/theology underlying the
>>>       religious systems and should be devoid of any political content.
>>>
        My vision of this newsgroup is that of a forum where people can
  discuss Eastern metaphysics/theology objectively and rationally without 
  bringing in political (in the strictest sense of word) issues into the 
  picture. 

>>-Dan
>>uunet!ashtate!dveditz
>>dveditz@ashtate.A-T.com

     Dinesh Prabhu
     prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov