From: Brett Paatsch (paatschb@ocean.com.au)
Date: Thu Jan 16 2003 - 17:24:36 MST
Without discussing any particular inflammatory topic,
(please), it does seem a pity that on a list such as this
we can't find *some* way to discuss an issue on its merits
rather than getting all hot n bothered and emotional.
Sure emotions are part of being human. Sure people can
get impassioned about defending their views. But there
seems to be something inherently tragic (and, I wonder but
don't know, if its a bit defeatist or just realistic), about the
conclusion that we have to actually stop talking about the
very topics that inflame our passions. These are, it seems,
likely to be amongst the very topics that matter most.
Are we really convinced that there are *no* ways to curb
the harmful side of human passions in a group like this?
Is it really beyond us to set up perhaps corralled areas on
the list where perhaps more than the usual courtesy and
deference to each others views is voluntarily accepted -
sort of like a mutual agreement to leave the egos and
passions however valid - at the door, or at least to
restrain them in the case of particular threads?
Perhaps it is impossible. Perhaps certain things cannot
be meaningfully discussed on a list such as this even
amongst people who ostensibly have much in common.
Perhaps even the commonality is less real than imagined.
It certainly seems a pity that the "better angels" of our
nature are so defeated by "our demons". I hope we haven't
accepted a gloomy conclusion prematurely.
Brett
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