[Faith-talk] Purpose of This List

[David Andrews]

Steve, Linda and List:

A number of good points about the purpose of the list, and other 
topics have been made.  Let me throw in my two cents worth -- since I 
was there at the beginning, and ultimately make decisions about lists.

The list is sponsored by the NFB Communities in Faith Division -- I 
may not have the name quite right.  As I recall, the list came about 
after some discussion between myself and Robert Parrish.  As I recall 
-- he was President of the Division at the time.  The primary intent 
of the list was as a place where people could discuss, exchange ideas 
etc., about problems they might be having in a religious setting, 
such as a church, caused by their blindness or the reaction to their 
blindness by the congregation, minister or others.

For the most part I think the purpose of the list should be governed 
primarily by the governing Division.  I reserve the right to have the 
final say-so -- based on my 20 plus years experience with running 
lists and other on-line forums.

I hope this history has added a little clarity, but possibly not.

David Andrews, List Owner

At 09:09 AM 6/28/2010, you wrote:
>Linda,
>
>Please understand that my comments were not meant to be criticism, 
>and that I do understand that you were gone for a time for very good 
>reasons.  I was looking for
>a somewhat humorous way to express an opinion while making it clear 
>that I am not the moderator and that you might not agree and that is 
>all right.
>
>I think it is a good idea to think about the purpose of any of our 
>lists from time to time, because it is easy for people to forget 
>that they don't just happen.  it does cost
>us money to keep them going and volunteers, such as both you and 
>I,  put in a lot of time moderating them and also keeping the system 
>running as well.  There are
>also persons who enjoy disrupting a list and pick topics that they 
>know will divide or anger.  We've seen this on others of our lists 
>in the past.  I do not personally
>believe this is the case with Peter, but I do believe he feels that 
>any limiting of what he posts is a violation of his right to free 
>speech, and that just isn't the case.  As
>some here know, we just finished having a very difficult time with 
>him on another list after which he turned to this one.  I also 
>communicated with him privately to try
>to understand him better, but I don't feel I succeeded very 
>well.  All of those difficulties may have made me more careless with 
>my comments than I should have
>been regarding the list wandering.  Thank you for your work.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Steve Jacobson
>
>On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:24:15 -0500, Linda Mentink wrote:
>
> >Hi all,
>
> >Steve believes that I, as the moderator allow things he wouldn't.
> >Well, for one, thing, I was gone for a little over a week to
> >Wisconsin. The list is what the listers make it, and we have had some
> >good discussions. When questions are asked, we do our best to answer
> >them, mostly using the Bible as our guide. I don't know what else to
> >do. I try to search the Scriptures, and leave my opinion out of it.
> >If someone disagrees with the Scriptures, that's between them and
> >their God. I like to know about other religions, but I'm not
> >interested in converting; nor do I wish to cram my beliefs down
> >anyone's throat, or cast pearls before swine, as the Bible says.
>
> >Regarding forwards, some of you like them, so I have said no more
> >about them. But it would be nice if all the headers were deleted.
> >This can be easily done by down arrowing to the bottom of the block
> >to be deleted, and pressing control-shift home, then enter.
>
> >Sleep well.
>
> >Blessings,
>
> >Linda

                         David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
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