Amandageist is peeved (was Onlist complaints)

[macloudt]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Wanda Mallett <witchwanda2002 at y...> 
wrote:
> Amanda, thumbs up from me!

I second that!

<snip Wanda's excellent, level-headed post>

Now I'll be the first to admit that confrontation makes me cringe.  
It makes me want to crawl under a rock and whimper, especially when a 
normally relaxed and downright fun situation, such as OT, threatens 
to get ugly.  But I do want to add my little rant onto the heap...

The primary reason I subscribe to this group is for the very reason I 
just mentioned; it's relaxed and fun.  The vast, vast majority of the 
regular posties (and you lovely lurkers!) are a group of friends as 
far as I'm concerned.  I often don't have the chance to read the 
HPFGU postings anymore (haven't for weeks now, actually), but I come 
to this site every day to see what the Discussions of the Day are and 
what everyone's been up to.  Like now...I've stuck the kids in front 
of the Idiot Box Babysitter and sat down at the computer to relax.  
But after reading the posts so far I must say that I'm pretty wound 
up.  What's going on?

Now before anyone flames me, I'm all for freedom of speech.  Really.  
As much as I may disagree with someone's opinion I'll defend his or 
her right to state it *in general*.  Where I *personally* (note 
emphasis) draw the line is the belief that *all* views can and should 
be aired *anywhere*, in any manner; for example, the belief that a 
Catholic newspaper should not be allowed to ban a pro-abortion 
article.  Pro- (or anti-) abortion views should not be censored in 
the general press, in my opinion, but I do hold the view that special 
interest papers, be they Catholic or otherwise, have the right to 
exclude views that go against their own ethical codes.  The 
codes/standards/whatever are there as guidelines for such a paper, 
just as many groups (yes, even the HPFGU ones) have such guidelines.  
The way I see it, the guidelines for the HP groups are there exactly 
to keep the whole damned thing from descending into chaos.  As 
several people have already mentioned (sorry for not quoting and 
referencing you properly), what would our groups be like if there was 
no censorship or moderating whatsoever?  I for one would be out of 
here like a shot.  

If you don't agree with the ethical code of the abovementioned 
Catholic paper...then don't read it.  Sure, you could picket outside 
their office, and bombard it with phone calls and leaflets, and hurl 
insults at the staff as they come and go.  Would it change the 
paper's attitude?  Hardly likely.  So is the effort worth it?  Not in 
my opinion.  Go home and start your own paper stating your own 
views.  That would be positive rather than negative action.

Before you start on me, I know perfectly well that larger societal 
wrongs (women's rights, minority rights and such) often have to be 
tackled in such a manner (meaning the picketing and such).  As Bruce 
Cockburn sings, "The trouble with normal is it only gets worse".  
I've been a member of Amnesty International since my late teens and 
know that the world is often a nasty place.  Every month I fire off 
several letters to people who delight in torture and the crushing of 
human rights.  But I'm not talking about this type of scale.  I'm 
talking about much smaller groups/situations, such as ours.  Using 
another personal example, if you enrolled your daughter in our 
Rainbow Guides unit and you didn't like the way we ran things, you 
could either rant and rave, or you could just transfer your daughter 
to another unit.  Which makes more sense?

Now to my point, which was also Wanda's.  There are plenty of other 
HP groups out there.  You could even start your own.  If you don't 
like this group, then please feel free to rant a bit *without* 
getting personal (we're supposed to be grown ups, remember), and 
leave the group.

Life's too short for all this ranting and raving, friends.  Now could 
we please get back to talking about earth-shattering things such as 
the history of Pavlova and the HP scarves we got for Christmas?  
*And* Tabouli's fabulous essays, of course!

Schoogles,

Mary Ann