From: eddie@hermes.oit.unc.edu (Edward M. Averett)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Re: morality of love as force
Date: 13 Sep 92 22:07:11 GMT
Organization: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

In article <-1xnbyp.friday@netcom.com> friday@netcom.com (Carol Anne Ogdin) writes:
>I'd just like the long-time participants here to notice when they're engaging
>in unnecessary roughness.  If there's no one to invite people into the conver-
>sation, I think we could all be just a little kinder, a little gentler toward
>early, tentative contributions.
>-- 
That's a 15-yard penalty, or half the distance to the goalline, and 1st down
for the affendee.. .. . and certainly, to quote INXS, we could use a "kinder, 
gentler, machine gun hand" now and then.

I am vaguely amused at the notion of an "inside circle" no matter how you 
imagine it.  I myself have been posting here consistently for about 6 months,
I'd say, though I've been reading this list for well over a year.  I know
several individuals who have been reading about as long or longer, but 
basically never post.  From responses I get from them in email, I'd be willing
to consider THEM potential members of such a grouping.  There are several 
posters who were around when I started posting (my best grounds for establish-
ment of such a group is folk who were here before I was -) who were regulars
then, but are effectively gone now.  I frankly don't have any idea how long
Amanda has been around.  I know that Shava and Tagi and Josh are from a good
way back.  It's pretty clear to me most of the time when someone posts how 
much real experience they have, at least by the nth post (n < 5).  If someone
wants to start reading this newsgroup and post something on the 1st week they
read it, and don't have much RL experience and/or education, then it's pretty
likely they're gonna get a harsh reaction.  

If someone reads this group enough to start to get a handle on how things 
are posted, and different styles of things, and how people are going to react, 
then it's much more likely that their 1st post will be received with some 
thoughtfulness.   

A good rule of thumb would indicate that the more experience you have, then 
the less you need to look and think about what is being discussed here before
you post. I read several rather complex groups with great potential for 
controversy. In all of the them, it is considered polite by a majority of the 
posters to get a feel for the group before starting to post things, and not
to start off posting at Least till you have 1) time to read any FAQ, and 2)
not start off posting something which is controversial until and unless you 
are willing to be roasted alive. 

It seems to me that the vast number of people who get trompled on here as new
posters violate at least one of the above rules of thumb.  Or as someone 
recently pointed out, if you have to *ask* about YogSothoth, then you aren't 
ready to deal with summoning him.  I suffer fools more or less, depending on 
how I'm feeling, but there are certainly others here who don't think that
this is a good place for them to start spouting and using up bandwidth.  

********
And while gadflys have their uses, to keep the horses from falling asleep, it
is pretty much inevitable that such will ocassionally get squashed or bitten
in half withoug remorse by the horses.  Any who resent that shouldn't be 
trying to be gadflys.

					-eddie@legba.oit.unc.edu
		
		"Slay them all, save for half"