[Ravensfort] Brian's Letter to the Raven's Fort list.

jacinth jacinth at mail.ev1.net
Mon May 13 10:44:15 PDT 2002


Greetings,

At the risk of sounding like I have come quite late to the hue and cry, I add my voice to HE Brian's post; it took a lot of time for me to compose something lucid enough to express my feelings on the matter.  I applaud his words, and I admire his bravery to stand up and be the first to say something about it publicly.  I read Brian's post this morning and I tried to come up with something thoughtful to say that would prove that other people were thinking of the same thing (and have been thinking since about last July).  This is not a laughing matter, but no matter what I did, when I tried to think seriously, I kept hearing quips from "Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail"...

Arthur: Shut up!  Will you Shut UP!!
Dennis: Ah!  Now we see the violence inherent in the system!
Arthur: SHUT UP!!
Dennis: Oh! Come and see the violence in inherent in the system!!  HELP!  HELP!  I'm being repressed!
Arthur: Bloody Peasant!
Dennis:  Oh, what a give away. Did you here that, did you hear that, eh?.... That's what I'm on about -- did you see him repressing me, you saw it didn't you?

Seriously, do you see the humour here?  I mean, read behind the lines: when you argue online, you look as silly as this did in the movie.  In general, we don't behave like this offline, so why do it?  These arguments are pointless, demeaning, and just plain LOOK BAD for everyone, not just those involved in slinging mud.  I realize that the instigators of the latest bout are not on this list now, and obviously a 'warning' wasn't enough in some cases, but that doesn't absolve the populace at large of the responsibility to take a stand against this type of activity.  This includes all of us, not just our esteemed Lady Clarissima who has had to be the heavy recently.

I wish I could be as eloquent as HE Brian in stating my complete agreement with his posting, especially with his thoughts on online comportment.  However, I IMPLORE everyone to play nice, and keep your private affairs PRIVATE.  I honestly don't care if you can't stand a certain person, unless you want me to mediate a discussion between you [in person].  This list is not an open forum for attacking others (no matter what the provocation), and I will make it clear once and for all that I certainly don't condone such behaviour.  If it continues, I vote for a moderated list.  I get enough junk mail, and I certainly didn't enjoy sorting through all the latest bilge.  I have been silent for a while about it, simply because I thought that replying would just fan the flames, but I see that Brian is quite correct that we need to make ourselves heard if we don't want it to continue any longer.  We need to actively police ourselves on this list, before others have to do it for us. [And before cries of 'censorship!' come up, please keep in mind that it is privilege to be able to participate on this list; if we can't behave ourselves, then we don't deserve to use it.]

To conclude, I attach the following bit of inspirational reading.  I mean this in the best possible way, and I hope that it gives you pause for thought:


-------------Begin Quote--------------------

_All I ever needed to know, I learned in Kindergarten_

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand box at nursery school.

These are the things I learned. Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw some and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out in the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why. We are like that.

And then remember that book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK! Everything you need to know is there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology, and politics and the sane living.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

--- Robert Fulghum

----------------------End Quote--------------------------


So, this I say to you:  Let's hold hands and stick together...


Yr Servant,

HL Jacinth de Warwick






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