Posted by mair on July 24, 2002, at 16:43:03
In reply to Re: more and more discriminating every day, posted by Dr. Bob on July 24, 2002, at 15:04:28
Bob
Kiddo can certainly speak for herself, but what has me stymied, and maybe her too, is the perception that Lou is being allowed to strongly espouse his religious beliefs and she is not. You've drawn a distinction between her assertion of the "only road" and Lou's failure to make a similar assertion, but this seems like a distinction without a difference.
Lou takes just about any posting opportunity he can to retell his experience in the context of whatever is being discussed. He may never say "and you should do this too or this is the only route to happiness or to personal salvation" but the message is so pervasive and repetitive and I really do think it's retold again and again precisely to convey the message that his is the only road to personal salvation without using those words.
It also seems that some people feel that Lou is not being very supportive of them because they find the retelling of his experience to be so unresponsive to whatever posts preceded it. The retelling of his experience, with considerable embellishment of the factual context, can appear to be much more for his gratification than our support. This is a very difficult message to get across to him because you've so sharply circumscribed what can be said. If we can't say "please don't tell me again about the city of peace," how can we communicate that we find the persistent retelling of his story to be nonresponsive and unsupportive, and in that respect, rather annoying? I think that there have been enough swirling controversies over people trying to say just that to Lou, for him to fully understand that this particular kind of contribution is not valued. Yet his posts never really change. Why isn't that the same kind of baiting that you've cautioned other people for?
I agree that this Board is not a great place to espouse any sort of belief as the be all and end all for everyone whether it be a particular medication (or no medication) or a particular therapy (or no therapy) or a particular religious belief. I hope that people can find a way on the faith board to moderate their statements so they can share their beliefs with others without it seeming that pressure is being applied or that someone of a different belief is being put down. I can't see how this is going to happen if all the rules are being drawn really just to address the issue of how to deal with one poster who's done very little to accommodate the wishes and sensibilities of anyone other than you.
I appreciate how difficult it is for you. You like to respond to specific posts. Lou may play within the technical parameters of your rules with each individual post but very much breach them in spirit through a whole range of posts and threads. I think that's why some people appreciated Iso's summary and why it might be tough for you to see the larger picture, and appreciate why there have been complaints that you are not moderating the Board in an even handed and nondiscriminating fashion.
Mair
poster:mair
thread:6603
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020627/msgs/6678.html