In a message dated 3/12/99 12:34:39 PM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Gerry:
 >--I was brought up short more times than I like to recall, and burned a few
 >times, as well, simply because my enthusiasm was misinterpreted and
 >"netiquette" was unknown to me. When JR knocked me off the list a few times,
 >as he did you, I had to swallow my pride and not take it personally.

 You have the wrong list, Gerry. There is no JR here. No Bob either.

--Whoops! Do I?

 >but we are alienating
 >ourselves from fine-tuning if we reject outright anyone whose voice has a
 >different ring.

 Even Liza's response to forest wasn't rejection. It was incedulity.

--I guess some of the things said might be considered incredulous for someone
unfamiliar with the rational and much documented reasons behind the remarks
that are quite the opposite of conventional medicine. However, I was under the
impression Liza is familiar with the Natural Hygiene doctrine which was pretty
much the gist of the subject being discussed.

 Who has been rejected outright?

--Most of the things Alan was saying.

 >But we don't want to miss out on much by "scaring" new
 >contributors away by overwhelming them with our own "knowledge" and
righteous
 >ways.

 To me, that's the problem with not challanging the rightousness inherent
 in, say, forest's, or Alan's posts.

--There's no problem with challenging anyone's posts, but as Alan and other's
suggested, a certain decorum and respect for the opinions of others', no
matter how different, is not too much to expect of sane, rational and
intelligent human beings--particularly where the matter of diverse cultures
and customs lend opportunity for misinterpretations. To make a GIANT leap,
such small misunderstandings can and have led to outright war;-)

I suspect, though, that you mean it the problem of myself, Tom, Liza, and/or
JL. I can't speak for them but this is probably a sort of last fling for me
around here and I won't be bothering much more with it soon.

--I, for one, hope not. As Rex noted earlier in reference to no-one in
particular, the barbs and sarcasm are often symptoms of detox. The key is to
not throw out the baby with the bathwater, glean the underlying message.

--And despite your often blunt (to put it mildly!;-) remarks, you do have a
GREAT sense of humor (which I hope rubs off!), and much intelligence and
knowledge, along with a quest for more. This comes through with some of the
twisted bravado I often think you submit for shock value.

 But, you know, the idea that a newbie comes here
 and is shocked that there is some "post-dogma" or "realistic" comment on
 things is great to my way of thinking. When folks think they have found It,
 it is probably very useful to see the there are folks who have found It and
 threw It away.

 Cheers,
 Kirt

  >>
--If that be true, then it's important to state it so the person in question
might defend, and/or offer better supporting evidence so all might learn.

--Also, so we "Mouse Potatoes" don't waste one of our most valuable gifts:
TIME.
FWIW:

Gerry