Klarinet Archive - Posting 000316.txt from 1997/02

From: "Scott D. Morrow" <SDM@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: religion online
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 10:26:14 -0500

Tracy Skondin wrote:
>
>I am sorry to find out that such a great number of my colleges are so
>fervently intolerant of others beliefs. I would like to point out that
>not once have I sent out a message about religion up to this point. All
>messages that I sent, excluding this, are about the clarinet or music
>thereof. I only include Biblical quotes in my signature file. If I were
>to send out a message condemning you all because you have not accepted
>your salvation then I would expect this kind of harassment. As one member
>said why is this any different than ham radio or Parisian food? What
>about the three weeks of talk about cats and dogs of the run of messages
>in foreign languages? None of these subjects are related to the
>clarinet in any way yet for some reason were tolerated. If someone could
>please explain this I am quite curious as to your justification.
>etc., etc., etc.

Tracy,
As far as I have seen, no one on this list posting publicly has
asked you to change your beliefs or chastised you for having them. All I
have seen is people uncomfortable having your beliefs pushed at them. The
only request I have seen from posters is that you save proselytizing for a
more appropriate venue. Whether people agree with you or not has nothing
to do with it. I personally believe you have a freedom-of-speech right to
post whatever you want and we have a freedom-of-speech right to ignore it.
This has nothing to do with whether I agree with you or not (I am NOT a
Christian).
However, when I am on a long car ride and my five-year-old sits in
the back seat repeating the same thing over and over again, I ask her
politely to stop. Am I persecuting her? I don't think so. My reasons for
asking her to stop are:
1) Listening to the same thing repeated over and over gives us headaches
2) No matter how interesting whatever she was saying might have
been the first time, it gets annoying and mind-numbing by the third or
tenth time!

Charges of "persecution" and "religious intolerance" here are so
far off the mark that they are dangerous; these charges (along with racism,
antisemitism, etc.) are so serious that trivializing them also numbs
society to their meanings. We must ALL stand up against religious
intolerance. But I do not see that it is here! All that was asked of you
was an act of SOCIAL tolerance on YOUR part!

We are just all on a long car ride together. The rules change a bit.
When we get there, you can do as you please.

-Scott

Scott D. Morrow
Department of Biochemistry
School of Hygiene and Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
(410) 955-3631

SDM@-----.edu

   
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