[CPProt.net]

[Jennifer Foley]

The high tension emailing back and forth over recent
weeks is both baffling and dismaying. The world is
full of opinions we don't like, disagree with, or
vehemently oppose. And yet, most of us adhere to
Voltaire's idea that we must defend to the death
others' right to say whatever they choose: even if it
is hard to swallow. In order to have the right to say
what WE would like to say, we must grant everyone
else-- and yes, that really does mean everyone else-
the same right. If you don't like it, don't read it.
If you don't agree with it, delete it. If you really
have a bee in your bonnet about it, contact the person
who wrote the offensive quote and tell them, or open a
debate with them. But the continual attack on the
FORUM is inane: it is shooting the messenger. The
declarations that something has offended one's
sensitivities, so that they must immediately be
removed from the list does not mean that disagreeable
opinions will disappear: it simply means you will
remain willfully ignorant of them. And perhaps
ignorance is, as they say, bliss. For me, I think I
would prefer to remain ignorant of the names and
emails of those who have decided they no longer want
to be on the list serve. It is, in fact, THESE emails
that are clogging up my email account, rather than the
apparent litany of offensive opinions. I, for one,
would certainly prefer that those who feel the need to
shoot the messenger put a silencer on their weapon and
simply unsubscribe the normal way, without so much
drama. But since I am happy to stay on the list serve,
and have no intention of shooting the messenger, I
guess we'll just have to put up with so much
silliness, and get used to hitting the delete button.

Jennifer Foley
Ithaca, New York

=====
There is no lasting hope in violence, only temporary relief from hopelessness. 
-Kingman Brewster Jr

Jennifer L. Foley, PhD Candidate, History of Art, Cornell University
P.O. Box 743
Ithaca, N.Y. 14851
(607) 262-0454

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