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Re: orion Note from the moderator

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, David Crowder wrote:

> Avital Pinnick also wrote:
> >Re: N. Altmann's letter. Because we seldom have postings of letters from 
> >non-members, I have never formulated a policy. It appears that some 
> >guidelines are now necessary.
> 
>   But for one Happy Easter/Passover message, I have seen no public
> objections to Altman's letter, though it's unintended physical appearance
> warrants an apology form me to anyone who attempted to read it. So much for
> pasting from a word processing program.  And I thought that new laws and
> rules arose from a public outcry over clear and repeated abuses of  customs
> or mores. Perhaps this outcry, which I predicted and sought to address in
> advance, arose quietly in private posts to the moderator from a number of
> influential Orion members. 


Not at all. Current policy is determined by me, in consultation with Prof.
Michael Stone, the list owner, when necessary. 


>   If this was not the case, if members assented to Altman's first presence
> here by their lack of objection, I would simply ask, why the new rules? 
>   No one blinked when non-member Norman Golb's letter was posted here some
> months ago. Have other non member letters been posted as well? 


If you consult the archives, you will see that the posting of Norman 
Golb's and Jodi Magness' letters led to my having a lock placed on the 
list. Non-members may not post. This measure also protects the list from 
spams and junk mail.

The difficulty with posting letters from non-members is that it turns what is
intended to be a forum into a pronouncement followed by one-sided discussion,
as there may be no way to reply directly to the original writer. I am happy
to post announcements (articles, notices of books, reviews, etc.) from
non-members but Altman's letter was unnecessarily polemical, in my opinion. I
am referring specifically to the charges of anti-Semitism and
anti-Christianity in academic institutions; Orion is not the place to discuss
these issues. As for his dispute with Goranson, that should have been 
handled via private e-mail or snail mail.


Avital Pinnick, Ph.D.                                   tel: 972-2-588-2063
list moderator/bibligrapher                             fax: 972-2-588-3584
Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il - DSS bibliography updated weekly.