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Why we need the SRH reorganization
In article <4b7d33$ju@solaris.cc.vt.edu> ntiwari@rs3.esm.vt.edu (N. Tiwari) writes:
> If you can handpick the moderators, who will aid the diversity
> of opinions, why could'nt Ajay do the same. Afterall, his choice
> could also been representative enough.
No single person handpicked these moderators. Through
the course of several discussions, individually and as
a group, and by scanning newsgroups to see who had a
reputation for wide-ranging knowledge and fairness,
we found 4 people who are excellent candidates to be
moderators.
I should point out that each of the proponents have
very different viewpoints on both Hinduism and politics.
We strove to find a set of moderators far more diverse
than even the range reflected within ourselves.
If Ajay had gotten a committee together to select a few
moderators, I would have welcomed this move. But the fact
is, he did not, so we did. I once again challenge
*anyone* to posit serious objections against *any*
of our moderators. I am fully convinced in the integrity
of each of the proposed individuals.
Now, on to more definite reasons, some of which have been
stated before:
1. Hinduism has an extremely diverse religious culture.
Such diversity is being stifled by the present moderation
policy and charter.
Examples:
While countless pro-VHP and pro-Hindutva political articles
are posted in this newsgroup dedicated to religion, one can
hardly find opposing viewpoints. To get opposing articles
posted in a timely manner is as hard as pulling teeth.
Once again, I greatly appreciate the time and effort Ajay
has put into serving the Hindu community. Unfortunately,
it appears that moderating this newsgroup is too big a task
for him to handle alone.
Because of this subsequent delay in posting, several people
have been discouraged from posting their views.
[I should point out that the SRH reorganization committee
is not politically polarized in any one direction. Shrisha
Rao, for example, publicly admits that he is a die-hard BJP
man. It should be plainly obvious that I am not.]
2. Aside from purely political articles, soc.religion.hindu has
often had completely useless articles posted by the moderator,
such as advertisements for C++ programmers. This *definitely*
needs to be stopped.
3. Articles are very often posted out of order, making the
discussion of serious and involved topics completely
unintelligible.
This problem plagued alt.hindu and also had plagued
soc.religion.hindu.
4. There is a definite need for a newsgroup where topics of
interest to devout Hindus and Indologists can be discussed
in a non-inflammatory manner. Currently, the charter of
soc.religion.hindu discourages such dialogue from taking place.
The correct place for inflammatory discussions of
Hindu holocausts, Muslim destruction of ancient temples, etc.,
is in an unmoderated talk.religion.* group, where opposing
viewpoints can be freely aired. Topics related to Hindu dharma,
God, shaastra, and Hindu literature should be discussed in a
non-inflammatory forum such as the proposed
soc.religion.hinduism.moderated newsgroup.
Such discussion simply cannot happen in soc.religion.hindu
because it is somewhat correctly believed by many to be
controlled by one particular Hindu viewpoint, i.e., the
RSS/VHP political viewpoint.
Without casting judgment on this political ideology, I submit
that having diversity is A GOOD THING, and is impossible with
a single moderator who sincerely believes in this particular
view to the exclusion of all others.
These reasons can be elaborated further. I have nothing personally
against Ajay Shah; he and I have corresponded in a friendly manner
in the past. But I do believe his political ideology and his time
commitments get in the way of his moderation.
The proposed reorganization solves all of these problems.
Mani
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