TD

[Guest guest]

At 06:49 PM 2/24/02 -0800, M. Tandy wrote:

> That's probably because no is allowed to question it there; read

>the TD conference rules.

 

Since everyone here is not a member of TD, I'm posting the conference

guidelines below:

---------

Topical Discussions rules and guidelines.

 

As the name implies, this conference is intended to serve as a forum for

the discussion of philosophical issues and current events. We are hoping

that it can serve as a place where devotees can discuss all sides of the

different issues currently facing ISKCON and to do so in a reasonable

fashion and without any intimidation and/or threats.

 

Since this forum is intended to encourage free speech and stimulating

discussions, we have some ground rules. The members may express

disagreement with the facts and opinions presented by others. However,

we will not tolerate any personal insults, put-downs, or hate mail. Posting

such texts will result in being blocked from the conference. This includes

telling another member that s/he will go to hell for expressing certain

opinions, even if you feel like such a statement is justified based on your

interpretation of guru, sadhu or sastra.

 

Another feature of this conference is that we allow arguments to be based on

sources other than sastra. You may thus quote any spiritual and material

authorities that you deem appropriate to back up your views. You may also

base your arguments on logic, your own experience and "common sense".

If you choose to do so, you need to be prepared that these may be challenged

by other members. However, although the content of the sources may be

questioned, no one is allowed to attack another member simply for using them.

Also, we will not allow endless discussions about whether or not such a rule

is appropriate. There are many other conferences on COM that only allow

sastric evidence. This conference is unique in that it doesn't. If you are

uncomfortable with this rule, this may not be an appropriate conference for

you.

 

We would also like to prevent these discussions from turning into soap

boxes for individuals who have a lot of time on their hands, think they

must save the rest of us, and who have a tendency to contribute pages and

pages of texts and beating each other's heads with quotes. There are many

other conferences where one can find extensive quotes about all aspects of

KC. We would like to provide this forum as a place where devotees can

speak from their own realizations and experiences while trying to live up

to their ideals. Reasonably short quotes (e.g. up to a screen full) are fine,

but rather than sending multiple kilobytes of quotes to all members,

please submit the reference only. If anyone does not have the books, they

can write you privately and request the text in its entirety.

 

Please note that the texts on this conference will refer to many of ISKCON's

past and current problems, and will likely be critical of how some of them

have been handled. It may therefore not be the most suitable of conferences

for someone who is new to Krsna Consciousness, or who feels that hearing

about such problems might be detrimental to their Krsna Consciousness.

 

If you are on COM, you can easily join this public conference without our

help. However, if you are not on COM, or communicate with COM via

forwarding/over the internet only, please send an e-mail, either to me or to

Hariballabha (AT) pamho (DOT) net.

 

We look forward to many stimulating and friendly topical discussions.

-------------------------------

 

>TD moderators I mentioned

>above.

 

Just a note of clarification; TD is an unmoderated forum.

 

> Since there is no conference rule prohibiting anyone here from

>asking about such crucial deviations as you and others vehemently oppose

>regarding TD, I would like to invite Madhu to explain this (and this only,

>please) right now.

 

I have no intention of becoming target practice (again) for Braja and

Jahnu, but I will briefly describe the history and purpose of TD in the

hope that this will shed some light on its unique guidelines. However, I

will not read any of their comments (my email program filters out their

texts), so please don't wonder why I won't respond to them. After their

many insults, this strategy follows the "reject that which is

unfavorable..." concept.

 

>For those who don't know, TD practically embraces various nonVaisnava

>epistemologies, for reasons that to my knowledge have never been explained

 

It's pretty simple: Mukhya created TD because she saw the need for a forum

where devotees could discuss topics of interest more freely than typically

allowed in other conferences. This need became obvious when devotees

started sending texts to the Free Forum conference on issues that didn't

fit there, such as the moon landing. It seemed obvious that devotees needed

a forum where they could feel free to discuss sensitive topics and their

doubts without having to back everything up by sastra. They wanted a place

where it was OK to base their opinions on science or on logic and common

sense, and without being berated for doing so. That was the very reason the

forum was started. People who don't agree that devotees should be allowed

to have such discussions (as if we could legislate that) should not join

and then complain that usual rules and procedures of other conferences are

not followed.

 

Just to clarify, TD members are certainly allowed to quote sastra and to

base their conclusions on what they read in Prabhupada's books. They just

can't put down someone else for not doing so.

Ys,

Madhusudani dasi