Consider this an interruption in our usual broadcasts, to bring you a
special message.

From a subscriber, Morgan Gallagher, who reads Lactnet avidly but has not
posted herself, we have gotten permission to post based on a note she sent
the listmothers on 22 February.  She shared some thoughts on the ground
rules for participating in an e-mail forum which we felt were well worth
passing on to the list.  Morgan is without a reliable e-mail connection at
the moment herself.

Morgan writes: '... censorship is the suppressing of information, whereas
discernment is the choosing of what information you wish to engage with.  I
strongly feel that censorship is not an appropriate term for moderating,
especially when it is an open moderating process.'  

She elaborates that members elect themselves 'into a moderated space, and as
such agree to the principles of the space.'  When a member chooses to
operate outwith them, and the list mothers are required to moderate and
remove posts, 'it is not an act of censorship.  It is one of discernment.
Censorship is an act of repression, moderating one of enabling and
empowering (when done correctly).'

Naturally since this reinforces our notion of ourselves as reasonable people
who want lively discussion to take place with civility and respect, we liked
Morgan's message.  Nobody, not even a listmother on Lactnet, wants to think
of themselves as tyrannical, capricious and intolerant.  That isn't the only
reason, or even the primary reason, we asked for permission to quote her to
the list.  The main reason is we felt it gives food for thought, and it
enriches our minds by providing an worthwhile nuance about the role of a
list's administrators.

For the record, we are not trying to start a thread about censorship nor
about discernment, but we thought this wisdom was too good not to share.
This concludes our special message, and our regular programming will resume
immediately following the footer of this post. :-)

             ***********************************************

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