Welcome letter to the greycatsethics List

Hello,

PLEASE AT LEAST SCAN ALL OF THIS MESSAGE. I've added headers to make it a little easier!

Welcome to the list. Please take a moment to review this message. Also, take this opportunity to make a new file in your mail application just for this list. Place this letter in that file so you can review these rules and so on later if it becomes necessary.

For the first few days we can chat a bit to test the list or whatever while we wait for a reasonable number of those invited to subscribe (or not). Then I'll ask everyone to tell a bit about themselves and when we get that out of the way, start the ball rolling.

I have created a website for the participants on this list. I'm hoping that it will be easier for all of us to use it for reference than the shared files provided by onelist. This is a "Private" web site but you may refer your students, particularly, to it. It will NOT be submitted to search engines and such.

The web site will be managed by me, Grey Cat, and Nan but we are asking that a couple people volunteer to help out with it. Just give us a note on or off list if you want to help.

To unsubscribe from this list, go to the ONElist web site, at www.onelist.com, and select the User Center link from the menu bar on the left. This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode.

This is a restricted list primarily composed of a few people I know personally and am inviting to join. Any participant may suggest other people who might be invited to join us.

My purpose in this list is to discuss the subject of ethics in the context of the Wiccan/Pagan religion(s). Let it be known that I do NOT propose to attempt to rest the entirety of the discussion on any of the versions of "The Wiccan Rede". While the fact that most accept at least the short version of the Rede, it is inadequate as a basis for real world ethical behavior.

Obviously, no matter what marvelous insights we come up with, they will be no more than suggestions since I believe we can begin with an agreement that "power over" isn't't our goal.

Those who have known me for a while know that I blame the entire existence of NorthWind on Wren, who forced me to begin teaching. Well, I'm going to blame her for this too!! since she just said that I should write a book on the insights I have. (or lead workshops or something....) Upon thinking it over, I realized that my best way of reaching understandings on this subject is within a conversation. Well, a mail list has the great advantage of being a conversation that also produces a typed copy.

I'm hoping that from time to time we can gather up a successful thread and edit it into a chapter, article, whatever. And in fact, that's one of the main reasons I'd like to ask everyone to attempt to follow the rules I'm making up below:

1. Please be obsessive/compulsive about your subject lines! If it's a new subject, even if it clearly stems from a thread already under discussion, give it a new name!! It will be much easier to edit two threads together than to separate two or three topics out of one thread!

2. Don't quote the whole of the message you are answering! Quote what you feel you really must in order to make your comments intelligible and no more.

3. The first line(s) of your response should BE your response. Show quoted material after your comment. Leave enough blank lines between your comments and the quoted material to make it easy to know which is which. Make sure that it is clear whom you are quoting.

4. While this is NOT a "social" list, we ARE interested in each other as people. If you buy a house, have a baby, form a new group, or kill your SO, give us an "off topic" note on it. [If needed, I don't at all mind having a second list with identical membership that's devoted to personal chit chat--which I truly value--but which would make THIS list too bulky to easily achieve its purpose!]

5. Do not use more than 2 lines on your signature.

6. So that we will know about each other, for your first post on this list, please give us a quick QV. I will figure out how to use the list files and will file all the intro posts so that you can refer back to them later as needed.

7. Please make a separate folder for this list and save posts you find of real interest. That way, when ongoing discussion makes things clearer, you can easily go back to the earlier discussion and share the new light you've seen.

8. Please accept the absolute rule: all disagreements we have on this list are philosophical, NOT personal!! Even if someone misphrases a comment and appears to be attacking you, unless a totally clear personal attack is made, accept that the other was disagreeing with what you said!!!!

9. Asking for clarification is participating! So is restating a theses to see if you understand what is being said!

10. None of us knows everything! All of us know something that will be of value in this discussion!

11. While there is no virtue in speed, I think I'd rather have thoughts and reactions right off rather than waiting for you to thoroughly think it through and then possibly forget to post. lol We'll knock off the unfinished corners in the process of discussion.

12. Either pay attention to spelling, or use the spell checker included in most mail applications. Misunderstandings CAN arise from mispellings (besides they can drive me completely batty and you don't want to be around a batty Grey Cat!)

13. Please use only plain text in your replies. At least two of our (prospective) members receive mail on juno which accepts ONLY plain text.

14. Please don't EVER send an attachment to the list without clearing it before hand. For one thing, regular, free juno users cannot receive attachments. For another, most of us don't like opening attachments because that's one of the leading ways that computer viruses are spread! If you have a long file you wish to share with us, break it up into a number of mails, give them the appropriate subject and number them, i.e. page 1 of 5, page 2 of 5; etc. You will also be able to upload files to the shared files area. I'll send out instructions on that later.

I have put up a survey form with a rather odd question. Actually, the question isn't all that odd, but some of the answers are! lol

Thanks,

Grey Cat

HPS, NorthWind Tradition of American Wicca

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