Welcome To Volume 17 (original) (raw)
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To those just coming by to visit, welcome to Volume 17 of the Liberal Judaism Mailing List, the start of our 17th year of publication, and the year we are attempting to move over to a LiveJournal community.
To those unfamiliar with MLJ, I encourage you to visit our profile or the list’s homepage. Here is some relevant information:
Mlj_on_Lj is a community where discussions about Jewish issues can take place in an atmosphere of "Respectful Pluralism". This means that:
- This list considers all movements in the spectrum from Humanistic to Orthodoxy to be equally valid expressions of Judaism. Human nature tends to make us feel that our choices are the right ones, and by implication, choices that differ from ours are wrong. However, the movements within Liberal Judaism teach that there are many paths within Judaism; that is an explicit statement on this list. We need to understand that although movements may differ in their approach, and we may not agree with those differences, we must respect their right to take the different approach.
- The purpose of this list is to discuss issues, not people. Focus your responses on the issues, not the person who made the comment.
- Writing on the list should be respectful. We all get enthused about our subjects. Sometimes, this enthusiasm comes across wrong; in particular, it leads us to result to ad hominem attacks, attacks on individuals, impuing of motives, etc. That is not conducive to positive discussion. Submissions that do not treat others with respect (even when you don't personally think they deserve it) will be returned for rework.
- Avoid stereotyping and sweeping generalities, such as defining whole groups behavior by the behavior of some.
With respect to discussions about the movements in Judaism and what they say:
- Movements should be judged by their own standards, not those of other movements.
- The focus of this list is Liberal Judaism. Our discussions should work towards improving Liberal Judaism, and not focus on what is or isn't done by Orthodoxy.
- Given this focus, it is not the job of this list to try to make other movements better. I recognize that Judaism teaches us that we must work to make the world a better place, and that for some readers, doing this involves trying to make other movements fit their definition of "better" (and this is true for any direction of movement you think). Please keep your focus on improving Liberal Judaism within the paradigm established by Liberal Judaism. Don't try to improve other movements or apply their standards to Liberal Judaism. Why? By doing so, you (a) indicate that you don't respect a different movement's right to take a difference approach, and (b) dilute the list from a focus on Liberal Judaism.
I welcome you to 
mlj_on_lj