I think that expectation is wrong. When one discusses, one tends to put out his or her opinion from their individual perspective. It might be wrong or right.
The only onus that one can shove on the shoulders of individuals are that they place their arguments cleanly, without any personal attacks*, courteously and provide means to verify their claims so that others can double check - like links to books, articles and other sources.
The other option is to totally disallow any religious talk.
I think the problem with this group is that it has been existing for sometime now and scholars, authors and amateur historians have thoroughly discussed PS, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, TN history etc. Historical news from the real world does not come fast enough for us to discuss. So we keep churning and discuss tangential subjects that are connected with history.
It is a tough decision for the group.
BTW, I think people have to start pointing with all five fingers :-)))))
*venkat and shankar have descended into that now. Sorry to say that. I don't know who started the fire.
that should give a free hand to the moderators to disallow any topic that has religious tones and delete mails in other topics that are considered to be contrary to the motives of the group
The answer to your question as a minority in foreign nation can be bad! But as professional you move in an educated circle but there are indercurrents there all the time. Vellaikaran atleast on surface will attempt to be equal!
I don't think anywhere else you will have taxpayers money given to built a large temple complex for a ethnic minority. Balaji Temple in Birmingham has been funded partly by the millenium project The land I understand was agoin leased from the local council...having said that they are encouraging religoius harmony in their small way in reciprocation...there are 7 small figuritive hills...one dedicted to each major religion..buddism..christianity..Islam...etc and the biggest for Balaji..
Malathi
Though I agree with your point regarding minority feeling.
I take exception to two points..the Dalits and backwords may not feel the difference I think is politically uncorrect..Infact they I think will feel better here than home atleast you respected for what you are professionally!there was nice chapter in Inspite of the gods by Edward Luce..where he interviews a Principal of a big instituition in a city ..well respected by all..however cannot walk with slippers in his home village...(before any one starts its Western media propaganda...This man is married to an Indian and lives in India and it is actually a very good book on India)
Shankar
I am really sorry I have to agree with Venkat..Please do not believe all you read or hear...Bobby Jindal converted when he was in Highschool may be he had ambitions but nobody forced him to convert to become a Governor!!
from Wikipaedia
Holyoake invented the term "secularism" to describe his views of promoting a social order separate from religion, without actively dismissing or criticizing religious belief. An agnostic himself, Holyoake argued that "Secularism is not an argument against Christianity, it is one independent of it. It does not question the pretensions of Christianity; it advances others. Secularism does not say there is no light or guidance elsewhere, but maintains that there is light and guidance in secular truth, whose conditions and sanctions exist independently, and act forever. Secular knowledge is manifestly that kind of knowledge which is founded in this life, which relates to the conduct of this life, conduces to the welfare of this life, and is capable of being tested by the experience of this life."[8]
btwa UK and US are not called secular It is France and India, south korea,mexico
GRS
I am talking about the masses ...My children know about the heritage of ancient tamils and our culture..
let us not forget the British dug out our history and educated us...Indus as well as a lot of temples which were in ruins including our beloved bigtemple, so the average Joe public who doesn't know this because we don't have enough of it in our history books...its only Indus..Kushans..Moarya..gupta..Asokha..Harsha..Mughals...british(half a page on Tamil kings and Vijayanagaram..)
They can easily be led astray by these fictory(fiction+history) movies.
Even our learned member Sankar believes that a true Hindu Bobby Jindal had to convert christianity to become a Governor...in a country let us face it the president is a son of a Kenyan with a middle name Hussain.
GRS
Have you decided when you are closing MEET THE TAMILIAN....I THOUGHT PEOPLE WERE GOING TO WRITE A FEW WORDS ON THE MAN THEY WANTED TO MEET AND WHY
Sri
If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin, Into his nest again, I shall not live in vain. Emily Dickinson
I whole heartedly agree. Also with one more thought that members suggested to me offline - don't respond to people whose way of talking or expressing opinions is not in line with our way of talking or shall i say our secular beliefs. Majority i have seen with whom these controversies arise are those with very strong emotions and sentiments - to put it very simply Fox News thinks they are neutral. Long time ago during the pre cable days Doordarshan called itself politically neutral too. Those who have watched these channels know what it is but you can never get the channel followers or viewers to admit since they inherently beleive certain things.
So if we who dont want it get a 'hindu channel' here, tune out, that is all, plain and simple.
Also i hope this is only religion related discussions and not informative posts. I've greatly enjoyed the nuggets of wisdom posted by Ravi, recently by Gandhi on Saiva Siddhantha. Knowledge only posts should be encouraged.
Long time ago during the pre cable days Doordarshan called itself politically neutral too.
in college days most skits used to do a spoof on doordarshan especally " seythi surukkum" " rajiv gandhi vazhga, sonia gandhi vazhga. virivaana seythigan ettu manikku.
venketesh
Those who have watched these channels know what it is but you can never get the channel followers or viewers to admit since they inherently beleive certain things. > > So if we who dont want it get a 'hindu channel' here, tune out, that is all, plain and simple. > > Malathi >
That is a very unfair or incorrect assessment of people. The "secularists" (or pseudo-secularists) are equally susceptible to strong emotions and sentiments. If they are not, then they can not stand up for what they believe. In fact they are the more "thotta sinnugees".
Fox News does not think it is neutral, they call themselves. They are in the money making business. Just because someone (or others) call an entity something "communal", "secular" or "pseudo-secular" they do not become.
It boils down to simply this - either we encourage or discourage a topic because that is not what this group is setup for; anything else is just acting holier than Pope or Karl Marx.
Let me just add my tuppence worth. I am absolutely against any censorship. If a bunch of educated individuals as exist in this group can't have a rational discussion on even the most "touchy" topics, what hope is there for any rational discussion anywhere?
If you don't like something, don't read it. Don't, for the Universe's sake, limit discussion on any topic.
Hi Arun, am all with you except that no meaningful discussion is possible without direction or a moderator stepping in to soothe tensions when they arise. Unmoderated debates can easily stretch into very long and sometimes even abusive arguments.
Moderators here already are busy professionals like you and me. Since they cannot get involved so deeply the only option is to avoid certain topics.
All I have been a hovering member of the group for more than 2 years. And I have been very impressed with the level of knowledge this group has and have learnt a lot from it.
So, please do not mistake my opinions here.
As somebody who cannot afford to spend a lot of time on this group, recently, I have been completely overwhelmed by the group - unfortunately in a negative way.
Where earlier, most posts had merit and had something to offer, recently, it has been a search in haystack to find info of value. The discussions constantly veer into tangential topics. Also, more importantly, there are more posts with esoteric opinions than fact-based analysis.
When I saw the posts going on about the 500 mails on Swami Vivekananda's bday, I immediately signed off :( I'd rather see 5 good informative posts on Vivekananda rather than 500 pieces of bits and bytes.
We all have lots of opinions on any topic (even ones that we know tuppence about!) and are compelled to voice them :) However, I think there is a need for bulletin board etiquette where any post should have valuable insights or probing questions that advance understanding of the topic.
If my request sounds pertinent to many group members, I request moderators to consider how this group can help drive all of us towards a better understanding of PS and Tamil history/culture.
Looking forward to years of productive discussions, Deepa