From: Valence (valence10@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Jun 23 2004 - 00:44:46 BST
To all,
As a Pirsig enthusiast for almost a decade and a half, a member of this
discussion group since near its inception, and a member of the Steering
Committee, I write this post with a heavy heart. But in the past few months
I have seen the discussion in this group degenerate from rational
philosophical explorations of Pirsig's philosophy to petty political
squabbling of the most disgusting kind (like an email version of CNN's
"Crossfire" but where the participants try to bolster their positions by
referring to Pirsig quotes) and increasingly vicious ad hominem attacks.
Today I came home and was greeted by one particular post which came off as
little more than a brazenly anti-semitic rant about how the war in Iraq is
the result of a vast zionist conspiracy that controls the American
government. On the level of argument, I can only say that this theory is so
far beyond preposterous and riddled with logical holes as to be unworthy of
intellectual reply. To the author that post, I can say only that I
sincerely hope I have misinterpreted you, but otherwise, I think you're
beneath contempt, an insult to Pirsig's legacy, and that your presence is a
stain on this forum.
I would never dream of asking Horse to ban someone just because I disagreed
with the content of their ideas, but neither will I continue to subject
myself to the socially hateful and intellectually vapid bickering that this
list has been reduced to. First it just quieted me down... then it turned
me into a strict lurker... now I'm through.
Over the past six or seven years (I can't even remember how long it's been),
I believe I have learned a great deal from various forum members who greatly
contributed to my understanding of Pirsig, philosophy, people and life in
general (and I hope maybe I helped some of them learn a thing or two). To
all of those people, I offer my warmest gratitude and my best wishes for the
future. I am also hard at work on an essay for the forum which I still plan
to complete (and I hope will be of some value to someone). I have yet to
decide whether I will continue on in the MF beyond this month (the MF, I'm
happy to say, seems to have retained its traditionally high quality of
discussion), but I'm done with MD for the foreseeable future.
That's all. You may now resume the cacophony.
take care,
rick.
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