RE: Sinclair matters - Communication Redux

["Rob Cohn" <robc@hfx.andara.com>]

Apologies for quoting the entire message but it's old topic almost and I
wanted to have Neil's thoughts handy for those who wish to revisit...he
pretty well nailed it...

			but...

	There has been an occasional flurry in the past month of Sinclair messages
on my e-mail. An Oak Island posting by Bruce several months back drew me
over to have a look at the Prieury of Sion list for a while and I've been
trying to deal with 70-80 postings a day on that list (about 5% of which
seem to contain some form of nasty Sinclair slagging)... some of them
thousands of words of detailed historical exploration...it's a great deal of
information to absorb...

	What I have noticed about the Sinclair list in that time (aside from
excellent geneology stuff, and infrequent gems from Malimba, Bill Buehler,
Sinclair and others) is:

1	Malcolm, Niven, Rory, Bill, and others are probably worn out from a year
of organizing Sinclair this and Sinclair that...running around the planet,
hanging out of helicopters, and pouring money into their
family...Inevitably, they had lives before this started taking up so much
time - they ploughed a year and more into it and now their lives need some
attention...so they are quiet on the list...there's not a lot of postings
about how nice it is going to be to see each other soon...they'll be back in
time...

2)	The U.S. Presidential sitcom, played with fewer ethics than Hollywood
could write for West Wing, dumped about 40 extra Sinclair notes on me that I
just frankly didn't need and this is not a forum for that stuff...It's why I
don't watch TV and almost enough to push me in favor of a moderator for this
list. Political commentary should be limited to humourous or completely
slanderous personal comments only about recognized public figures, call it:
The Letterman-Leno standards...no response should be tolerated as these
comments are considered rhetorical and although some people understand the
timing of a great line, others don't know when to stop.

3)	Dr. Tim Wallace Murphy has immersed his entire being in questions
surrounding your Sinclair family for several years...as an "explorer" of
"academic" "truth" he is "passionately immersed" in his "art" of "writing"
and becomes "frustrated" when "people" "perpetuate" what "he" "currently"
"sees" as "dangerous myths"...so he's passionate in his list writing...he's
not actually saying anything on this list about other authors that he
wouldn't say to their faces...that's Dr. Tim...He's giving you a window into
some of the latest information available on this subject in the
world...you're lucky to have him...you should hear musicians talk about each
other's music...you may not all want to read it, but then I don't read every
word of every genealogical nuance myself...You are fortunate to have
Katherine Kurtz around as well...

PC standards may have an upside but a definite downside is the stifling of
debate and ideas...we can't all be nice to each other all the time...we
can't all like each other, or agree with each other, or have the same
style...indeed the only way to ensure mutual survival is mutual and
individual respect for the individual...and maybe even their right to be
wrong...freedom of speech I believe it's called...

I used to be a reviewer...when I said: "the band sucked" the members would
consider it a personal attack...to them, it was...it wasn't to me...I
couldn't care less who was in the band...if they were good, they were
good...if they were not they were not...and I said so...I still do...it
still gets me in trouble...but I have no compulsion to work with or
perpetuate bad music no matter what anyone thinks of me personally...I'm not
in it to make friends...

The responses to Dr. Tim's notes were far more along the lines of ad hominem
attacks than anything I have seen on this list since the Ronald Reagan
dust-up, or the time I told Dr. Tim to take a hike last year...It was an
interesting piece of advice as we actually went hiking together for many
hours September past and now everything's fine...

Know that "reason over passion" is as good a war-cry as many others I have
heard...but extremism generally has negative results that outweigh the
positive ones....

	So lighten up Sinclairs, try to find something to debate besides personal
style and elections...it's going to be a long cold winter...

		Debate is good...
			Passion is good...
	Don't waste your energy attacking each other (could that be termed a
Sinclair trait?)...you should be over on the POS list defending
yourselves...or trying to comprehend Bill Buehler's e-mails...

	Aren't you all supposed to be out looking for the Holy Grail?

				be well,
					rob cohn
					halifax, nova scotia





 -----Original Message-----
From: 	owner-sinclair@matrix.net [mailto:owner-sinclair@matrix.net]  On
Behalf Of Neil Sinclair/Peggy Rintoul
Sent:	Tuesday, November 21, 2000 10:25 AM
To:	sinclair@matrix.net
Subject:	Re: Sinclair matters - Communication

Sinclairs All;
Every so often it is valuable to recall the unique culture of communications
that we have developed on this list that now comes from around the world.
And if there is a foundation it based on respect. Never before in the
history of the world has a family been able to share information, ideas and
communicate so effectively as we have over the past few years. If our
ancestors could only see us now!

It may be valuable to watch and summarize a fraction of the accomplishments
we as a network of individuals have accomplished over the past 2 years since
John started this list and web sites have been developed.
# a forum where the "Clan Chief" can share greetings
# a forum where direct cousins have connected over distance and formed
relationships
# a method where historical lessons have been formulated and exchanged
# a forum where ideas can proliferate, and the human experience can be
observed
# a forum where the Sinclair culture and identity can be appreciated
# a place where the studious abilitiy of our genealogists can abound
# a place which can summons us together to meet in locations around the
world
# a forum where events can be co-ordinated and celebrated
# a place to emote (with respect)
# a place to form friendships over distance and across the lake.
# a place where Sinclair knowledge and culture can be collected for eventual
storeage on web sites for universal consumption.

Like everyone on this list I stand in admiration of our Sinclair individuals
around the world that each in their in their own way create ripples through
their lives that may touch all of us if we are but patient. In the last
weeks I have toured the tunnels  of the Temple of Solomon, learned a bit
about the crusades, chortled on Canadian political culture, and shared
something on Highland Mary. Even when I have nothing to contribute, I am
educated by those around. Keep up the great efforts and I pause to thank you
again John for creating such an excellent forum and starting every day with
something to read about for Sinclair history.  As Niven wisely suggested it
is the values we share and preserve together that can go forward to make
this world a somewhat better place.
Neil Sinclair Toronto/PEI/Forvever Argyll

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