A Note To Readers — Especially New Ones
TMV has occasionally gets new readers and we’ve had some since the elections. This is to clue new readers as well as old ones in on some changes and to restate how it works here:
There are differing center voices. If you look at any election poll you will not see that 100 percent of the centrists, moderates and independents voted the same way. Nor will you find people on TMV all agreeing with each other. Sometimes the agreements are big ones.
We feel differing ideas don’t cause brain cancer. If we do a roundup it will include links to blogs of all types. We routinely link to blogs on the left, right and to the centrist blogs, which are probably linked the least on the blogosphere. If you see a news post, oftentimes you’ll see links to stories written from varying viewpoints.
We have run Guest Voice posts from readers who have something to say. These aren’t posts that are in attack mode, hurling adjectives around. But they can be strong opinion analyses. These are from people who don’t have blogs or bloggers who have something thoughtful to say to our diverse readership.
We are adding some new cobloggers. Each has a different perspective and style. This weekend passions ran high, even among our cobloggers. I have asked everyone who writes on this site to email their concerns to me in the future about the site and we can discuss it privately.
But this site changes in character each day (or even hour) depending on who is writing and what the subject that’s being addressed. One day it may seem squarely centrist; another more to the left; another to the right. How do we know this? Because we have lost readers (and some people who left tips in the tip jar) who were angry if the site didn’t contain THEIR point of view and definition of the center every single day. There may be wonderful sites where you can go to read everything you already believe. But that is unlikely to happen here since we encourage dialogue and different viewpoints.
Our blogroll is constantly changing. We eliminate inactive sites and add new ones to our Left, Right, Center and Other categories. This is a WORKING blogroll that I use so I don’t leave anything on it that hasn’t been updated in weeks. (If your site has been removed and you are updating it please contact us).
Someone commented that the site has “jumped the shark” due to some posts. No. The point is that this site is constantly changing every single day with a variety of links and the occasional Guest Voice post or even Guest Voice DVD review.
There is a common thread and it is that it’s written from the perspective of centrists (who can be center left, center right or center and passionate and respectfully disagree with each other) and the independent voter who tends to read, think, discuss and then decide. Some on the left and right think this constant evaluation is a weakness; centrists and independents tend to think it is a strength. People do disagree..
12 Responses to “A Note To Readers — Especially New Ones”
I would personally prefer you address Andrew’s point directly.
If there is a FAQ that I have missed, please feel free to refer me there. Is there a procedure for being added to or recommending and item for your blogroll?
If you have a site, then go to CONTACT and gmail me. I look at all sites. I’ve only delinked ones that aren’t current, ones that dont’ answer our emails if we email them or blogroll us when we blogrolled them as a reciprocal, or blogs that indulge in very personal attacks. I don’t read blogs that get highly personal about this site or its cobloggers and I use the blogroll as my working blogroll. You’ll see some GREAT smaller sites on it. When I do a roundup I usually check various sites on my blogroll and link to them.
Who occused this site of “jumping the shark”? I missed that. Regardless, I think the site is the strongest I’ve seen it — and it the content grows fresher, more engaging every week if not day.
Can’t please everyone. Keep doing what you’re doing.
I am nothing short of amazed by what the whole underwear photo ignited. I really just don’t see why this is any different from any other post on any other subject with differences of opinion. Some people think it’s offensive, others don’t. Some people think it’s relevant, others don’t. Some people think the message was X, others think it was Y. All in all, your regular TMV post on a controversial subject. No biggie, no bloody revolution.
I do believe that you can’t just tell someone “you don’t have the right to be offended”. Sorry but offence is hardly something you can control. I appreciate how sick everyone is of false outrage, but it looked to me as if the LDS folks writing (and I guess they linked from an LDS blog, lots of new names) were honestly offended. That’s fine, and if you are offended you have the perfect right to say so and ask to have the offensive material removed or apologized for. The “offending” party has the right to not do so and then you have the right to leave or try to garner support from others to preasure the offender.
Little suggestion though; “That picture is offensive to my faith because it appears to be a joke about a sacred garment important to my people. I think you can make your point without it and would appreciate it being removed” is going to work better than “You are a bigot and could care less about offending my people, while you make sure to treat other faiths with care. This blog is so slanted as to be worth nothing!”
Everyone has their sacred cows. I once asked (and got) the removal of a picture of the train bombings in Madrid because they weren’t needed for the post and caused me personal pain. Michael understood and removed the picture, but when I asked I didn’t call him an insensitive jerk and expressed that I understood why others wouldn’t be bothered by the picture.
All the controversy on this blog is stimulating to me and helps me learn about myself.
We all react differently to challenges to our beliefs. Some over react and some under react.
Let me offer a few insights from the perspective of a Mormon. Yes the photos are offensive. Yes, TMV has a right to keep them up. I’m not going to riot and kill like some posts have suggested if I don’t get my way. What has been very illuminating has been the rationale for keeping it up:
We have some real gems from Holly. They include:
1. A discussion of menstrual blood and seminal emissions as they relate to Mormon underwear.
2. The fact that (unlike Mormons) Jews don’t worship objects (Mormons obviously worship their underwear!)
3. An argument that if the photos are in wikipedia that they must not be offensive. (Try a search for “Muhammad cartoon controversy� and see what you find. Did those get posted here?)
4. The fact that she has a personal gripe against the Mormon church due to her father being in the LDS genealogical database.
We have Shaun talking about how Mormons “parade their religion all over the world, primarily Africa.� I assume that this somehow implicitly justifies an attack on the Mormon religion.
And lastly, we have Greg saying that the comments policy was really only intended to apply to anti-semitic language and that he thinks religious sensitivity is a bad idea anyway.
We also have Greg posting (trolling?) on a Mormon blog site that, “since you have some unusual religious practices and don’t kill people, you’re fair game.� Until I saw this post I had no idea what was going on, but I have to admit that the aggressive tone of his post piqued my curiosity.
For those wondering about the response from the Mormon community, these are some of the reasons.
Let me just say I’m glad to see Shaun on this site. I read his blog (in fact I think because TMV linked to it at one point) and he is opinionated, but fair. I’m a little taken aback by the intensity of the undergarment set-to, but I didn’t see much in the way of invective and it gave me good cause to investigate my thoughts on religious tolerance, fairplay and free speech. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a good thing. I have the luxury of not having belief in a dogma of received wisdom, though, so it’s tough to offend me.
Also, as for Shaun not taking Ann Althouse seriously enough; come now, calling her “Annie Pooh” is a little childish, but how serious were the “Clinton and the blogger’s breast wars” a few months back?
The blog’s fine, as far as I’m concerned, and I read it everyday to take the online pulse, as it were.
i’d just like to say that i view all religions with an equal amount of contempt.
carry on.
Herodotus, I think you have pulled ALL of my comments that you mentioned WAY out of context.
The posts are here on your own site. I’m sure people can decide for themselves.
I see that the photo has been removed. I will exit your website again as quickly as I entered. Let me just say this:
Holly, I honestly found your comments as well as those of other bloggers to be very derisive. I didn’t post here today because I had nothing better to do. I was offended.
If you tell me that this was unintentional — that I’m too sensitive and reading too much between the lines — then in the spirit of reconciliation I’ll believe you. I never enjoy internet arguments. I think that lacking all the communication provided by body language and vocal inflection there is too much room to assume the worst.