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At 08:42 14.01.00 -0500, you wrote: >i am curious about the recent flurry of reflections on what's appropriate to the >list. does this mean that the request for some passages of john c. on the jews >are not welcome? or just that any reflections on their relationship to 20th cn >infelicities is off bounds? Dear Richard, I hope that I am not boring you too much by repeating the obvious once more: 1. This list is for discussing medieval religion, medieval Christian religion as well as other religions of the medieval period and also (not the least) their relations with each other. 2. As long as we keep this as our focus, we may well occasionally include the patristic period (and Chrysostom's texts on the jews), although there are more appropriate lists for doing this at greater length, e.g. Lt-Antiq and Elenchus. 3. When we discuss matters regarding medieval (or, occasionally, patristic) religion, it is perfectly legitimate to reflect also on their relationship to our times. It is not only legitimate, but also enlightening, as you yourself have proven more than once. But it should primarily serve our understanding of the medieval past (it goes without saying that it should also serve our understanding of the present) and should thus rather be instrumental than become a purpose in itself. Also it should be done in a considerate and unoffending way. We have collected on this list member of quite a number of various religious communities and cultural backgrounds, many of them regarding religion not as a matter of purely academic interest, and it would not serve our purpose of enlightening us if critical reflection was phrased as hostile attack. Yours, Otfried ------------------------------------------------------------- Otfried Lieberknecht ([log in to unmask], http://www.lieberknecht.de) D-12163 Berlin, Schoeneberger Str. 11, tel. ++49 +30 8516675 ------------------------------------------------------------- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%