Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/13

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Subject: [Leica] The loss of any member is a loss for us all
From: Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au>
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 19:34:21 +1000
References: <f01050101-1013-077E41074EA611D687A2003065C7DF66@[10.0.1.17]>

>On 4/12/02 (SonC) Sonny Carter  wrote:
>
>>
>>The quality of Erwin Puts' work is not in question, and never has been, even
>>by his detractors. The title of the post that so offended Erwin seemed
>>jocular to me.  I did not see animosity there.
>>
>
>It seemed *at least* snotty to me and but denigrating is more like it.

Our shame on this group is that someone who to my knowledge never 
made a "nasty" or unkind comment to anyone, feels so unwelcome that 
they are unable to be proud to be on the LU list. Look into your 
souls, and you should feel some of the shame I now feel, and I don't 
believe I've personally hurt anyone on this list. Perhaps the 
"critics" were well intentioned, perhaps the hound dogs feel every 
wound should be exploited, but a community should have more 
compassion, more tolerance and less harsh words for its members. 
There is nothing wrong with questioning the validity of any 
statement, but there is no reason to doubt any person's honesty. I 
suspect 99.9999% of the members of this list are well meaning, 
honest, thoughtful people. If you assume this, you will probably not 
be "unrewarded". Every member I've met, ---- and I've met quite a lot 
of you now, has been worth knowing. Every "bad" story about a member 
is counted by good ones from those who have personally met the 
individual.

Last night I watched the first of a series on the "White tribe" of 
England; the moral of the first episode was that somehow a proud 
nation had lost its pride and was hiding behind the achievements of 
old and the culture of others. Young men who did not know how to 
celebrate the fact that they were English, who watched others 
celebrating their culture and identity and lamented the pitiful 
emotions stirred by St Georges day.  We largely "western" peoples 
need to be proud of our fathers, kind to our friends, and live in a 
way which benefits us and our families without hurting the 
aspirations or goals of others. I wonder if the decline in Western 
culture may be in its inability to celebrate life and appreciate the 
life of others.

May we live in peace, may we try to understand the other person, and 
may we please get back to discussing photography with fine (if 
somewhat "useless") instruments.
- -- 
Alastair Firkin

http://www.afirkin.com

http://www.familyofman2.com
- --
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Replies: Reply from "Karina Klaas" <shutterbug@iinet.net.au> (Re: [Leica] The loss of any member is a loss for us all)
In reply to: Message from Adam Bridge <abridge@idea-processing.com> (Re: [Leica] No! No!, Erwin!)