[Cialug] Promotion and Faith. (Was RE: A little something for everyone)

[Matthew Nuzum]

On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 5:40 PM, Josh More <MoreJ at alliancetechnologies.net>wrote:

>  However, the faith issue is a problematic one.  I've been thinking about
> it for hours, and I think I've uncovered what the fundamental issue here
> is.  Our group is about open source software and open source ideals.  We
> tend to not directly discuss the ideals very often, but they're there
> nonetheless.  I think that what bothered me the most about this wasn't the
> clear faith-based slant, but the segmentation of society.  I believe that
> the intent here was to say that original poster was willing to work on other
> projects, but is unwilling to devote his personal time to someone that does
> not share his personal beliefs.  That's fine.  However, the "us vs them"
> where one side gets time and support and the other side gets cash seems
> counter to the inclusiveness of our group.
>
>
Josh, I think you've made the point pretty clearly here. It's important to
remember the context of this list. On Facebook or my personal blog I share
my opinions on a variety of topics, including religious topics. On this list
I share my opinions about Linux (and you all know I'm opinionated). That's
not to say that I hide how I feel about those other topics; anyone who cares
to know more than my name will quickly know where I stand. But even if
"keeping it professional" isn't exactly a requirement for this list, keeping
it about Linux, open source or at least to the technical fringes is a good
policy. Especially in the communication mediums that are archived for the
world to see. [1]

I think that Brian crossed a boundary here. I don't think that putting your
favorite bible verse in the .sig on your e-mail is any more wrong than your
favorite Franklin quote or even your favorite Karl Marx quote. People on
this list know that that is the quiet, personal space where you can express
your individuality (keeping in mind [1] again of course).

However, lets say that the original e-mail were actually for a hired
position. That e-mail would certainly be deemed illegal for most employers
in Iowa. That alone makes it unprofessional. I have worked for an
organization who was legally allowed to list certain religious views as a
requirement and they did not advertise in such a forward manner. It is
simply asking for people to be offended and make a commotion and ultimately,
it would not help them. In public job postings they listed the name of their
organization and their purpose clearly, so that no one would be confused,
and they clearly told potential applicants of their special requirements and
their special charter allowing them to have these requirements personally
during the first contact.

But most interesting, they did not usually advertise in such a public place.
Instead, they relied on word of mouth advertising for help when they hired
individuals or took on contract work. In other words, they were discreet.

Here are a couple extra tips:

 1. Be very sensitive when posting things that look like job posts
 2. Be even more sensitive when playing (or offering) the role of head
hunter
 3. Offensive words should be omitted. If you think someone would be
offended by a word, don't simply remove a letter and pretend people won't be
offended. I don't consider "Godly" to be a swear word but Brian was
apparently concerned and somehow thought removing the letter "o" would be
gentler. I think instead it had the opposite effect.

As we get ready for politicians to begin their decent on Iowa (as, many
have) we need to remember that people we interact with can often have very
different views and perspectives in the worlds of politics and religion.
These two topics tend to get people charged up more than about anything
(except maybe shameless promotion of the world's best code editor [2]).
Realize that e-mails on these subjects sent to the public mailing list
probably won't be on-topic (or will quickly be taken off-topic) nor have any
chance of swaying people's opinions. The only probable outcome of mentioning
either of these two topics even casually will be to cause strife.

And lastly, I've found it quite enlightening to expose myself to people who
have different perspectives on the world. Working with people who's views
vary from mine, and when appropriate discussing them, has helped me better
understand and clarify in my own mind what and why I feel as I do. I would
strongly suggest that Brian would be best served by looking for technical
merit first and foremost and, I'm hoping I'm not stepping out of bounds
here, have faith that the right candidate will surface.

[1] http://cialug.org/pipermail/cialug/
[2] Vim. Yeah, I said it.

-- 
Matthew Nuzum
newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin, identi.ca and twitter

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -Benjamin Franklin
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