BRODISC

Recently many of us who are discussing an activity dealing with women in islam were asked to move the discussion elsewhere. the discussion is taking place on BRODISC. Usman started the "Concerned in Texas" list to get folks to discuss what the "heck" is going on with muslims post 9/11. We used it to share our outrage, to possibly make some sort of change, at least in our own thought. to discuss, if not to DO something about what was going on in our community. maybe people have Detailed Action Plans for doing something that may actually work. maybe a discussion turns to the"details" of a proposed plan. sometimes its extremely helpful to get comments from as many people as possible, even those who only have "2 cents" nothing more. i think he'll agree that these details are really just more "ideas". the beauty of the forum is that just one simple random post DOES have the power to turn any discussion towards a BETTER direction. But while discussing the women in islam event he said:"The details of this event or revolutions need not be discussed among the 70+ ppl here... The ideas to be disseminated is another thing altogether... thats the purpose of this forum." How do you define details? if its time, place, etc. i agree, a group of volunteers for any ones idea can move elsewhere to discuss THOSE types of details. But what else does "details" include? Is BRODISC yet another place for propogating ("disseminating") preplanned agendas and activities? for those who are clear with EXACTLY what they want to do and how to do it, to simply come and get suckers to join them? suckers from among the 70+ people. should our discussion be simply "i agree" or "i don't agree"? what about asking for a more democratic type exchange regarding a possible solution? aren't we bound to run into discussing certain "details"?he said: "Now having said that, if ppl want to discuss the details, thats fine.... up to you, as long as you think the discussion is relevant to the group in general..." again, i can see how a back and forth about event time and location can be moved elsewhere, and we can leave room in everyone's inbox for discussing more "ideas". but how am i to know what is relevent to this silent majority. i don't know them, only a few of us actually post what we think on the list. what if the only relevent people are the ones participating. Hmm... it seems relevent if a post gets a good response, which the women in islam event is getting. if anything really bothers any of the 70+ they should post their objection to the list rather than complaining to the moderator in private. i joined it because there were/are some great people on the list that have the power to go beyond talk. i don't know why others joined. when i joined we were discussing ideas that may lead to revolutions, so why should we cut the discussions short worrying about what a silent majority thinks is relevent or not? Maybe his intentions and methods for this list narrowed? if they have, i find little use for BRODISC. i'm not in it to participate in discussions about neo-con conspiracy posts that go nowhere, there are other things MORE "relevent" to muslim thought or civilization for me.

leading an event

a group of us were discussing organizing a conference on women and islam, when usman said:"...BTW, what did I tell you Monem... no one stepped up to take the lead on the conference... if only we could wager..."... - his call for some type of leader for this was hasty. it was a bad call. we have not progressed beyond the discussion stage. WHO NEEDS A LEADER to discuss - in the discussions so far we have not decided to do anything specific. what effort am i being called to step up and lead? an anti-wahhabi ISNA masjid revolution, a simple innovative conference, or a progression of the discussion taking place among a small group of texas activists? its still a discussion about a POSSIBLE event to solve a problem that was still under DISCUSSION, and it was just starting to pick up steam and get more focused. people DO step up when things are clearly defined and a call for action is made. someone made a bad vague call in the beginning and no one responded. it was made clearer by mairaj- AND WE RESPONDED. the call was made by monem to get volunteers to a general cause- AND WE RESPONDED. everything else is still under discussion. i believe, you made a call for the wrong thing at the wrong time. in the real world, when the time is right monem (as the isna dude) can appoint a conference chair, or the volunteers can nominate one among themselves. and from among the volunteers so far, there is NOT a single one of US who will back off from taking action for a good cause. I can make excuses too: "oh, i really don't feel like chairing THIS particular committee, cuz...my real passion is for doing...; or, i have other responsibilities like...; or, my time is limited due to..." etc etc etc. Many people WILL give valid excuses, but it only takes ONE in a committee of volunteers who will not! and he should NOT have put people in a position to say NO to lead something so vague. When no one comes forward, it only disheartens the folks that had volunteered to do something good only in its infancy stage. SOME of us ex-UT MSA volunteers and officers ACTUALLY have led and organized before and are READY do it again. peace.