Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

On Sun, August 5, 2007 5:11 pm, George Athas wrote:

> (6)  Although we do not expect everyone to have a PhD in Hebrew or
> biblical
> studies, we do demand rigorous logic in the discussion of Hebrew (and
> logic
> is not just the possession of the Professor [some would even question
> that!]). As such, if you join in a conversation on B-Hebrew, you need to
> own
> your own comments and be accountable for the things you say (just as a
> conference participant is responsible for a paper they might give, or the
> questions they may ask there). The beauty of B-Hebrew is that it opens up
> the forum not just to the world-renowned expert, but also to the amateur.
> However, this does not override the fact that we are pursuing scholarly
> interaction in a scholarly forum.

This is, without a doubt, the greatest feature of b-hebrew for me.  While
I never got the chance to do the Ph.D., I got my Masters and have had some
things published, yada yada yada.  But because of the lack of the final
degree, "institutional affiliation" is a phrase that has never applied to
me.  Nonetheless, in this forum I can rub shoulders with the giants and
have an equal voice.  It is because of forums like this one that I call
the Internet "The Great Equalizer."  There are no words in either English
or Hebrew to describe how grateful I am for such a place to air and
compare ideas.  Signing my name is a small price to pay, at least for me. 
In the case of "Jane," I understand her concern since I have three single
daughters who are beginning to make their way in the world.  At the same
time, I don't think most of us would have known she was in Australia if
she hadn't told us; a bare name really doesn't tell much, and of someone
really wants to track her down using routing information from her email
headers, presence or absence of her name probably isn't going to make much
difference.  That's just my considered opinion, along with my hearty THANK
YOU to the moderators for their continuing hard work in making this forum
possible.

-- 
Dave Washburn
Why do it right when you can do it again?