This is a very sound and well reasoned response. (Please don't judge
the quality of the program by the responses on this topic!) I feel
sorry in this context for people with real problems -- like the person
who wrote that they had 3 same-sex marriages in the family and how
should they record them? This is a reality outside the morality of the
issue. We have a relative (born 1896!) who was the result of a rape.
Because rape is abhorrent, should we ignore the relative? I would hope
we could discuss the problems involved, not the morality.
Elizabeth C
Stacey Connella wrote:
I certainly hope the petty arguments I see on in this list aren't
representative of all the Legacy users. I'm currently evaluating Legacy against
RootsMagic after 15 years on FTM. All things being equal between the two (i.e.,
same number of pros and cons, and neither being lacking in any key features I
consider to be essential to my style of research), I must say that the tone of
this thread is enough to be the tie-breaker (in favor of RM3).
I find it astonishing that an obviously legitimate, family history subject should be
banned. Note, I said family history, not genealogy. Let's face it... the vast majority of
people working on family trees, are NOT engaged in academic genealogy of a purist nature.
They are recording everything they find to be relevant to their family's history,
everything that might be potentially meaningful to future generations. This type of
research and documentation is much more about family relationships than blood lines. As
long is this list is not restricted exclusively to Legacy users who are rigidly academic
genealogical purists, the subject is without question a legitimate one. It could even be
argued that it's extremely relevant to pure genealogy, as well. After all, if
homosexuality is ever proven to be genetically determined, one might expect future
members of their blood line to find it helpful to to know whether it "runs in the
family".
I've only been on list a few weeks, but nearly every time I've seen the topic
raised, it's been in a process-related vein. People simply want to know the
best way of documenting these relationships in their family histories and/or
how to process them specifically with their Legacy software. There is nothing
about the decision to include this subject in their histories that is any more
wrong or offensive than any other of the other non-mainstream events that come
up -- things like children born out of wedlock, philandering, insanity, murder,
mixed race relationships, and so on. (I'm guessing most of these might be
similarly offensive to those who have a moral objection to homosexuality; if
so, I'd be curious to know how they deal with these *problems* in their family
trees.)
Granted, users SHOULD search the archives before posting any query, but the reality is that they often don't. Or, if they do, perhaps they fail to find the previous discussions of a topic. So, when a repeat query is posted, why can't somebody simply reply with the link? This POLITELY and helpfully provides the desired assistance, AND effectively ends the thread. As far as I can see, the only reason the discussion goes on and on and on and on is because users feel compelled to respond with their opinions on (1) the appropriateness or inappropriateness of same sex relationships, (2) whether it's right or wrong for Legacy not to revise its code in order to more easily deal with these relationships, or, (3) most frequently, whether the query should even be posed in the first place. This final response always seems to be based on the argument that too many people are offended by the topic, or that it's genealogically inappropriate to record such relationships.
I see similarly heated responses to other subjects, especially adoption. So why has this volatile subject not been banned?
Bottom line: These argumentative, critical, complaining, arrogant responses are counterproductive, and FAR more offensive than the subject originally raised. The purpose of the list is to HELP each other, not tear everyone down. So, if somebody asks for help, it seems that a bunch of supposedly grown people could choose to either do so, or to ignore the subject, just as they do with virtually every other topic raised.
Sorry to have written a dissertation, but this whole thing just strikes me as
not only absurd, but utterly childish.
Stacey
P.S.
For the record, I am not homosexual, insane, adopted, or any of the other
things discussed. Some of these do occur in my family. For that matter, they
probably occur to one degree or another in almost all families. A fact is a
fact whether I record it or not. Since I engage in genealogy out of a great
love of history, research, my heritage, my children, and the pursuit of
knowledge, it's not for me to *edit* or censor the facts. If it's reality,
whether it's good or bad, a source of pride or embarrassment, interesting or
boring, it still DOES belong the history. Period. My two cents.
Feel free to flame me on or off list... 8-D
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 8:56 PM
To: LegacyUserGroup@legacyfamilytree.com
Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Please take it off list
Could you please explain just why a group of people having a sane and
civilized discussion about a subject should be told to take it off list when those offended by it have a simple solution at hand- the delete key. After all, the subject is clearly stated and there is no digest mode so they have to make an active choice to read that which upsets them; or perhaps it is those offended who should be asked to go to another list.
-----Original Message-----
I have had numerous requests today to ban the subject of same-sex
marriages. Because several people are getting upset again, please take this subject off list. LUG subscribers are free to exchange e-mail messages between themselves, or they may join the RootsWeb mailing list for Legacy Family Tree at http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Software/LEGACY.html
and carry on the discussion there.
Thank you,
Jim Terry
Technical Support
Legacy Family Tree
Legacy User Group guidelines:
http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp
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http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/
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