Posted by Judith McRae on February 22, 1996 at 21:11:44:
In Reply to: A Cyberspace Independence Declaration posted by John Perry Barlow on February 14, 1996 at 20:55:56:
It is necessary that we all understand that
this censorship bill came into effect because we,
the Cyberspace community, were too engrossed
in our own little computer screens (and I count
myself among the guilty) to realize that while we
were discovering beautiful new worlds of freedom,
and awestruck by the pure essence of our souls
reflected back to us in our computer screens,
distilled
through the purifying penance of long hours of
battle with the demons of code and configuration,
our parents, our friends and our siblings,
so disparagingly referred to here as "the old world"
looked on uncomprehending, mistaking the words we
uttered, this new ecstasy of tongues (if, then, else)
which opens the way to true enlightenment, for
pure gibberish; the ecstatic trances into which we
fall before this holy tabernacle of computation,
(whose greenish glow is the tabernacle lamp
that tells us our Holy Grail, the cup that remains
forever full however often we drink from it, is
present within) for simple madness.
They were terrified, because they did not
understand. But how could they understand what
they were not told? And how could they be told,
except that one go to them and tell them? But we
did not. We became self-righteous, and we judged
them unworthy to taste of the never-empty cup.
And so their fear and our self-righteousness
have, in being joined together, caused the Cup
to lose its power. It may indeed become empty,
because we have lost our faith and our joy, and
we have forgotten how to love and share.
The remedy is this: each person out there who
finds this message must share the knowledge they
have about the Internet with someone who has never
seen it. You must not merely talk about it, but
you must show that person how to use it. If you
know how to build a home page, then teach that
person how to build a home page. If you know how
to write an application then teach that person how,
too. The time for mystery is over. Bring your
good work into the daylight so that all may
marvel at the goodness of the computer. Together,
let us banish the fear that has led to this
disasterous turn of events.
Judith McRae
Post a Followup
|