Dear Jenny, and anyone else who happens to be interested.
This is not a school. It is just a friendly forum. It is not a formal thing. We are all talking and sharing here, but there are no diplomas given for good work. It is not possible to cheat for marks or to get an unearned certificate. The stars are passing things that soon fade into the back pages.
I am only a simple member of this forum. I have no special standing. I'm a native English speaker, which has some value here to others, but that is all. It doesn't give me any authority. My only responsibility is to help the forum to be stronger and more interesting. I am not a policeman of others here. Why should I tell on people? I don't think it is my place to do so.
If someone posts an article and does not say that it was written by somebody else it still may be good for the forum. Therefore, since my first concern is things that are good for the forum, and it has not damaged the forum to post it, I didn't see a need to say anything. I mind my own business in life, and do not gossip about others. I don't assert myself to take action about the doings of others in life unless it seems to me to be about something that can cause true damage. Moneytalks fooling you about whether she wrote all the articles or not didn't seem to me to be likely to cause any real injury to anybody.
I know, Jenny, that you were shocked that I can be quite fierce when I think it is needed. Well, so you now know me a little better. You needn't fear that I will use it on you because I would never do it. I rarely feel it is needed at any time. You also can see that I listened carefully to Pointout's explanation, considered it and decided that he made valid points. Then I fully apologized to him. Now it is his turn to decide how to respond to my sincere apology. If you think he hasn't read it because he has left, then maybe somebody here would be kind enought to point it out to him. "The ball is now in his court" to use an idiom.
I only speak out strongly like that if I think something is of true and lasting danger or value. I thought that Moneytalks needed understanding and compassion and feared for her that she might be injured in her heart and her courage, in a lasting way. I think she is more vulnerable than she appears to be.
Quite a long time ago there was a topic on the forum about wearing masks. Many said they wear masks here and other places. Posting the articles of others is a kind of mask, too. I don't wear any mask. When I was 16 years old I decided that I would never wear a mask anywhere. I remember the very day, place and weather when I took the decision. At first it was hard to do without it. I felt bare and unprotected. Now it is habit. What I am is what you see.
That's about all I have to say on this matter. I am glad others have kindly moved on, and so will I. The main point I made is that this is not a school. There are no marks. There is no diploma. The only ones who were cheated here were those who thought Moneytalks wrote eveything she sent, and therefore thought she was able to do more than she can. You are disappointed. Did that *really* injure you?
It is not my job to police other people's morals. So if somebody cheats it is not my job to point it out. My job is to be a straight, moral person myself. Someone who does not cheat or steal or do any of the other things we all know are not good.
My job is to be like a farmer who is plowing a field. He has to hold the plough strongly in the furrow and keep it straight. If he looks to the right and left at his neighbours' furrows instead of minding his own, then his furrow will become crooked. I watch my own furrow to keep it straight. I mind my own business.
You may not agree with me. That is alright. Maybe our cultures differ in this, and that may interest you as a forum topic. I was taught as a child that "tale-bearing" was being a "tattle-tale". We speak here of "not telling tales out of school. That too, is alright. I was taught as a child in in Sunday School about the story of The Woman Taken in Adultery. This story is in the Christian Gospel stories of the doings of Jesus. A woman was found in adultery. The Jewish elders, priests and people gathered around her to stone her to death. Jesus stepped forward and said to them: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Not one stone was cast, and the woman went free. Jesus was a very compassionate Being. He also knew the hearts and doings of the ones who would judge and kill her. I hasten to point out that I know this isn't on the topic of Moneytalks's article repostings, but you can see how it is part of my culture, and would influence me in my thinking about wrong-doers.
In your culture do you have a different set of lessons taught to children about gossip and tale-bearing?
With my affection to you dear Jenny, who need never fear my fierce side, and my kindest wishes to all of you.
Your friend, Mary
