[FM] waterbug cd

[POPENSOAP at aol.com]

i am a newbie to this newsletter. i am the leader of chicago's old town 
school of folk music's first friday songwriters circle. i'd like to weigh in on the 
anti-bush cd by waterbug. as it has been pointed out, folk singing and 
politics have been together a long time. i do believe that lyrics can help bring 
about understanding and change. perhaps that's idealistic, but we all need to 
hope and dream for a better world. it doesn't happen all at once though and i've 
always believed that you get more people on your side with the sweet than with 
the sour. when i lead our group, one of my few dictates is respect. there are 
artists on the waterbug cd that i know, love, and respect although i may 
disagree with them on certain issues. my rule about respect came from an 
individual who came in with a brutal song. no intelligence just anger. am i more or 
less likely to listen to his point of view ? my desire is that someone sings me a 
song that is so moving and brilliant that i can not help but be changed by 
it, and if not changed, at least understand my fellow writer. our group has 
people of all beliefs. we need to respect them all as much as we can. certainly 
there are more liberals than conservatives. does that give them a mandate to 
ride roughshod over people who don't agree. there are probably more christians 
than muslims in the group. would we stand for making light of their core beliefs 
? i really don't believe in censorship at all, but i do believe in respect. 
thanks for listening and truly, peace. steve joyner