ERA - The Listserv

EARTH RELIGIONS ASSISTANCE LISTSERV (ERAL)

INVITATION TO JOIN EARTH RELIGIONS ASSISTANCE LIST (ERAL)

The Earth Religions Assistance List (ERAL) is dedicated to providing assistance to persons in real legal trouble associated with their religion by acting as a "911" hotline/e-mail list for Earth Religion Rights activists. Nonmembers may contact ERAL through our public contacts or by visiting our Yahoo group at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ERAL

The website links to pages connecting with other organizations related to our purpose, directories of public contacts, and guidance and information pertinent to various Religious Rights topics -- along with more information about ERAL.

As a national network of Earth Religion Rights activists in Cyberspace, many of ERAL's members come from organizations that share our purposes, such as WARD, AREN, PACT, CAW, COG, ATC, CUUPS, ERAA, AMER, the Lady Liberty League, the ACLU, CUUPS, and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Most are Earth Religionists (Pagans, Wiccans, Druids, Unitarian Pagans, etc.), but helpful members of other faiths also belong. Many are attorneys, law students, and/or ordained clergy.

We invite you to join.

HOW WE NEED YOUR HELP

We need volunteers among our members who can help with cases as they come to ERAL's attention, whether it is acting as case coordinator, performing research, etc. We also need volunteers to help with the overall funding and administration of ERAL and associated Internet Initiatives, and to prepare educational material for public release.

HOW ERAL WORKS

Members choose their level of confidentiality. Most of our membership is only known to ERAL members, and a few are only known to the ERAL Moderators and the Membership Coordinator. Some choose to be public ERAL contacts.

Members post requests for help in legal matters involving religious discrimination. Members investigate these problems, determine which ones really involve religious discrimination, provide referrals to people, information, resources and organizations that can help, and help mobilize support. ERAL members are also encouraged to contact the organizations that they are affiliated with and to request their help in these efforts. Some of our members are involved with research on the patterns of discrimination and cases we are dealing with and summaries of what has worked and not worked dealing with them.

Occasional posts on the protection of first amendment freedoms and related legislation and regulations are considered to be on topic, along with the location of related lists, newsgroups, etc. In addition, occasional posts related to the development, availability and distribution of educational materials that will make discrimination less likely are also allowed.

ERAL is a low volume e-mail list, limited to an average of ten posts per day (our monthly average has ranged from 3 to 7 posts per day). An Earth Religions Assistance Communications Lists (ERACL) is also available to ERAL members for detailed discussions of other matters (media issues, administrative matters, etc.), detailed discussion of specific cases, as well as general chat among ERAL members. Its e-mail volume has been similar to ERAL. Most ERACL e-mail concerns serious Earth Religion Rights issues, CyberCensorship and what to do about it, and ERLAN administrative matters.

A rare post concerning one of our members who's seriously ill or injured, and who needs healing, is on topic. But check first before posting such a message, since we do not need multiple posts saying the same thing.

ERAL is a partially moderated, private e-mail list at eral@egroups.com with enforceable rules against flaming (very rarely invoked -- the list generally has a very professional atmosphere).

If you are curious how we are organized, basically those who do the ongoing work making the communications happen are the Earth Religion Legal Assistance Network (ERLAN), and we make decisions by consensus when possible and by voting when necessary. Furthermore, ERLAN is not an exclusive club -- and we always have openings available for new volunteers to share in the work and become voting members. For further details, see our Bylaws at http://www.erlan.org/ERLAN.htm

HOW TO JOIN

Only registered members of ERAL may post to ERAL. To subscribe to ERAL, send a message to: ERAL-subscribe@egroups.com. The body of the message should be ONLY the word:

Subscribe If you have trouble getting through to ERAL-subscribe@egroups.com or getting a response, e-mail lcorntt@en.com.

When you send in your subscribe message, you will be sent a message from the software, and then an ERAL moderator will send you a two part message titled "Welcome to the ERAL Registration Room." The first part of this message contains a form for you to fill out and send back before you are actually subscribed to ERAL. The form covers your identity, your confidentiality, and how you are willing to help. Please do not be intimidated or offended at the questionnaire. It is an important communications tool for introducing you to ERAL members and to expedite creation of a membership and volunteer database. The registration room messages also explain the ERAL rules and confidentiality requirements. Once you agree to the ERAL Rules, Netiquette Guide and associated confidentiality requirements, and submit the form, you will probably be subscribed to ERAL.

To unsubscribe, send a message to with the body of the message containing ONLY the word:

Unsubscribe

If you have any further questions about ERAL, please e-mail lcornett@en.com or visit our website. Thank you for reading this message, and we look forward to your participation in this important work.

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