My
reply to the mailing list
21 March 1999
To Attendees and Friends of the 1999 Providence Conference:
Many of you may have heard that just a couple days ago, attacks on our
conference, on my URI course, and on me personally were launched over the
Internet by Joe Backes, George Michael Evica, and Charlie Drago. I will not
repeat their words because I do not write such things in public forums. If you
wish to have copies of the four messages, contact Joe Backes at <joebackes@aol.com>,
George Michael at <evicajfk@aol.com>, or Charlie at <cdrago@rilin.state.ri.us>.
The wording of these attacks makes it appear that they were designed to dissuade
the JFK community from attending this conference, to damage the reputation of my
course, and to damage the reputation of me personally.
The purpose of this message is to reassure you that our conference is safe
and sound. In fact, it may have even been strengthened, as the community as a
whole sees the lengths to which a fraction of its members will go to assure that
views contrary to their own are not disseminated, debated, or legitimized. Now
is the time to reaffirm the original goals of our conference as stated in its
first and second announcements: "This meeting is all about communication,
enlightenment, and mutual respect." It is also time to repudiate the words
and actions of those individuals, which work in the opposite direction—of
diminishing communication, of limiting "enlightenment" to their view
of it, and to abolishing mutual respect. The JFK community remains marginal
because of acts like the above. Let us announce to the world that those days are
numbered, and that with the Providence Conference, the JFK community is
beginning to hold truly open meetings where all views are welcome and where all
are open to intellectual challenge as well. In other words, the JFK community is
finally taking a step away from cultishness and toward the openness and free
enquiry expected of any free society, together with the challenges and risks
that inevitably accompany such openness. To the extent that the community
declines to do this, it will wither and eventually die.
In practical terms, this means that we must let the community know that our
meeting will not be damaged by narrow attacks such as the above, that we welcome
all comers (especially those attackers), and that the future of viable JFK
research may be starting in Providence. I suspect that we are going to have a
great debate, the likes of which JFK conferences have not yet seen, and that it
will be healthy for all of us. Come prepared to discuss important questions that
are central to JFK research. Encourage your JFK friends who share these concerns
to attend as well.
(For the record, I am sending this message to the three individuals above so
that they can have maximum opportunity to reply and to plan to attend—if we
are to be truly open, we must be open to all. I will disseminate any replies I
receive. Perhaps we can also discuss their replies at the conference. )
Ken Rahn