GDG- GDG - A Movable Feast

[Dennis Lawrence]

>  but hasn't Dennis said causes are on topic?

>Hello,

    The main focus of this group is to discuss Gettysburg.  In 
achieving that focus, we face  the same problem the Gettysburg 
national military Park faced in presenting its museum and film.  How 
much context is needed?

  In a Museum, those decisions are pretty much permanently fixed  in 
the exhibits or the film;  in the discussion group, it can be a 
little more flexible.    I do not think we could've survived as an 
Internet group for over 18 years unless we expanded beyond Gettysburg 
to include the causes of the war and other topics to put those 
momentous events in perspective.  We would've been an anachronism in 
the world of modern history where events are discussed in their 
totality of context rather than in isolation.

We just had an extended discussion of Custer, which is  on topic 
because he was at Gettysburg.  So is a discussion of the 
assassination of Abraham Lincoln. At some point,  it was time to move 
back to Gettysburg.

   So,  What  is on topic and off-topic is a movable 
feast.     However, we always have to return to our roots, which is Gettysburg.

Take Care

Dennis
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When I want to understand what is happening today or try to decide what
will happen tomorrow, I look back. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.