There can perhaps be something in between as well. If one wants to discuss an issue which is on people’s minds and put it in perspective, I think that it would be acceptable, even if a person doesn’t get involved in askanus. But the forum is important, and the example of a group meeting with a Rav,even for just discussion, sounds like a more ideal step.

I thought of similar point when I saw letters going back and forth in a Jewish newspaper a few years ago about “in-towners” saying or not saying “gut Shabbos” to strangers. One extreme letter-writer stereotyped an entire neighborhood of people as being “hypocrites”. I thought that this attitude was worse than not greeting people properly(full disclosure: I live in New York ). The writer that made the most sense was the one who mentioned that she started an e-mail campaign to bring the issue to consciousness. But even if one doesn’t get involved to that level, one can still bring a positive perspective to that issue, as well as to similar ones.