Hmmm... many well-stated and thought-out responses. Some of these lead me to clarify a bit:
I don't vote to show appoval of Monks, but to reinforce behavior of Monks, as demonstrated by their posts. Since anonymous monk doesn't care about XP or reputation, my voting an AM post up or down has little direct impact on future behavior of AM's. Indirect impact was given by at least a couple o' fine Monks.
I agree with the principle of voting the node regardless of posting Monk. But I also temper that with a bit of grace toward new Monks, to help foster the open environment we all enjoy here at the Monastery.
Several wise Monks told why they do vote on AM posts, and I respect their thinking. I don't have to agree 8^) but I wouldn't force my approach on anyone who sees differently than I do. So... I retract my suggestion to disable voting on AM posts. In the future, I'll watch more closely for AM posts before voting. Thanks to all Monks who offered their insights.
cheers,
ybiC