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Subject: 
Re: SciBrick is looking for you!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.scibrick
Date: 
Sat, 23 Oct 2004 18:26:42 GMT
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   No one asked me what I thought of the situation, that’s true, but as someone who’s seen this community grow and who also hopes that it continues to be a wholesome and empowering place for my children to “play,” I felt I needed to pipe up.

Jason, There is more happening here than you are aware of. And I hope, as I said in my other reply to you, that you get to know me well enough that I don’t start drama like this unless it is necessary. And I believe it is.

   I’ve seen the bickering and back-stabbing before and it’s never helped us get anywhere. I guess I was trying to give people a wake up call.

Can you tell me when and where you’ve seen this? I have a vested interest in making sure back-stabbing never happens. But honestly, I’ve never seen any real back-stabbing - just an ever-present accusation of it by those who can’t play nice.

   Like you say, many of the SciBrick members are talented and creative people, but some of them do appear to be an “Elitist Clique” to those outside their inner circle. Some .spacers have soured these forums for many people. If that perception bothers people here, then you all need to do something about it. Simply denying it, won’t make it go away.

What should we do to destroy that perception? I can name you many different people, myself included, who were NOT a part of the in-group, and now are. Myself and Kevin are included in that group.

This is something I’ve thought long and hard about - and honestly, I have not seen any easy solution.

   I disgree that asking people to remove their posts is not a form of censorship. If Eric chooses to cave in to peer pressure that’s his choice, but Lenny’s pressuring him to erase all traces of his disagreement with the group through guilt and public embarassment is a step onto that slippery slope.

Not true. I want to erase evidence Eric acting as our spokesperson after he quit our group. I WANT to hear Eric’s criticism of us, granted that it is presented as criticism.

Let me say that again:

I want Eric to present for myself, the membership of SciBrick, and anyone else who cares to hear, a comprehensive and specific list of what he dislikes about our group.

What I do NOT want is Eric parading as a member and spokesperson, when he is not, and trying to force us to do what he wants by such underhanded techniques.

   What would the next step be if Eric didn’t comply and no one else objected ? Maybe he wouldn’t seek to have it removed this time, but what about the next time ? Would his concerns simply be brushed aside and dismissed ?

Let me say again - I WANT ERIC”S CRITICISM! If he gave me a set of criticism with specifics (none of this, “you guys are elitist” hogwash.. what can I do with that?)

But I don’t want him to continuing presenting himself as if he represents our organization. I hope you can see how destructive doing that can be!

   Would Eric be banned ? Would SciBrick open it’s own forum on it’s own web site where posts need to be approved by an approved moderator ? These are all just degrees of censorship and none of them do anything but raise suspicion and promote distrust.

As long as no one speaks for the group without the group’s authorization (this would mean general group announcements, recruitment advertisements, and in official correspondence with TLG, ILTCO, Classic-Castle, 1000Steine.de, etc) - any and everyone’s opinions need to be heard.

I am only pressuring Eric (which is my free right to do, as also protected by the “no censorship” clause) because I believe what he is doing can hurt the organization of which I am its representative.

   As you mentioned, the post we’ve both responded to isn’t even the most juvenile one in this thread. Pathetic, huh ? Community building is about respect and cooperation, not thowing darts at each other ... If this thread is indicative of the atmosphere here, then maybe Eric’s worries are well founded, which is what I’d like to find out for myself.

“Respect” and “Cooperation” are what I am arguing for. Respect means that if a friend of yours is hurt by what you do - shouldn’t you listen to your friend? Shouldn’t you really consider your friends feelings? Shouldn’t you try to at least explain why you had to hurt your friends feelings?

I was a very good friend of Eric’s for a long time. I’ve defended him when other members suggesting kicking him out of the club when he pulled another stunt like this. I said no! SciBrick shouldn’t be kicking people out! Let me work with Eric and see what I can do.

And I did work with Eric, until he decided to quit.

And then, he has decided he wanted to step up, and post this. Why? I don’t even understand why, but I do know one thing - it can only be bad news for the group. And when I asked Eric to cancel it, he accused me. He threatened me. And he has hypocritically apologized for his actions, but has done nothing to rememdy the situation. Now he calls me paranoid.

Where is the respect and cooperation there?

A friend of mine once asked me: “How can there be peace without justice?” Unless Eric stops accusing me and hurting my organization, I am not going to stop defending myself and the organization I represent.

-Lenny



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: SciBrick is looking for you!
 
Hello, I'm an AFOL who's been at least peripherally involved in the on-line LEGO community for a long time. Most of my bio on lugnet is accurate. I'm a 32 year old computer programmer, I'm married. My wife and I have a little boy who will be 2 years (...) (20 years ago, 23-Oct-04, to lugnet.org.scibrick)

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