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I moved it to the Parking Lot, simply because it’s strictly a recruitment message for a Mormon Stories group. Do we allow this type of post? Nothing against the Mormon Stories groups, but do we want to allow recruitment for some groups and not for others?
Thoughts?
I agree with you. “Don’t cross the streams, Ray. Crossing the streams is baaaad!”
It would open up too many other stuff like this. I’m sure this group is not a threat, but we shouldn’t appear to endorse groups, IMO. Not a good idea. Hehe. Do I need to recuse myself from passing judgment on this case pending before the moderator courts? 🙂 I’m not sure who Sarah is exactly, but I am one of the main regional leaders/organizers for the Mormon Stories support group for the Wash DC / Baltimore region. I make sure to advertise StayLDS.com when I am on podcast panels like Mormon Matters or working with these support groups. I didn’t send anyone here to promote any event, but i’m indirectly related to this post on some level probably.
We had a big two-day conference back in mid October that 70+ people registered for and attended, including two couples that actually flew in from Holland and Brazil to be there. The talks and “testimony meeting” from the conference are available as episodes 295, 296 and 297 at MormonStories.org. It was a really nice conference and was very spiritual. There’s a lot of buzz here locally with people excited to do more social gatherings with other unorthodox/uncorrelated Mormons. Sarah is probably someone who attended the conference and is excited to get together with other people.
About these groups:
There are currently around 60 regional support groups (U.S. cities and some in other countries). They are regional because the focus is real life, in-person interaction (not so much internet and being anonymous). They cater to a wide range of people, to include people who have left the Church. But they are all explicitly intended to be positive and uplifting. To be more specific, it’s an explicit goal to help people deal positively with their Mormon identity (past, present, cultural, religious, spiritual, etc.). I get to have a direct influence here locally, so I encouraged people to check out StayLDS if they are interested in becoming active again or reconnecting with Mormonism on some level.
For example, Ellen and I are going to a Christmas potluck on Saturday. It looks like 20 people or so might show up. It’s being hosted by a really sweet older man (and his partner) who was excommunicated like 30 years ago and is gay. He said he has always missed being connected to Mormons over the years, and his excommunication and subsequent divorce was a huge wedge between himself and his TBM children (who are all grown with their own kids). Anyway, he came out to the conference and just lit up like a light bulb. I think he even attended Church for the first time in decades with some folks he connected with via the conference. I know there’s only so far he’s going to fit in ultimately in the ward he might attend, but that’s sort of the purpose of these support groups — to claim all these “misfit toys” that can’t make it into Santa’s bags on Christmas Eve.
So …
It might be really awkward if I talked up StayLDS.com and promoted it, and then people come here from those support groups and feel like they are dangerous or unwelcome.
Instead of prohibiting ALL group promotions in order to weed out potential bad ones, can we allow the promotion of groups or events as long as they fit into our site mission? We can talk about them and figure out if everyone is comfortable with it. In this specific case, I would like to ask that we welcome folks that are being fed into our site from these support groups. At a minimum, I can vouch for the Baltimore and Wash DC groups. I’m one of the main leaders.
If you want to get a flavor for the tone of these groups, check out the “testimony meeting” portion of the Wash DC conference. It was really quite touching. http://mormonstories.org/?p=2103 Plus you can see me activating Wonder Twin powers with Gabe Crowley (the other co-organizer of the event)
😆 She and her husband left the Church in the past year or two, but still seem like they would like to maintain some kind of alternative connections on some level.Quote:Instead of prohibiting ALL group promotions in order to weed out potential bad ones, can we allow the promotion of groups or events as long as they fit into our site mission?
I don’t want to make anyone coming here feel unwelcome, unless they are disrupting things.
Knowing you are involved in this, Brian, does make me way way more comfortable with this one. (oh, and by the way, you’re awesome all the stuff you’re involved in
:thumbup: )As a matter of principle, it would seem easier to not get into the promotional business for outside events, IMO. I would be comfortable with someone (I think Rix did this a few years ago) perhaps mentioning the get togethers in posts and what that meant to them, but not just sarah (who none of us know) stopping in and posting links to recruit and then going away with no discussion or value…just a recruitment ad.
Having said my opinion, Brian, I think your vote “on the moderator court” is about 10 to 1 in weight to mine…for all the work and stuff you put into it. So if you feel OK about this one because you know about it, and it won’t set a precedent that will be hard to manage going forward, I defer to you and your judgement on this and the other moderators so we don’t make people feel unwelcome to come to StayLDS.com.
My main point is that sarah did it the wrong way. Brian, how about we not allow sarah’s, but if you want a thread about it that makes talking about the events fit with our mission, that would be allowed? Is that reasonable?
That’s just one vote. What say the rest of you?
I knew you are involved, Brian, when I moved the post. 🙂 I still wanted to ask the question.I understand what you’re saying, but how about you talk with Sarah, explain why it wasn’t approved and ask her to write an intro post that talks about her involvement with Mormon Stories and mentions the event as a natural part of her intro? That way, we have plausible deniability if someone else wants to recruit for something of which we don’t approve – or that doesn’t fit our mssion?
(“Oh, wow, you’re right. That did have a recruiting element to it. Sorry, our bad.)
:shh:
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