Posted by twinleaf on March 30, 2008, at 19:05:40
In reply to as things stand now....., posted by twinleaf on March 30, 2008, at 12:15:17
I also feel distressed by this. I believe that it was me who asked Dinah to assume more of a leadership role in Dr. Bob's absence, in her roles as a deputy and long-time much valued and loved poster, to help us weather the tough times we were dealing with. I was so glad when she said that she would, and. like CS, was quite worried when she changed her mind. It really did seem to me, also, that she did not want to continue because she was distressed by the differing viewpoints which posters were expressing. I had assumed that she would deal in a reasonable and fair fashion with whatever views were expressed, and would have an intuitive understanding that a number of posters might be unusually stressed, and might express views that were more extreme than their usual ones. However, as it turned out, at the first hint of views different from her own, she wanted to quit. This dismayed me, and, I gather, other posters, a great deal.
It is really good to support your deputy, but what about the feelings of posters who really needed Dinah to step up to the plate and help them move beyond the anxiety and stresses caused by her original decision to resign as a deputy?
One articulate poster is now blocked just for speaking honestly, from her heart, and without malice or hostility. As you block her, you express your hope that Dinah's feelings are not hurt. That is valuable and important- but not more so than the feelings of the blocked poster, whom you have silenced.If you go on in this way, you will end up, sooner rather than later, with a few compliant deputies and an adequate number of subservient posters, whose main goal will be to make sure that they do not offend anyone. I would, personally., be thrilled not to belong to a group as intimidated and damaged as that.
I originally "joined" PB because of its liveliness, the intelligence of its discourse, the richness of the content, and the sheer fun of
all the unexpected things that happened here. Where are those wonderful, ineffable qualities now?
poster:twinleaf
thread:818822
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20080313/msgs/820760.html