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Never Bend the Knee
Over the weekend, I wrote about a massive fissure in a parenting group I am (was?) a part of. The group has a national arm and then nationwide “chapters” organizing nature hikes for parents and their young children. I wrote about my frustration that the group had become so hyper-politicized about Black Lives Matter (BLM) and shared the thoughts of other mothers who contacted me feeling the same.
Since I wrote that post, one of the national board members, the Director of Communications, has resigned. It’s not because the group has gone woke… no, it’s because the group isn’t woke enough. I am about to share screenshots of the resignation letter she circulated, and as you read I would like you to continually remind yourself that this woman is resigning from a volunteer position posting on social media about a nature group that has not, in her mind, gone far enough endorsing BLM.
Here’s why I think this dustup, which I’ve seen happen in other organized and nationwide parenting groups, is worthy of not one, but two posts here. It is instructive of how other organizations should deal with BLM or any other politicized movement. They shouldn’t. When I signed up to lead hikes I was told that facilitators do not / could not “Use FFS as a soapbox for your cause.” There are times and places for political conversations about racism, BLM, etc, but they are not in the workplace or at a nature playgroup.
And when companies and organizations are pressured into speaking out they learn what this organization just did: You’re never going to say enough or say the right thing. These radical progressives send a clear message, and it happens to be the right one: It is better to not say anything at all. The organization is going to fracture into a few camps: conservatives (very few), liberals who don’t think they’ve gone far enough (very few), and parents that are like “whoa, these folks are out of their minds and I don’t want to be trapped in the woods with them” (a great number). But it will break apart, and the untold hours of labor the organizers have put into it will be wasted because they didn’t think strategically about sticking to their mission.
Published in General
Um, does anybody else think that “FFS” is a bit problematic? Hint: when I read it I think “For [expletive]’s Sake.” Though all things considered, that may actually be appropriate.
As for kneeling, the first segment (18 minutes or so) here is highly relevant. Plus his bumper music is always terrific.
https://www.michaelbane.tv/hard-facts-for-hard-times/45168/
This is the “reasoning” of outrage: I am going to accuse you of a crime. If you defend yourself and deny it, this will be seen as a guilty plea.
Repeat after me: “Go F yourself.”
I think we all need to work to reset the intentional imbalance. Maybe frame it as a counter demand/offer:
Well, FFS. Return letters should be addressed, “Dear Karen.”
Well done Bethany. The irony of that letter would be comical if it wasn’t so sad…..so very, very sad.
“FFS go F yourself.”
FIFY
My first reaction is “I feel safe here in France? Is that what people are doing over there?!” (Lol. But actually we have other problems here).
Secondly, what kind of parents are the ones who feel the nature appreciation club “didn’t go far enough?” I am genuinely curious to know. Seems like people so distracted and consumed with anger they would be unable to focus on showing wildflowers to children.
When Bethany says the safest route for organizations (and individuals) is to say nothing at all, it’s worth adding that silence speaks volumes these days. We went to a school picnic at which there were Americans present and the subject of Trump came up, inevitably. My husband and I and another woman were very quiet. I said to myself: “she’s one of us.” And I now like this woman a lot.
But the subsequent problem is THEY too know what that means when we are silent. I refuse to do it, but it basically means we have to enthusiastically agree. And there’s no option B.
Bethany and I have had a discussion on this. I think that this post has a serious flaw, namely her failure to name names.
This woman, whose name is Amanda Madison, published this slander in a public forum with her private email attached. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy on her part. Her vile methods should be exposed.
While the organization scrubbed her name from the website it took me less than 3 minutes to get a name and verify it. Google links are a wonderful thing even if they return 404 errors.
I’m not suggesting everyone should write her, but if we do not fight this insidious slandering of people in public someday we will all find ourselves on the business end of the rope.
After reading this, I can only say:
Any group that makes “nature” its core mission is already neo-pagan as far as I am concerned. It is no wonder that its leaders have no wisdom or greater perspective.
All I can say about this woman from FFS is JFC…..
It’s crazy out in the woods theses days:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/boy-scouts-require-diversity-inclusion-merit-badge-rank-eagle-scout
The Boy Scouts are also admitting Girls, which seems to threaten the Girl Scouts.
All I can think of [w.r.t the poor schmucks still trying to stick with that group] is The People’s Front of Judea…
This is so good. I’m going to save it for future use, if you don’t mind. I will provide proper attribution, of course!
I am part of a running group/app that has members worldwide. After George Floyd’s death, several members demanded the founders/managers of the running app make a statement in support of BLM as there silence up to that point was an “endorsement of racism.” (As if anybody, anywhere endorsed the horror in St. Paul?) The founder issued a statement that they are a running app and would like to retain their focus on running as there are other places for discussions about racism and that the app/group values all of its members etc etc but let’s focus on running Within hours the group had blown up with this statement being viewed as Exhibit A by more socially woke members that the app community is racist. (The statement issued was worse then the silence before it was issued don’t you know?) A second, way more woke statement was issued shortly by the app founders fully endorsing everything BLM/Systemic racism. This same app does Pride Runs, Military Appreciation Runs, Holiday-themed runs and so on. I don’t support every cause they run for, but I just run the ones I want to participate in and keep my mouth shut and let others support the causes they care about. Easy-Peasy! No drama. Just shut up and run! The running is my escape from all this and I resent my app being hijacked for non-running purposes! As others have said – you will be made to care – and it is exhausting!