Refugees: A request

[hackenslash]

Due to various recent events, I would ask that the invective against Richard, Josh and Andrew in this place please stop. We have been welcomed into what was a very quiet corner of the internet, and a place that the regulars here wish to protect. Our presence here has already brought unwelcome scrutiny, and indeed some of the comments made here have weakened our position. It is a given that people want to vent their frustration, and it is understandable. However, given that the core principle that mst of us have fought for in our contributions is rationality, I ask that we now work to reassert the same degree of rationality here, not least in order that the unwelcome scrutiny has nothing to look at, and that the core members here are not made to feel any more uncomfortable than our invasion already makes them feel. They have been extremely generous in giving us a place in which to pitch our tents and gather our thoughts, and it is important that we don't abuse their hospitality.

Enough venting has been done, and we should now begin to focus on what we do next, and how we go about it. Continued vitriol levelled at Josh will not aid us in our cause, and will only come back to bite us. So, I lay a personal and heartfelt request at your feet. Please respect our kind hosts here, and demonstrate that we are the rational, clear-thinking people we purport to be.

Thank you.

Tony

[nellikin]

[Crocodile Gandhi]

Well said, Hack.

[Eryemil]

I think we need to start planning what to do. If we wait too long the community will just continue to fragment.

[HughMcB]

I think we need to start planning what to do. If we wait too long the community will just continue to fragment.

I agree 100%, I'm finished being in a mood now, lets build for the future.

Whats our next step? Start our own little sleepy corner of the web? We need to plan.

Plan, plan, plan, plan, plan!

I don't want to impose on our wonderful and gracious hosts too much.

They are too awesome and too nice to put them out so much.

[virphen]

Hack, I do agree, up to the point where I'm still inclined to take the piss out of him when it seems appropriate. Just like I'll take the piss out of you.

Fair enough?

[Bella Fortuna]

Thanks for this - I think it was what Elessarina was getting at earlier today.

[starr]

Well said Hack.

Although to be honest... it's rather funny for me to see some in the Rationalia community complaining about people venting about RDF. Before all of this current drama I have stood up on this very forum to defend RDF against some venting that has taken place here in relation to the 2008 schism. That venting was still going on here over a year after the 2008 schism. It has only been two days since this latest drama.


I just posted this over at the Atheist Foundation of Australia Forum http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/for ... #post57342

I think everyone agrees that the forum is Dawkins' to direct or dispose of as he pleases... well the people I've spoken with do anyway. Ultimately, if RD didn't want the forum then he is totally within his rights to pull the plug.

On a personal note, it would have been nice to know that RD did not value the forum before I spent so much of my personal time moderating in it. I was under the impression I was doing a good job and was helping RD and the foundation. To be treated this way is like a kick in the guts.

An honest and open discussion with the Forum staff would have been a better way to go about it. Perhaps to say a proper thank you for all the time we put in (for no pay).

As it turns out, the forum staff are being used as scapegoats in this whole web drama. That makes me sad.

I still very much respect Richard Dawkins and his work and I am very much looking forward to hearing him speak at the convention. He is the reason I felt comfortable to 'come out' as an atheist.

I also want to say that I in no way encourage or support any thoughts about protesting against Richard Dawkins at the upcoming Australian Atheist Convention. A lot of people have worked very hard to put the convention on and it's goals are bigger than us and bigger than Richard Dawkins. We need to be united as Australian Atheists at the Convention.


This is a copy of a PM I sent to Richard (against Josh and Andrews instruction ) on the day all the drama happened (which was my birthday). I think you will see that it is far from the type of hysterical reaction that Richard and Josh are claiming was being made by the staff.

Hi Richard,

I'm very confused about what has happened to the forum. Myself and all of the other Forum staff have put a great deal of our own time into this forum and there is such a strong atheist community here.

I completely understand if you have decided you just don't want to run the forum anymore as it's your website and therefore your prerogative to run it as you see fit. I just think that the forum staff and the forum membership have been kept completely in the dark about all of this and we have all been shown very little respect.

There are many many very sad people today. We feel like our Atheist community has been destroyed without much thought or consideration.

All of that aside, I am still very much looking forward to hearing you speak at the Australian Atheist Convention.

Kind regards,

Kym Starr

[HughMcB]

Hack, whats our best option here? Starting our own forum?

Does anyone have any ideas?

[Ameri Boi]

I just got settled.

[HughMcB]

This is a copy of a PM I sent to Richard (against Josh and Andrews instruction ) on the day all the drama happened (which was my birthday). I think you will see that it is far from the type of hysterical reaction that Richard and Josh are claiming was being made by the staff.

Starr, how rude of me! I was so busy wallowing in self-pity and blind rage that I so ignorantly forgot to wish you happy birthday.

I would like to add on a personal note (I hope not too personal ) that whatever age you are, as I have no idea, you are definitely in tip top shape!


Cheers to you!

[hackenslash]

I'm not the right person to ask at the moment, Hugh. I haven't slept properly since it all began. I've spent most of my time between the studio and being on the net tryng to get the word out, and my brain is far from the best condition for attempting to make sweeping plans about the future. I don't even know whether or not I am going to remain a member at RDF. My only concern was making sure that people had access to the right information and to each other, and I think I've done pretty much all I can. I'm happy to participate, and to give my input where requested, but I think that decisions about the future are for the community as a whole.

I still hold out a little hope that something can be salvaged in terms of the relationship with Richard et al, whether most of us continue to be members or contributors to RDF or not. It is clear enough that people have been running on emotional energy since the axe fell, and that's never a good time to be making long-term decisions, IMO. A little breathing space would be my counsel, for all involved, and see what happens when the dust settles.

[HughMcB]

Yeah, I should probably start to actually do some work soon instead of monitoring progress on the net, I think I could be getting fired soon otherwise...

[starr]

This is a copy of a PM I sent to Richard (against Josh and Andrews instruction ) on the day all the drama happened (which was my birthday). I think you will see that it is far from the type of hysterical reaction that Richard and Josh are claiming was being made by the staff.

Starr, how rude of me! I was so busy wallowing in self-pity and blind rage that I so ignorantly forgot to wish you happy birthday.

I would like to add on a personal note (I hope not too personal ) that whatever age you are, as I have no idea, you are definitely in tip top shape!


Cheers to you!

Why thank you.


I just turned 38

[Nora_Leonard]

It is clear enough that people have been running on emotional energy since the axe fell, and that's never a good time to be making long-term decisions, IMO. A little breathing space would be my counsel, for all involved, and see what happens when the dust settles.

Absolutely. We all need to calm down. Not to mention get some sleep!!

Funny, that's just what my FB status says , i.e. I need to let the dust settle.

And thanks for making this request in the first place. Ratz has been so welcoming to us it would be totally uncool to create trouble and unwanted publicity for them (us?)

Cheers, Nora