To tear apart our leaders

On FUUSE someone said that My comment of tearing apart our C*UUYAN leaders (see C*UUYAN: The Big Secret) and their work was a huge problem for him. I composed the following response...

The tearing apart you and I refer to shouldn't be the norm, which I see it to be now. I also fully admit that I'm actively involved in doing it, with these very posts.

But, that said, yes I said it should and will go on.

I'm referring to tearing down and apart in a very... philosophical way, though I know that it happens in a very real way, and I don't object to that on a base level as you seem to. There can be no healthy organisation that does not include a regular process of death and rebirth, same as we could not have a healthy forest or prairie without fire. People in our organisation will be hurt as we do our work. If there aren't, I would be more worried for our organisation than I am now.

I believe in the embracing of destruction, chaos, and baptism by fire. I do not believe that we always need ensure people are always happy, or feel good about what has happened. If I help create a C*UUYAN that does what is Right, adheres to and advances its mission and the mission of our Association, and will further the Good Work of UUism, but has no place for Me in it, then so be it.

Gini Courter, in her address to the General Assembly after a number of Youth and their Allies spoke to truths of racism and ageism in St Louis and our Association in general, mentioned an adage of the Information Technology world that I'm well familiar with: "In order to build good systems, you need to put the pain in the right place."

I would not presume to say the issues I reference in my above letter are equal to those of racism and oppression in our Association, though I believe a lack of openness and the appearance of secrecy can only exacerbate such issues as feelings of mistrust are given further fuel. Just as it is painful to unpack issues of racism, and painful to do the work dismantling institutions of oppression, it can be just as painful for individuals and communities to unpack and dismantle institutions of sustained deficiency, negligence, and wilful ignorance.

For too long have we allowed our institution to go about its work without facing the issues we've always known we have.

To tear apart... it has the connotation of violence along with it; A brutal, uncaringness about the object involved.

To dismantle... maybe that's a better term, as it implies more care.

What if I'd used the sentence "Yes, such openness will cause a good portion of the work the leaders are doing, and their individual actions, to be dismantled under scrutiny"? It is likely that many people would feel better about what they assumed would go on as part of this process, but I do not want to give the false impression that people, including Me, aren't going to be hurt by these processes.

Pain, and where we feel it, teaches us where there are problems.
Pain, and who causes it, gives us insight into how we can improve.

I can be one hell of a pain. These institutions, within C*UUYAN and beyond, have caused Me a LOT of pain.

Pain, and how we feel it, teaches us all different things. We need come together to share that pain, and what we have learned. Then, we will change, in response to that pain.

That change will cause pain.

And if we are vigilant, the pain we feel will be there, but manageable. If we regress, if we ignore the pain... well... we've all seen the destruction caused when a forest isn't allowed to burn on occasion. What should be a small blaze becomes a roaring inferno.

So yes, I support the burning of C*UUYAN and its leadership, in as much a controlled fashion as possible. When the flames die down, and the smoke clears, some will have fallen. Few will come out untouched.

The blossoms afterwards will be a sight to behold.