[Ansteorra] Secrecy vs. openess (was Banishment stuff)

[Aaron Robb]

I totally agree with the e-mail below. I thought I understood the
basic rationale for officials not talking about the situation - I sit
on both a corporate and a non-profit board (mundanely) and often
decisions are made that can't be explained in detail for liability
reasons but are still correct and proper procedure. When people ask
me "why X?" I respond with something similar to what Pug posted
(although somewhat less eloquently, I may be borrowing his words in
the future).

What I don't understand is why the "official" response is along the
lines of "If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me
directly." What can be said directly that cannot be said on this
list? And why, when there is a reasonable and forthright explanation
available, do we instead hear evasiveness?

A simple posting of the rules of banishment (the different levels,
what they mean, and how they happen) or a link to them would have
solved the initial question "Why was this posted in the middle of the
officer listings? Is that odd?" and helped educate people (like me)
who were unclear on the whole banishment concept.

Include in that the simple explanation "these litigious times
unfortunately prevent the officials involved in this decision from
commenting further" or some such would have at least told people why
the powers that be don't discuss such things (which is a reasonable
precaution on so many levels, IMHO) without creating any more
questions about "what are they hiding" than necessary.

It's unfortunate that kingdom officers are the ones that are expected
to respond to this, since this was a BOD decision, but creating an
air of secrecy only further raises suspicions and rumors. Light a
candle in our darkness - it won't stop the noises in the shadows, but
it may make us a little less afraid of them.

Philo


--- Carl Chipman <cchipman at nomadics.com> wrote:
> I'm sorry, but your e-mail did not do anything to help a fairly new
> person learn about our society.
>
> Julienne, Pugs answer is the best.  Because publishing more would
> open
> up the SCA at risk for defamation or lawsuit.
>
> Centurion Jean Paul de Sens
> Squire to Sir Asoph
> Mooneschadowe
>
>
> Carl Chipman
> Nomadics, Inc.
> cchipman at nomadics.com
> http://www.nomadics.com
>
>


=====
---
Aaron D. Robb, M.Ed., NCC, LPC

Everybody's playing the game
But nobody's rules are the same

- The American and Florence/Nobody's Side, from the musical "Chess"

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