[Ansteorra] Member or Not?

[RGF]

Read the SCA U.S. membership application, under membership types it defines
subscribing and none subscribing. It is all about having access to
publications that inform us about changes to corporate or kingdom
laws/rules. Remember the old saying "Failure to know the law is not an
excuse". I have been going over all the rule books this week and now
understand why some of the laws are worded the way they are. Maybe Kingdom
law for the status of a shire should read -- 5 subscribing members and "X"
number of other paid members to fill the allotted officers positions. I will
not be able to go to round table this time. Maybe someone else could bring
this up for discussion.

Wilkin


-----Original Message-----
From: ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Chris Zakes
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:41 AM
To: Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Member or Not?

At 09:19 AM 1/10/2008, you wrote:
>R the O wrote:
>
> >  But being counted as a member is certainly a benefit, and should be a
> > right for every member... Esp. since my local group can be disbanded
> > for not having enough members. And once again, I'm defining a member
> > as someone who has paid for a membership, which I most certainly have
> > done.
>
>Please stop trying to define the word "member" as if it has a single clear
>single meaning in this context.  There are different kinds of membership,
>and they are treated differently -- which you know.  A family member has
>the contractual right to be counted as a family member.  You paid for this
>contractual right. A sustaining member has the contractual right to be
>counted as a sustaining member.  Any member will be counted where it says
>"any member".
>
>You will not be counted as a sustaining member unless you buy a sustaining
>membership.  Only sustaining memberships sustain the local branches in
>Ansteorra, and you were never told otherwise.


I disagree.

As Colin pointed out, the Corporate rules don't require a sustaining 
membership. For that matter, the phrase "sustaining membership" can't 
be found anywhere in Ansteorran Kingdom Law (I just checked.) The 
phrase "subscribing membership" is used whenever the number of 
members for a group is mentioned, but the word "subscribing" is never 
defined. Thus there is no clear black-and-white statement of whether 
a Family or Associate member qualifies as a subscribing member. I 
think it's a reasonable interpretation that "subscribing member" 
means "paid member" (of any flavor.)


And, to quibble with your phrasing, saying that "only sustaining 
memberships sustain the local branches" is absurd. The people who 
sustain the group are the ones who show up early for site setup and 
stay late for site cleanup, the ones who hold the--frequently 
thankless--officer positions, the ones who marshal and herald and run 
the lists, the ones who donate their A&S skills to their group by 
cooking feasts, making banners or thrones or uniforms for the 
Baronial Guard, the ones who clean and restock the privies, the ones 
who teach our newcomers how to fight or how to embroider.

Some--probably most of them--are paid members, but do we tell someone 
he can't illuminate a scroll or wash a dish or sing a song because he 
hasn't sent $35.00 to the main office in California within the past 
12 months? And how often have you been at court where a complete 
newcomer was brought up and praised because she spent her entire 
first event chopping vegetables, serving the feast and mopping floors?

         -Tivar Moondragon 

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