[Ravensfort] Your (good) rant and some answers...was...motto?

[Kief av Kiersted]

Heilsa Mirabelis et al...

Mirabelis...I am **not** attacking you... You are doing a lot of
good things in the SCA and this letter shows your true concern
for this Barony and the direction we need to take... 

You did ask some questions in your recent letter... So...here
goes...

While your letter was spot on for the most part and reflects the
feelings that most folk have about the Barony and our
future...there are a few points that I would like to address.

No...we *cannot* "just all get along"... Why? Simply because
there are those few people out there that by their mere presence
aggrevate other people...and, of course, those people know this
and do everything they can to "stir the excrement" with little
"comments" and "symbolic acts" as well as "casual
confrontation"... That is one of the reasons that a lot of folks
don't show up for populace meetings...

While there is "personal conflict" involved in this...and
how...I, for one, have vowed to keep my own "personal conflicts"
outside the context of the SCA...

That being said...there are several people that were...and are
continuing to be...the source of the problem. What is the problem
you ask... Isn't it all "personal conflicts"...? No...there is a
small group of malcontents that started and continue to spread
lies, create confrontational situations, and have vowed to "run
_______ out of the SCA"... To that small group of malcontents
it's all about "having their own way"..."power to do what I/we
please"...and this is a telling quotation..."...to use the
Barony's money to throw a big party for my friends"...

In context...it's the old "if I can't win fairly...I'll create as
much trouble and conflict as possible (not personally...but using
stooges to do the "dirty work") until my "oppressers" all get
disgusted and leave" ploy... It's use of the old Marxist "big
lie" that almost always works...and it has, to a certain extent,
worked here in the Barony... Witness your own letter... 

If you want to see the facts...the real facts...I'll discuss them
with you personally...with witnesses and evidence...to give you a
view of the truth...what really happened and why...

The only problem with this current move to "forgive and forget"
is that the deeds done by the small group of malcontents were
made against numerous Peers of the Realm...Regional and Kingdom
Officers...and a past Crown. And the misdeeds and misdirection
have not stopped since...and has stretched as far as the SCA's
Board of Directors...

You know...it's a fact that if someone tells a lie long enough
and loud enough...that they start to believe it... Of course this
only works if there is no one to contradict the lies...

Now, this is where I come in (please note the singular "I"
here)... All I wanted waaaaaay back when was straightforward,
factual answers to several questions concerning serious
allegations publically made by the "malcontents"... Those
questions were never answered. Then began the vicious personal
attacks against myself, my family, and my friends...and the rest
is history.

So...to make a long letter even longer... **I** will **never**
forget nor forgive the actions of the malcontents within our
Barony...unless and until they either answer the original
questions...or recant and publically apologize for all the grief
they have caused for so many over the past several years...

Perhaps then the "malcontents" can start to rebuild their
mainstream SCA lives...rather than their own "private fantasy
land pseudo-SCA existance"....

Harsh words? Perhaps... But you asked questions in your
letter...and I have never been shy about answering questions...

The Truth is out there...all anyone has to do is seek out those
that have the evidence.

You good neighbor...

Kief av Kiersted

=======

--- Mirabelis <mirabelis at kindled-spirits.com> wrote:

> 
> Greetings!  Personally I think it should be something like,
> cant we all just
> get along?  I mean really.  Deep down I think we all have the
> same desire
> for the barony to be prosperous and survive.  At the rate we're
> going I have
> serious doubts.  We are finally faced with a new start, a new
> reign of a
> baron and baroness who in the face of adversity have stepped up
> to lead this
> group of people into the new age.  And why should they?  This
> bickering has
> got to stop.  Has anyone ever asked themselves why in the world
> out of 45 or
> so members of this group, that only a handful ever show up to
> populace
> meetings?  Has anyone ever asked themselves why in the world we
> don't ever
> get newcomers to come to more than one meeting?  I have been
> trying and
> trying to get folks inspired to come out and take part in our
> group, and why
> would they want to?  After listening to this crap go on for the
> past 6 years
> or so it gets soooooo old.  Why don't people want to hold
> offices? Why
> should they?  That's what we need to be asking.  I'm so tired
> of hearing it
> I want to throw up my arms and say "screw it all".  This
> bickering between
> groups of people is tiring, tiring for me and I know its got to
> be tiring
> for the rest of the group as well.  Personal things need to
> stay personal so
> that the group can go forward as a group.  I applaud the
> candidates for
> taking a step up in this confusion to try to make our barony
> survive.  I've
> been a part of this group for all of my SCA life!  I would hate
> to see our
> demise, to go back to a shire because we cant get our act
> straight.  No
> other group slams personal people on emails like this group
> does.  Its no
> wonder people don't want to come out and be a part of it all. 
> But yet we
> keep going on, keep trying to make it a better place for us all
> to go and
> have FUN!!! That's what its all about people, fun for the
> group, fun for us,
> fun for everyone that comes around.  What happened?  Work can
> be fun, but
> people have got to stop with this petty crap.  We're going to
> loose what we
> have going and that's a shame.  I had a great time at yule, for
> the first
> time in years I felt like we as a group have moved somewhat
> forward and that
> there is hope for us yet.  BAH!  Just wait until the next day
> when someone
> says something that offends someone else, and it doesn't
> involve the group.
> I don't know what was said, who said what, and I don't really
> care.  If it
> doesn't involve me personally then what difference does it
> make?  Why are
> people saying negative things in such a promising time?  Maybe
> our motto
> needs to be "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything
> at all!" 
> 
> My 2Cents in a world I am trying to stay positive in and take a
> more active
> role, wading thru all this crap!
> 
> Mirabelis