[Sca-cooks] OP/OT: Wanted: Opinions on Controversial Florilegium article

[Stefan li Rous]

Greetings to my fellow SCA-Cooks list members,

Recently I added a new article to the Florilegium and announced it in  
this month's Florilegium article. I got two, ah, strongly worded,  
demands that I remove the article form the Florilegium. I have since  
reviewed the article again and do not find it untruthful, although  
perhaps it does not always paint the Society in the best light.

The article is this one:
SG-SCA-Youth-art  (10K)  6/22/09  "Survival Guide for an SCA Youth" by  
Lady
                                      Gormlaith Bebbin Kathleen  
HRothgarsdottir.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/CHILDREN/SG-SCA-Youth-art.html

The comments included:
"This article does nothing but portrait the SCA as a group of  
backstabbing sexual deviants who engage in sexual harassment and under- 
age drinking of the worst kind with enough members who are aware of  
such behavior yet turn a blind eye or two." and

"I was deeply disturbed and concerned about what this young lady is  
intimating about the SCA.  As a parent this would scare me off from  
the organization and really puts us all in a bad light that we would  
continue to allow this behavior by our members and turn a blind eye."

My own feeling was that none of what the author said was untrue. I've  
seen much of it in my 20 years in the Society. This list is a  
collection of diverse individuals with a lot of different opinions at  
times. I would appreciate hearing your opinions on this article. I am  
not in a Peer-protoge relationship with anyone to turn to. There are  
however a number of Peers, and others that I highly respect on this  
list. I am interested in comments from non-Peers and folks with and  
without children or teenagers, as well.

Should I remove it because it puts our Society in a bad light? Or  
leave it as a useful article for the teenagers in the SCA?

The author was under pressure from her local group and then her  
Royalty to remove the article and have threatened her father, a Peer,  
with loss of his Peerage. I probably will remove the article because  
of her request.

I am unlikely to grant the request of a Royal just because they are a  
Royal. On the otherhand, I am willing to be convinced that I was wrong  
to have ever considered adding this article to the Florilegium.

I don't think this is appropriate discussion for this list, so please  
email me with your comments, pro or con.

Thank you.

THLord Stefan li Rous
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****