CLASH OF PARADIGMS
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From: Bruce S.
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 10:07 PM
Subject: Clash of paradigms
ID: 264786

I got back from a meeting this afternoon, and arrived to find all this going on, and blinking lights on my voicemail. I sat down and composed this message and was going to post it to the Open Forum -- but just as I was getting to the last words, the phone rang, it was Jeanie in Hawaii, and she talked me out of it. I'm sure she's right. And I don't want to take any attention away from that lovely and wise message she just posted. So, I am just going to stick this message here. MY voice -- is not going to be repressed either. ==>smiley-face here<==

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Hi...

I just got back from a Board meeting of the Interfaith Initiative for Santa Barbara County. I've been part of this group for a few years now, and we work to build understanding across borders and boundaries -- these dividing lines that separate groups in today's society...

I've actually been involved in mainline interfaith for a long time. I attended the United Religions Initiative conference at Stanford in 1997, and was part of the design and development of the URI, and have been connected with them all this time. As a network programmer, I built the original system for their international network of "cooperation circles".

In 2003-2004, I worked with the Parliament of World Religions, to support their large-scale interfaith conference in Barcelona in July 2004. I was an invited delegate to the "Assembly of Religious Leaders" at Montserrat prior to the Parliament, and my network support system -- running on Interspirit -- just like the Sophia Open Forum -- brought together and coordinated the work of 300 group process facilitators, organizational development consultants, and graphics facilitators. That was a major experience, and I learned a lot. The Parliament of World Religions is a major international event, held every five years -- and is probably at the same level of stature as this Sophia group is hoping to develop.

Earlier this year, I built the conference network support system for the July "NAINConnect" conference, that brought together a couple hundred interfaith workers from all over North America, for the North American Interfaith Network. That system runs on Interspirit -- just like this group. Everybody was quite happy with that project, and the conference was a big success.

Here in Santa Barbara, I have also built the web site and system for the local Interfaith Initiative. We had just had a big event here -- the "4th Annual Ramadan Dinner". We publicized the event through Interspirit, sold tickets through our online interface, and they sold every seat, it was standing room only.

I've been around the block on "paradigms". I know about them.

And right here in this group -- we got a major clash of paradigms.

We got groups of people here -- who are absolutely convinced that their particular perspective on things is THE perspective -- and they are quite prepared to go into full-blooded all-out righteous indignation when they find themselves in the presence of a conflicting paradigm.

Name-calling, accusations, suspicion, mistrust -- all of this flies through their keyboards with great energy.

Oh well -- this is the world today, isn't it? Republicans screaming at democrats, democrats denouncing republicans, rich people expressing contempt for poor people as their moral inferiors -- and "circle people" screaming at "hierarchy people" -- as if their paradigm and set of assumptions were the anointed and received divine law of the universe....

Well gang -- sorry, but it ain't so. Step back a bit, and you'll see this too.

It's just another point of view -- in a huge world -- that does not all run on inches and miles, but sometimes runs on centimeters and kilometers.

I myself am a peacemaker. I work on it 24 hours a day.

I wrote that statement on love when this forum opened up -- because I am 100% prepared to defend that spirit of love in a totally uncompromised way, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And whether you understand that or not, or care -- there is not much I can do about that.

If I had a minute of your attention -- I'd invite you to cool your big loud indignant jets -- and actually do some listening -- and see if you can improve the quality of your communications.

I have written personal emails to just about everybody who has expressed a complaint on this forum, kindly and courteously taking the time to explain things in detail, and inviting them to call me. That includes Barbara Carson -- and several others. None of these ladies has responded to this invitation.

We can have a raging battle of self-righteous accusations if that is really what we're in the mood to do. Maybe that needs to happen.

Or -- we can take a little more time to cool out our perspectives, and let it soak in that maybe our point of view is not the only point of view on the planet -- and just possibly, we might have a thing or two to learn from one another.

I can tell you one thing. I am not going away, and neither is this project. We are strong, clear, accurate, responsible, and loving. And we're going to stay that way. So, blast off any way you want. We're going to be here when the dust settles -- and if it is humanly possible, this Sophia conference is going to be a beautiful thing.

So, here in this "Sophia Alliance" interface -- just feel free to blast away. Have at it. I guess this is what we need.

And hey, dear ladies -- I gave you the phone number privately. Here it is again: (805) 966-9515

Call me any time. You will be treated with courtesy, respect, and patience.