tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post342574997045394606..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Myers on Taylor vs. the EHSCLarry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-12977133632451063852009-11-04T17:03:56.648-07:002009-11-04T17:03:56.648-07:00Our Sunday speakers are chosen by a committee of n...Our Sunday speakers are chosen by a committee of nine people. In July, at one of the committee member’s request, Sunsara was provisionally invited to speak on a topic of morality without gods on November 1. The formal invitation was withheld until the committee was provided with a written description of her talk. <br /><br />The formal description was finally received on October 13. Some of the committee felt that the description provided was far outside the topic that was originally proposed. Sunsara was contacted about adjusting her talk to fit what the committee originally thought they were getting. She understandably refused to adjust her talk. The committee decided by a vote of 9 to 2 to cancel Sunsara as a speaker and the cancellation, with apologies, was emailed on October 19. <br /><br />(As a side note, I disagreed with the decision to cancel but in a democratic organization the vote doesn’t always go the way you want it to. I even started a petition to reinvite Sunsara but only about 20% of the society signed)<br /><br />From October 19 onward Ms. Taylor and her people demanded she be given the November 1 platform. Attempt after attempt was made to find a solution that, although not ideal for either side, was palatable for both. The society bent over backwards to appease this woman. She was given an October 31 platform that was well attended and a member of the society offered her home for Sunsara’s “speech in exile” on November 1. The only thing we would not agree to was having her speak on November 1. All we asked is that she not disrupt the Sunday platform. She did not budge an inch; there was no effort at compromise from her or her people.<br /><br />One plain clothes police officer from the Skokie police department was at the society the morning of November 1 because some members felt threatened by the fact that Sunsara would not commit to not disrupting the Sunday program. We had no idea what a Sunsara Taylor inspired protest would entail so the decision was made to err on the side of member safety.<br /><br />When Sunsara and her camera man showed up on Sunday they were asked not to enter the building, they ignored this request but no action was taken by the society and they entered privet property.<br /><br />After entering the building and our auditorium, Sunsara started to give her speech and her camera man started taping. They were asked to stop and let us continue our event in our building repeatedly. They refused and it is then that we asked the single plain clothes officer for support.<br /><br />When the cameraman acted aggressively toward the police officer he called for backup on his radio. Uniformed officers responded to that call. It took five police offers using mace to subdue him. One police officer was injured.Evan Kanenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-61379950702026884142009-11-04T14:45:27.664-07:002009-11-04T14:45:27.664-07:00First, as noted anonymous posts irritate me. Secon...First, as noted anonymous posts irritate me. Second, you don't know fuck all about communism. Third, neither the actual merits of communism, your opinion of the merits of communism, or the quality of your opinions about communism have fuck all to do with this topic.<br /><br />Seriously: go away and come back when we need exponential notation to count your brain cells.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-87193130926924228932009-11-04T12:51:57.986-07:002009-11-04T12:51:57.986-07:00Communism is one of those things that so far works...Communism is one of those things that so far works in theory, but not in practice. It requires everyone within the society to be willing to share equally, and treat each other well, but unfortunately as we've seen so far, people can be greedy, with politicians being no exception. Hence, a truly communist society may not work except in a 'perfect' world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com