Dear MNHQ, I didn't see all the problems kick off over poor Revjustabout...

[georgimama]

but I would be grateful if you could tell me that you have at least given serious consideration to banning the posters who were harrassing her.

Thank you.

i wouldn't believe them either, cf. but i wouldn't accept the 'ganged up' thing either, tbh, i doubt it was like that.

onebat, i'm sorry that you thought i accused you of something, i'm not sure i did, though. i did, if you note, just include myself in the familiar names speaking on the subject and suggest i was the pot calling the kettle black. and i shrugged. so i'm not hurling accusations, i was just musing and putting something out there, that's all.

it is funny. it is a conceit. On the RW thread 'rev' goes about fretting about the empty church or finding us pews or handing out biscuits or fiddling with the broken heating. It is fun. But no, it has to be faceless and joyless because...well I'm still not quite sure of because...I really think it is odd to be so disapproving when you've no idea what the RW threads are about.

that's how i saw it, dittany, the dog collar thing. except i hadn't really noticed the dog collar until people started accusing her of being a troll.

Aitch - I haven't been on the mouldies threads maybe 2 posts?).

a bit meh about the whole thing, never was a popular girl

but I think the way rev was treated was nasty

reminded me of my one experience of bullying at school

ruty he doesn't have to pretend anything

he's there for himself and i'm sure wouldn't do anything to bring the church into disrepute

and he's a priest, not a vicar

i think the way the rev was treated was nasty, and i think the women concerned should apologise because they were WRONG. and i also think that she shouldn't change her name. or if she does, she should change it to TheMadre.

THing is, Tortoise, the person who killed himself did so because he was mentally ill. Whether the person he thought was a vicar really was a vicar, or was in fact a junior verger or the bloke who had come to empty the bins, was irrelevant. If it was a vicar, s/he might have been a rubbish vicar, however qualified, and said the wrong thing.
Or might have said what the leading mental health expert in the world would have said in that situation, and the man would still have killed himself. Mental health care is not a precise science.
As I have said before, WRT to revjustabout, I have no objective concrete proof that she is an ordained deacon. I don't doubt her because I have no reason to. Because TBH it's irrelevant to me as an atheist if she wants to call herself the Pope.
What is far more important is I have never seen her post anything which I would call harmful advice. SHe comes across as kind, fair, and ethical - that she believes in something I consider a lot of old cock is not something I hold against her - people like her give the religious a good name.

... godsrepresentativeonearth?
....whatwouldjesusdo?
.... thegospeltruth?

and I don't believe for a minute that it is a "mouldies conspiracy"

It is like when an MNer posts a link to netmums and a few people rush over and behave badly dispense advice.

It may have originated on MSN, or email, but it did look organised

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did MNHQ have a problem with RW threads before nasty vicious attacks? No.

They ahve now idebtified this as a possible cause of the nasty attacks as if they had some real basis (do they really beieve that?) and that actaully it was all a bit dodgy Rev on Rw thread.

No, MNHQ, the attacks were dodgy, rev was fine till all this, you have approached this from the wrong end and sent a really bad message.

This discussion would be fine if it wasn't as a consequnec of the attacks, that makes it focusing on changing the victim, of which we have had many exaomples to illustrate the injustice. Just wrong.

So if I felt like starting a regular thread along the lines of SGB's Sex and Morris Dancing Advice Centre, would I get a kicking off MNHQ for taking too much upon myself and setting myself up as the official MN MOrris Dancer?
(Actually I might get a kicking off the rest of my morris side for claiming to be an expert on morris but never mind).

"By Nantucket on Tue 20-Jan-09 23:39:51
Yeah, but you haven't just done that Justine, you have also asked Rev to change her name, as you have said this may cause issues. Issues which weren't there before the attacks, and which therefore makes it look like she has been doing something inappropriate and the attacks had a legitimate basis."

...Yes we take your point (as we have a few times now) but that would have been avoided if she had name-changed later rather than sooner. What more can we say?

"This 'we talked about why she may have caused such controversery' line is the most suspect of your arguemnts I have to say, that is exactly what all the analogies about focusing on the victims have been saying, and you have stated that is what you did."

...We talked about it like grown ups - she's a vicar for goodness sake - we were trying to see the other point of view.

"Rev didn't do anything, some posters had their own nasty agendas. You are confusing the two here I think, to dangerous effect."

...I don't agree that a nasty agenda was the main motive for most (though concede that I can see why some would think that) - I genuinely think that they thought they were on to a troll.

"Really I think your reasoning on this is muddled and inconsistent, and unfortunately that has resulted in looking like a condonment of bullying."

...That's a shame because we don't condone bullying obviously. As said we try to be fair minded and treat every case on an individual basis - No doubt we're going to make wrong calls and some folk will always disagree on some policy. The main thing is that you understand that our motives are to try to give everyone a fair and equal shout.

Night all,
MNHQ

and what sgb said

Without a doubt, Solidgold.

I agree with Aitch:

'i think the way the rev was treated was nasty, and i think the women concerned should apologise because they were WRONG. and i also think that she shouldn't change her name'.

Everything you have done MNHQ has been correct, but the name changing is wrong. Just the wrong message totally.

It seems to me that authority on MN (among us plebs, not MNHQ) comes from posting with knowledge, kindness and consistency over a longish period. Thus people like flowerybeanbag come to be known as the go-to person on a topic. Someone who popped up calling herself HRProfessionalComfyArmchair wouldn't have the same authority (unless her posts were proven to be as useful).

I guess there are some people who are extremely credulous and not terribly discriminating, but I'm not sure there's a way to protect people like that from charlatans posing as lawyers/vicars/Premier League managers or whatever. This faffing about with the Rev's name certainly isn't a policy that can be applied fairly and consistently.

yup mnhq, it's true.

Sex and Morris dancing? At the same time? The Health and Safety assessment would be interesting. And where would you tie the ribbons?

"I genuinely think that they thought they were on to a troll"

Sorry, but not a chance. Rev had been posting for ages and there had been plenty of time to evaluate her. She was making decent, friendly posts. At most you could say they thought she was a nice person who had misinformed them on one aspect of her private life. Not quite the same thing and not deserving of attack.

will you PLEASE stop that solidgoldbrass from attacking me? i'm not changing my name... i'm a dancer... i was born to dance. [nicole kidman]

"...I don't agree that a nasty agenda was the main motive for most (though concede that I can see why some would think that) - I genuinely think that they thought they were on to a troll."

Really? Having seen the nasty, petty way that the stalkers behaved publicly, you still think that they were motivated by goodwill and speaking the truth? Talk about giving the old girls the benefit of the doubt. I despair...

Nantucket - once again - the message was not meant to be delivered at this time. Clearly it gives entirely the wrong impression.

But we stand by the policy that I think lots of others agree with. We think that in general a bad idea to have posters who could be misconstrued as experts or professionals from their nickname. It is against the spirit of all posters being equal and therefore against the ethos of the site.

And with that I'm definitely and finally off for the night

me too.

Justine, if they just thought they were on to something and didn't have an agenda they would have approached it in a very differnt way. It was vitriolic, anyone who saw the posts knows that.

It looks to many like condoning bullying, many have said as much, even if you don't belive it is.

Now suggetsing it is futher Revs fault by not keeping quiet about the request/suggestion is pretty unfair on her again imo.

the fact you 'discussed it likeadults' is neither here nor there imo, the idea that she somehow did something to cause such attacks should not have been put to her at all. Even if she can discuss it like an adult.

Justine, can I ask, are you friends with or friendly with PPH or Enid? Because your kind perception of thier very malicious attacks in mind and many others eyes, and your focusing on what rev has done to create such an attack, seems rather strange in any other light.

Apologies if this is way off the mark, but I am finding much of your justifcation odd.