Perhaps Dr. Stephen Covey (author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) said it best regarding laws, like the law of Gravity: ...You cannot break the Law, you can only break yourself against the Law... To answer a Steve Holyer question regarding whether this list is like Open Space, I consider that it is, and have posted issues to ponder in this politically divided world we find ourselves facilitating within. So I have posted open questions, like with the post on the Canada Conundrum. All I did was ask an open question. Not a trap, not to divide, but to discuss. To resolve the Canada Conundrum I simply asked a straightforward question. What would YOU do? Would you build more prisons or bring Harrison Owen in to facilitate an Open Space? There was only one response that answered the question directly with the reply: ...Tis Time... Thank you!! All the other responses were an example of seeing people break themselves against the Laws and Principles of OST. The first response declared ALL the protestors to be White Supremists, nazi types of people not worthy of inviting into Open Space. Then the dogpile ensued with extreme name calling, smearing, and calls for me to be kicked out of the club, to leave the list, or as Steve put it to, start my own list. Are there perhaps some nazi types in the Canada protest crowd? Probably. Are all the protestors nazi types? Probably not. Is it an act of prejudice and discrimination to paint all people with the same dark brush because of a few? Heck yes it is.
The teaching moment has arrived. To all the good, smart, solid people on this list that have reacted (correction, overreacted) to my posts with extreme prejudice, malice toward me, name calling and demands that I get lost, get silenced (canceled) and get attacked with smears, I say that you have clearly broken yourself against the Laws and Principles of an Open Space practitioner. As I have said before, if one is unable to have an open and honest conversation on this list where I believe the greatest people with passion for producing peace reside, then where is it possible to have those conversations? I have also tried to convey in numerous posts here (with honest intent to ONLY teach and inform you good people what I believe to be the most important lesson of our times as professional OST facilitators) that we all live in Retaliation Nation. Where good people are retaliated against, smeared, called racist and every other horrible name in the book, for having an opinion, or position, or even asking a simple question that goes against the grain in the beliefs of others. The otherwise compassionate people who reside here have become momentary haters in my book by embracing this behavior, when facing an issue or opportunity that does not fit with their narrative beliefs (that they likely were given by our not so impartial press). In this way, you have become the best teachers. Retaliation Nation has arrived on the list and we can all learn from it. If it can happen to me, here, on this list, it can happen to you and to your participants in Open Space, and in life. That is why I call for leadership loyalty to ensure the invitation does not invite people into the Tiger's Den (which I have stepped in here too many times). Can anyone imagine an OST facilitator over-reacting to a participant comment by attacking them so unmercifully as we have seen here? In my humble opinion, to do so would break oneself against the Law of Two Feet, Open Space, and Peacemaking. May We Be careful what we believe and how we then behave, based on our favorite news source...? Perhaps the co-author of the American Constitution, Thomas Jefferson said it best, way back when while sitting as President: ...It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle... As I have said, we have a hyper divisive (fake) news delivery system that is the real culprit in causing the division, hate, and intolerance we see. Another US President also said it best, Harry Truman, who was really talking about the Law of Two Feet. Truman said ...If you cannot take the heat, (use your two feet) stay out of the kitchen... THE END... All the best to my brothers and sisters, MC
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