Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Date: July 23, 2011 05:03PM
Dear all,
My view is that it would be couter-productive to identify Latigo on this site (albeit anonymously through a “pen-name”). Not because it would in any way diminish what is said, but because it would strengthen the comments of one specific individual. This would create a sort of one-to-many relationship with Latigo at the top of the tree. But who put them there? Was there an election, and is there a way of removing them if they start abusing their power? The lack of democratic accountability is one of the main things I would criticise about Struthers, and is not the way I want to go here.
I would rather do my best to keep this forum a group of peers – all able to contribute on an equal basis. We already have a legitimate moderator, and I would not want to invest anyone else with any additional authority or kudos. What if someone identified themselves as Latigo and then put up a comment you disagreed with? Would you perhaps be a bit cautious about publicly disagreeing with their comment? If so, that creates an individual with more power than others. I strongly believe that comments should be judged by their content, not by who said them (which is of course the Struthers way).
Like others, I am really grateful to the Latigo site for drawing a lot of information together and putting it in the public domain. I would rather they were not identified here however, even by a pen-name. We can all still discuss latigo articles if we wish, but we do so on an equal basis, and cannot be overruled in our comments or conclusions. Sure, latigo can do what they like, but they are not then directly influencing others, seeking to persuade them they have taken the right approach. They are simply doing their own thing and it is up to each individual to decide whether they agree or disagree with any articles. That seems democratic enough to me.
This also means that any individual can emerge as a key conrtibutor on this forum, then can perhaps slip into the background and let others come forward. At the moment, latigo could get run over by a number 66 bus and the articles and this discussion would remain. If latigo became a lynch-pin of discussions here, if could stifle real debate and could cause discontinuities in the discussion if that one identified individual happened to be unavailable for comment.
So, my plea to latigo is do not create a link with any name on this forum, just get on with what you do best. We can talk about any articles if we wish and can even email you with individual or collective comments if required.
The only thing is this leaves me feeling a bit like I am leaving them with all the responsibility, which is why I really liked the "I am Latigo" comment which allowed us all to identify with what was said. I still think that was the best answer. If we all identified with latigo, we would all still be equals but would be lending our personal support to the contribution the site was making.