Quote
quiet one
tsukimoto, just think of how much you have reduced your carbon footprint since you are no longer a member of SGI and don't have to drive 3 hours to see something that you could see right in your own city! It seems like SGI was always asking us to do things that were not good for the environment, such as going to so many meetings, burning incense (also bad for your health!), and sending members from around the world every month to Japan to appear on the monthly video, etc. Of course, SGI considers itself to be very environmentally conscious. But I think a person (or organization) can do small things as well as major things to help our environmental problems.
Absolutely. Since leaving SGI, I have reduced my carbon footprint, the wear and tear on my car, and the amount of money I spend on gasoline, tolls and incense. Along with my stress levels.
When I think of all the driving we did, I just shake my head. It was as if we had to prove our loyalty and faith by traveling long distances to meetings. I got into an argument one time with my leaders about this. Every February, the senior leadership wanted us to have a big territory meeting -- in cities six or eight hours away from my hometown! I liked the meetings themselves, seeing members that I usually had no chance to see -- but questioned the timing. WHY ever did it have to be February? We live in an area that gets a lot of snow, and this particular winter, we were having more than usual.
I was a group leader, and my leaders told me to urge my members to go to this meeting. I said "If we really care about our members, we shouldn't push them to go to this meeting. The way the weather's been lately, it's not safe!"
My leaders said I was too fearful and questioned my faith! One women's division leader sneered, "Oh, do you think we should just cancel all of our activities this winter because it might snow?"
I said "Driving a few miles to a meeting here in town is very different than driving a couple hundred miles to a different state -- and possibly getting stranded along the way! Do the senior leaders in Japan, or in another state realize how harsh the winters can be here? Why does this meeting have to take place in February? Why not in the spring, summer, or fall when the weather is so much better?"
I was told, "You need to make a determination that you and your members will attend this meeting. Chant for good weather that weekend!"
I said that I would not go to that meeting, and my members were adults who could make their own choices about attending. I wasn't going to push them to do something they weren't comfortable with. Most of them agreed with me and did not go to the meeting.
I wondered if I'd be dismissed from my leadership position. I wasn't. I don't know if my leaders still thought that they could reform me -- or if it was just that nobody else wanted my position either.