Policy Issues

[Martin Nicolaus]

LifeRing policy on criticizing other recovery approaches is pretty clear, as far as it goes: In a LifeRing meeting, criticism of other approaches is Off Topic and the convenor needs to shut it down. Outside a LifeRing meeting, it's a free country and LifeRing members can say what they want.

The question is whether this Ning thing is a "meeting" or not, for purposes of the limits on speech.

There's pretty much a consensus, I believe, that chat groups are meetings, because people talk to each other in real time; it's a burden to ignore someone. On the other hand, a forum like Delphi is more wide open, because you can easily ignore topics and posts that you don't want to read. Email lists can go either way; some like LSRSafe are very protective, others like Sober Coffeehouse are (or were, haven't been there for ages) wide open and anything goes.

Ning is a relatively new kind of medium, sort of a hybrid, and we're still feeling our way toward a policy. Donald has gone on the assumption that ning is NOT a meeting and that he can feel free to trash AA (or anything else). Michael feels strongly that it IS a meeting and that the same rules apply as in a face-to-face meeting, where criticism of other approaches is not allowed. I'm the guy that started this and I'm the "owner" so I'm like the referee and I'm being asked for a ruling.

I'm going to try to solve this, at least for the time being, by setting up two headings or categories in the Forum. One is "Support Group Meeting" and the rules will be the same as in a face to face meeting -- no criticism of other approaches are appropriate here. The other is "Free Speech Forum" and there, LifeRing participants should feel free to express anything within the bounds of civility. A third heading, General Topics, is for miscellaneous.

As for blogs, let's wait and see if an issue arises. Blogs tend to be individual expressions and probably should be given greater latitude than talking inside a meeting.

I'm not going to censor hyperlinks to other sites except for spammer and commercial sites. I'm not going to censor photos or videos, except again for civility. If people don't like a video, don't watch it. These particular videos that attack AA have such low production values and are so lacking in original content that they're not going to attract much of a following. Eventually videos that nobody watches will drop off.

My experience over many years with online venues is that people with viewpoints that others find scandalous or outrageous thrive on opposition but wither when ignored. My advice to those who are offended is to ignore the offender, and he or she will go away. There are other websites and undoubtedly forums that thrive on the anti-AA vitriol, where this type of expression is at home. Gravity will exert its inexorable pull.

LifeRing would not exist if people were happy with the existing 12-step offerings. We could never make headway if we pretended that we have no differences with the 12-step approach; no one would believe us or respect us. Treatment professionals will and do respect us when we make it clear that sobriety, and sobriety alone, is the motive for our choice of a new and different road. It is positively useful for professionals and others to get some exposure to the strident blast of AA-exposes that is out there on the web, just to see how very temperate and reasonable the LifeRing approach is, by comparison.

[David Tomlinson]

seems like a very fair and sensible approach

[Patrick N]

Marty - once again you have the best kung fu. I like this approach; thank you. Any blog reader should now understand the nature of forum posts and threads that follow.

[Michael]

Marty,

Thank you for the thoughtful approach to this discussion. I had only wished I was clever enough to have offered this solution. I have never written that LifeRing Ning was a "meeting". I agree that it is an open forum and that people should have their "constructive" point of view heard. I think separating discussions is an excellent idea. Perhaps videos could be separated into music, movies, addiction, alternative misc?

I am very clear to verbalize the distinct differences in our philosophy compared to other modalities, otherwise it would be near impossible to grow the organization. However, I think the approach in the delivery of that message is key to our success and compatibility with those we share the recovery world with and those we want to appeal to. I am not aloof to the fact that people talk down to LifeRing in Victoria, but we are seemingly a threat to some.

Clearly, I feel very strongly about LifeRing and the success of the organization.

[Martin Nicolaus]

Michael,

I have the deepest respect for you and your work. Please continue here in ning and keep speaking out when something troubles you.

We'll see by and by whether separating forum posts into these categories helps people be clear about what the rules are. No doubt other issues will arise in the future.

I'm asking Bart, the manager of this network, to see whether videos and photos can also be separated into categories similar to Forums.

Best regards,

Marty N.

[BartR]

I've looked into categorizing the videos and I don't readily see a way to do it (like with the forums). I'll continue to work on it.

[SocraticGadfly]

Good work overall Marty. Makes sense to me. Adn, right, stuff that doesn't get watched or read will die away.

[Rick F.]

This strikes me as a sound solution, in that it clears up an ambiguity without silencing anybody.