What is a community?

I have a background of being from a very close knit community. Whether I choose to be in it or not is MY choice! A community is built by its members and there are certain guidelines and certain rules to stay inside that particular community. If those rules and guidelines are broken a number of times, it is most likely that person who practices such behavior will become an outcast. There is no jail in which to throw this person, but it will be quite clear by the other members that they will no longer be welcome..unless, they get their act together and decide to conform once again. This is done naturally. It is done to protect the other members and keep the integrity of their missions. It is very understandable for people to rebel a bit, but if it destructs the essence of their community, it will be bad for the community and the leaders of that community or the ones who represent it (in this case Freelee and Harley on this web page community) have the right to ban any such person who goes against the nature of what this page stands for.

If people can not comply, they most likely will not be wanted here by other members..The people speak out and then order is once again restored within the community. Makes perfect sense to me actually.

If you know there are certain guidelines with in a group or community and you can not follow them, then you chose to get out by default. It is not something you jive with and that is fine. How can one expect to go against the nature of a group or community and expect to be embraced no matter what their behavior is? It would not be fair to the other members or that person. It would not make any sense.

It's like if there were a group of people who followed a religion and one of their rules was to marry the same religion and then one person decided to marry another religion and bring them inside the group...then it would disrupt the order and nature of the group. The religion is what bounds them and if one person does it they can all do the same, and the integrity of what they started as a group gets diminished. It is not a bias thing, it is something they built together and had certain beliefs that get compromised when it becomes a little bit undone by one or many people. Then what is left by the group? Nothing because it would most likely get out of hand because if it is accepted by one then many would follow their lead and do the same. If one is embraced others will see that and do it too leaving the group fraction-ed.

In this case, we see people saying it's okay to eat meat once in a while and expecting to be embraced by a vegan community. It is not okay in a vegan community and never will be. If it is okay, then it is not a vegan community and then the integrity of that community gets threatened and eventually falls apart.

There is a reason certain communities have been around for centuries...like the Hasidim Jews. They may seem like they are snobs to the rest of the world, but they still have their community and everything with them and their beliefs remain in tact. People can make fun all they want, but they still stand strong. It is their belief and you can choose not to be in it. (if you were born into it of course since they would not accept anyone from outside to come in) and they don't respect the rules or nature of the group. In most cases, Everyone has a choice. It is something that we were all blessed with.

My message is, to respect a community and to know your audience. If you don't belong to a community or it does not jive with you, move on and don't make it hard for everyone else by saying that other things are okay. Nobody is holding a gun to your head to stay in this group. If you don't like what you see in a community, don't wait to get "banned" simply walk away. No need to hurt everyone else or insult anyone because you are not going to comply. That is childish and immature. That should have been done with lots of people. I applaud Freelee and Harley for taking on such a task..It aint easy leading a group. It is also not easy to represent something and have to get blamed most of the time. It is a huge undertaking to run a major website and I think they are doing a fantastic job with integrity and what they believe in!!!!

With Love and Sincerity,

Victoria Arnstein

Tags: Freelee, Harley, against, community, group, leaders, rebels

7 members like this

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by PK on February 9, 2012 at 1:17am

Victoria,

Can I copy and paste everything you just said?

LIKE! LIKE! LIKE!

Peace, PK

I agree with the fact that some poster need to know their audience before writing:)

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Permalink Reply by Victoria on February 9, 2012 at 3:20am

Feel free...It would be my honor!

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Permalink Reply by Jayna'/aka/Raw Fit Mama on February 9, 2012 at 3:44am

Very well said...

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Permalink Reply by TheBananaGirl on February 9, 2012 at 11:42am

Like it Victoria! You nailed many great points. I don't have much to add because you seemed to have covered it all :D

Thanks for putting your heart into this, very sincere.

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Permalink Reply by Victoria on February 9, 2012 at 12:02pm

No need to thank me Freelee...it is my observation and it needed to be said in the midst and now hopefully the wake of everything that has transpired in the last few days..too many conflicts and put downs which were not only unnecessary, but also childish and immature. I am glad to give my perspective of what it means to be in a group or community..I have that background and it is something I know about well. Some people just don't get that there are guidelines that need to be kept in every group there is no matter what...without sounding like a recorder over and over again, I still would like to repeat...There would be chaos and no order if that were to happen..then we would not have anything to go by...it would then not make sense...that is the meaning of a group or community.

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Permalink Reply by LauraAnne on February 11, 2012 at 12:53pm

i am new 2 this site...is there something i a missing? what happened? is it ok i have some hot dudes that inspire me on my homepage :-)

whatever the problem is i hope we can all get along.....and i guess a thank u is in order to u victoria for nipping whatevr the prob was in the bud!

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Permalink Reply by Sean big Sexy Rich Ⓥ on February 9, 2012 at 11:53am

30bad is a HCRV (high carb, raw vegan) internet community which promotes a high carb raw lifestyle free of any animal products. Our forum does not tolerate encouragement of anything contrary to HCRV. Nor do we allow endorsement of non-vegan items or practises which involve the imprisonment, exploitation, abuse or murder of sentient beings. We also require our members to post with proper netiquette. Therefore, please indicate your intention:

When i read this i took it very much to heart.. ..in essence my response was a contract of sorts my word that i would abide by the rules clearly written...............it was my choice to to join !!Sean

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Permalink Reply by Windlord on February 9, 2012 at 12:03pm

Your support means much, Miss V. Thank you :)

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Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on February 9, 2012 at 12:35pm

LIKE!! :D

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Permalink Reply by pradtf on February 9, 2012 at 2:52pm

very veritable, victoria!!

vvv!!!

in friendship,

prad

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Permalink Reply by StyleStacker on February 10, 2012 at 3:54am

This is very insightful, you seem to intuitively understand part of the process of ponerization within a group.

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Permalink Reply by Janne Schaffer on February 26, 2012 at 9:44am

in what way could this text not be used to justify for example discrimination of minority cultures in relation to status quo?

isn't rebellion one of the ways in which a community evolves. doesn't conformity just because easily lead to stagnation, narrow-mindedness etc.?

it seems contradictory to me to take an example such as hasidic jews who (as I understand it) refuses to conform to the rules and cultural traditions of the community at large in a text which is intended to make the point of how you should comform to a community's rules or leave

do you think jews or other people who had to flee from their homes would be okay if the people of their new country said 'accept our rules to the letter or get the hell out of here'. people who comes to a new country tends to adapt a bit out of necessity but also still bring some of their own culture into the mix. that's how communities evolve. at least to a degree

btw I have no intention of breaking any rules of this community personally. I simply have no desire to. but I find this text illogical