SBFII: Quilts - the full truth?

We all know the ‘red scarf forum’ (now known as SBFII) have a fascination with making quilts to give to Susan, but even with their beloved quilts they prefer to hide the truth from their members. It appears some members didn’t want so much religious content on the quilt, so they made changes to it. But, as usual, that’s not quite the truth. Here are more extracts from their secret mods/admin only threads. Again, none of this information has been obtained through any illegal act.

Extract from an email sent to ‘staff’ (posted in their private staff thread):

“ … she said she felt that she should remove the Proverbs and … Scripture squares. In their places, she plans to put the kilt-wearing snowman with only musical notes around the bagpipe. This square exchange should resolve controversy on the quilt. For those of us who are more religious, [member] plans to make the removed squares into sachets for Susan to use in her linen cabinet … That way, the Scriptures are still being given to Susan, just not added to the quilt... If you think it would be helpful to NOT mention that the removed squares are still being given to Susan, that is fine. You will phrase it, I'm sure, to where it does not sound like a "victory" for either group.”

My comment: [My bolding in the quote]. You mean lie?!

Admin K:

“Yes, it would be better not to mention that the squares will be used for other things.”

Moderator J:

“I reopened the quilt thread this morning with a warning that any discussion about the religious controversy will result in post deletions and possible warnings.”

My comment: So, they’re suppressing the truth yet again. If you thought they really had dropped the religious squares, you were wrong! They just bent the truth!

I maintained from the start that religion should have no place on the site. It's my understanding that it's common policy on forums that the topics of religion & politics be off-bounds. Had they followed that common-sense rule, this controversy would never have arisen.

Agreed, LEM. When I first arrived on the scene at SBFII back in September 2009 I was startled by a lot of things that I was seeing there, but one of the primary things which popped right out at me was the presence of religious/prayer threads. I thought, "What the --?" As a veteran of the internet and many forums I was well aware that yes, it is customary on discussion forums NOT to permit any sort of religious or political stuff (unless, of course one of those topics is the forum's focus in the first place). So they didn't permit the politics but they sure as heck permitted the religion. I agree that this was a huge mistake, a real whopper. Unfortunately it has caused a lot of problems ever since, and goes to demonstrate quite clearly WHY not permitting religion or politics is a standard policy in web-based forums.

To be fair - the religious stuff was allowed by Paul backed up by his first administrator, Elmie who as some of you may remember had a very long religious tract as her signature!

Most of the original mods - and that included the pickle and the birdy - were agreed that religion should not have been given house room.

Unless a forum is set up specifically for religious discussion it is indeed usually verboten.

The rationale for the religion was that "Susan is deeply religious, therefore religion is relevant . . . . ". You might as well say that since she probably holds opinions about politics, bodily functions and personal hygiene, those topics hould be afforded threads too (Oh wait, the latter two are, here - well, maybe not entire threads, but they do have a way of popping up (nod to luz) now and then)

Yes, I remember Elmie.....she was either still on board or was just leaving as I arrived. She's the one who wrote the bodice-ripper that was advertised on the site. Let's just say that she would never come home with any sort of literary prize! I vaguely remember the religious tract sig file, too. Anyway, Paul should have listened to the majority rather than going along with her wishes, as it definitely has always been detrimental to that site. Of course that was only ONE of the mistakes he made....

Yes, it does appear that the 'staff' probably don't like the religious stuff at all, despite what they tell the members. Here's an interesting quote taken from their private thread:

"Urry hup and get it together, cuz you and I are in charge of the religious threads starting tomorrow." - followed by the 'eek' smilie.

Sounds like they see that as a bit of a chore?

Is this from the first quilt or second one? I know that Judyolka had massive issues with the scriptures on the squares with the first quilt. I had no idea that they would have used it for another thing. I agree with everyone here, religious or not, it should have stayed off the forum. I don't mind those who are Christians, as most fans on that forum are. but to me religion is a very personal thing that can be taken seriously.

Religion is indeed a very personal thing, or it should be. While it is fine for individuals to put their faith and trust in a particular religion or religious practice, where it can be problematic is when someone tries to proselytize others and tries to ram things down others' throats. In general, most web-based forums do not permit the discussion of religion or politics because it can lead to huge arguments and disruptive behavior. A prayer group is fine -- on a forum specifically focused in that direction anyway. A prayer group on a site which is not focused on religious practices at all but is centered around something else, such as celebrating and promoting a particular singer -- well, that is asking for trouble and I know that there has indeed been trouble around that at SBFII since its very early days. If members of SBFII want to get together either in person or in an online group and pray individually and collectively, that's perfectly fine, but IMHO this does NOT belong on the SBFII website and the forum itself. It is very unfortunate that it ever was allowed in the first place.

I vaguely remember the scuffle that went on about the first quilt when people realized only towards the end of the process that Randma was intending to put some sort of Biblical scripture verse on it and also include Bible verses on some of the quilt squares. Really, that should have been made clear from the very beginning, as, yes, not everyone would feel comfortable with this for one reason or another. It was interesting to learn recently that in the end there was what appeared to be a compromise but what it actually was Randma and the other religious people getting their way after all by doing something else with those problematic squares. I don't know what all is going on with the quilt that is currently underway, but I'm sure that it does have some sort of Bible verse on it. Undoubtedly the other two or three or four quilts made of the same fabric do as well. I think that at least this time that particular information was made clear up front before people started asking to have their names included, and that is fair enough.

I am still wondering what on earth Susan is going to do with all these quilts......

Clix, to answer your last question: I would assume all the shit she gets from fans all over the world she donates what she doesn't need and gives things to friends and family members because that's the kind of person who she is. As for the fan quilt, I suspect the Texas one is all folded up nicely and shoved as far back into the linen closet and hopefully she forgets it's there.

I want to note that she gave the forum necklace away as she probably didn't remember where it came from and she's a giving person. That's why I love her so much, she's a very loving and giving person, her generosity is wonderful, some fans need to take a page from her book and do the same thing as she does.

You know I never want to meet her. Oh, it would be nice to, but my life isn't just about Susan. If I ever met her I would never hug her, or touch her or expect to suck back her tea in her home expecting a return invite soon.

I'm not a lunatic fan that thinks we're BFs.

Admin wrote:

Yes, it does appear that the 'staff' probably don't like the religious stuff at all, despite what they tell the members. Here's an interesting quote taken from their private thread:

"Urry hup and get it together, cuz you and I are in charge of the religious threads starting tomorrow." - followed by the 'eek' smilie.

Sounds like they see that as a bit of a chore?

Of course it's a chore, as they allowed it to get out of hand. If they kept it off the forum in the first place, there wouldn't be a need to watch that thread and clean it up.

Religion on forums always kills it or helps to give it a quick death. SBFII staff though can do that alone they don't need the religious problems to help them along. Just give them a hammer and they are drunk with power.