Mercury and Jupiter in retrograde.....

I knew something must be up when the usually laid back homeschool group I am part of seemed to be in turmoil over what I thought was absolutely nothing, well at least in the beginning it was nothing, but then the founder of the group reworded the vision statement and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.....

She was upset that a new mom "complained" because some of the parents at an event used "adult" language....so she amended the vision statement to say "does not tolerate negativity, cursing in front of children, backstabbing or complaining"....of course when I posted the following in response to the changes, she felt I was attacking her, honestly I was just offering some food for thought....after all where does one's right to not be offended end???

My response:

I think that changing the vision statement is a bit of an over reaction here and honestly see it as being a slippery slope that I personally don't want to start down. Like I mentioned to J, M and D what happens next???....what if say someone came to the gym or another activity who is"offended" by lesbians and a lesbian was there ( not sure if there are any in ***, nor do I care)...would a "only hetrosexual policy" be put in place? What about someone who thinks having a child out of wedlock or being a single parent or being divorced is a sin...would we need to adopt a "only two- parent family"(of course meaning a MAN and a WOMAN) policy? What if someone starts coming to events that is "offended" by breastfeeding or the sight of a bear breast? Should we all have to retreat to the bathroom to nurse and cover up so that they aren't uncomfortable...would a "no public nursing" policy be put into place? What if someone came who was "offended" by the way some of us discipline or don't discipline....would a"discipline policy" be put in place? What about those who are "appauled"that unschoolers don't use a curriculum...would *** adopt a mandatory curriculum for all members? What about those that think having large families is "irresponsible" or those that think having an only child is"wrong"? You can't please everyone.... This really is a slippery slope......where would the right to not be offended end?

Honestly, as the new vision statement is worded, I doubt that I can upholdsuch a high ideal. It is hard to not be negative or complain when dealingwith a sick and dying parent. It is hard to not complain when there isn't enough money to put food on the table or pay the electric bill. It is hard to not be negative when you feel your world is falling apart around you. I have always felt, like J said, that *** is a place of relaxed friendship and I hate to lose that because the vision changes. I am feeling a bit sad, and I am sure that the wording of this email probably isn't as gentle as it could be. It is hard to watch something I care about seem to be in such turmoil over what seems to be something so minor.

OK, so I really don't see the above as an attack, like I said, food for thought. If you are going to "react" and change the entire vision statement becuase someone is upset, then how do you decide what merits changes and what doesn't? And to follow "will not tolerate" with negative and complaining, is very ambiguous...there must be a clearer way to articulate what is meant by such words.

My friend pointed out that Mercury and Venus are both in retrograde, which apparently has a lot to do with miscommunication! So maybe I would be best served by keeping my mouth shut and dusting off some astrology books (OK I would have to go out and buy them to dust them off!).