some recent bigotry on this list

[Tree Fitzpatrick]

We were having a nice conversation on this list called 'a quiet time'.
. . and then Paul posted a couple of nasty phrases that stung me.

He wrote derisively about 'extreme individualism', making it feel to
me, in a very ugly way, that he does not think it is okay for people
to try to get their needs met.  His derisive portrayal of examples of
individuality as 'extreme individualism' left me thinking that he
might not be a professional designer of human gatherings. . . at least
not one with the value of inclusion.

In the same nasty note, Paul portrayed a woman that Birgitt told us
about as 'clearly mentally unstable."  Ouch.  That one seems even
uglier.  Who among us has never popped off, expressing anger in a less
than optimal manner?  It might not matter to most on this list but I
do have a mental health disability and I am fed up with being made to
feel like I have to tolerate ignorant, bigoted statements about the
mentally ill.  Like most bigotry, these kinds of statements usually
stem from the speaker's lack of knowledge about what they are talking
about.

I have made a personal commitment to point out bigotry when I see it
and I believe Paul's nasty comment of 'clearly mentally unstable' was
bigotry.  I know 'most people' routinely tolerate bigoted
generalizaitons about people with mental health disabilities and when
they do tolerate such bigotry, I always wonder why.  why would anyone
think people with mental health disabilities did not deserve the same
absence of bigotry as anyone else?

Sorry to bother the list with this but Paul's statements were, for me,
shockingly offensive.

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