Sins of the Conference, Pt. 1

This new series of posts is based on the premise that you cannot find a solution until you have clearly identified the problem. As the Group moved from attempting to address Takoma Park's issues through direct dialogue with the pastors to seeking a remedy through the conference we found that the matter was compounded by the attitudes and behaviors of the conference officials we dealt with. It became clear to us as the interaction progressed that the goal of the conference was not to facilitate resolution through fair and efficient process, but to silence dissent. The following is a listing of the inappropriate behaviors the conference engaged in toward this end.

When we presented Elder Miller with an account of events he responded by accusing us of "misunderstandings, inaccuracies, and information that has been used that is misleading."(1) Despite repeated requests for a specific list so that we could either make correction or defense he refused to be any more specific. Since he was not present for the events described he had no first-hand knowledge of whether what we had said was true or not. Therefore,

A) Elder Miller wronged us by assuming guilt without evidence.

B) Elder Miller wronged us by making accusations without detail so that we couldn't respond.

(1) Letter to Elder B dated July 14, 2008