I agree with Bromo that the Spiritual NGO would best serve our community if it were a place for us to retreat and escape from politics -- a Spiritual Retreat. Even the US President has Camp David -- and many presidents have used it as a place to escape from the Beltway.
However, it is a bad idea to freeze politics from any activity at the front end. Declaring an institution, any institution, in the CDS as "nonpolitical" threatens to create an antidemocratic kernel around which a stone to choke our project can coalesce.
Pat's solution is the right one. Through collective action -- which is inherently political -- we create a voluntary spiritual institution. We then see who joins it and why -- and let the members shape it to fill their needs. I expect that those needs will include a desire to create a place to escape from the unremitting politics of the rest of the CDS. (I note that I am a Mason -- and one of the rules of Masonic ettiquette is not to discuss politics or religion in lodge. That is a good rule for protecting the lodge as a place for moral improvement and spiritual recharge.) However, it is wrong to prejudge that outcome.
The Guild is an entirely different animal. The Guild is where the real work -- the work on the ground -- of our sims happens. The Guild must be political -- because the things the Guild does must be guided by the will of our community. Any attempt to insulate the Guild from CDS politics is a step toward creating a reified undemocratic behemoth at the center of our city -- and such a creature could only destroy us.
That said, I think that Bromo's skepticism of the discussion on these forums is unfortunate. Far from being devoid the possibility for intelligent conversation, I find the discussions on these forums to be the most thoughtful and deep discussions of the issues we have. (They are far more substantive and thoughtful than inworld discussions -- which often have character of all inperson discussions, which, by their nature, don't tend to allow time for thoughtful reflection on and refinement of ideas.)
Of course, the forum discussions frequently involve disagreement. I would be deeply skeptical of them if there was no such disagreement. Chatter about bunnies and happiness are nice -- but have never taken any idea anywhere. Debate -- real debate -- can be rancorous, but it can also be wonderfully productive. Our debates, though rancorous, tend to be productive provided people participate in them as advocates of their positions -- rather than like sullen children with bruised egos.
Enough of the "I'll take my marbles and go home unless you play nice" talk -- and more of the real talk, the talk about real issues and projects.
Beathan
Let's keep things simple enough to be fair, substantive enough to be effective, and insightful enough to be good.
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