BOOTED OUT!

Oh, like you didn�t see that coming!

Not even 24 hours into it, our Fundie-Grrl Out-reach Program was halted! (If you have no idea what I�m talking about click here and start reading!) As I said, I didn�t want to log on to their site on Easter �cos it just wouldn�t have seemed kosher (whoops, wrong religion!) But of course I wanted to check in at my regular message board to see how my cohorts were getting on. I was greeted by a slew of posts containing the word �BANNED!�

Shit.

Before I go on to report the resulting drama (acusations of plans to hack into the server, a stern letter to our administrator, blah, blah, blah), let me say that none of us had been offensive in the least. We didn�t go in there posting agressively about our vaginas or about getting out from under Daddy�s thumb, nor did we mention anything about religion, abortion, or sex. We just calmly raised a few questions and tried to open their minds in a positive way. I guess this is a no-no in Fundie-Land.

Here are my personal sins committed on their boards:

One of their threads was a poll asking posters to choose which of the following categories they fall into:

• Lady in waiting (13 - 17)
• Lady in waiting (18 - 20)
• Engaged (date set for 3 months)
• Engaged (date set for 6 months)
• Engaged (date set for 12 months or more)
• Engaged (date not set yet)
• Married

So, I posted my status (I lied of course, seeing as that there wasn't a "living in sin" category) and ignoring the fact that there was no "divorced" category, I added, �I have a question: Are most of the sisters here under 20? I�m asking because I noticed that there isn�t an �over 20� category for ladies in waiting. Do you think perhaps someone might feel hurt or alienated if they don�t fit into one of these categories? Seeing as that everyone on these boards seems so considerate of each other�s feelings, I�m sure it was just an over-sight.� (Insert blinking smiley emoticon... -here-)

One girl responded immediately that she hadn�t noticed that and thanked me for pointing it out.

My next mortal sin was endorsing higher education. Some girls wrote about things they would like to study, but seemed doubtful about going on to college. One girl wrote that she didn�t understand the point of studying something if they were going to spend their lives as home-makers.

Of course I couldn�t resist, so I replied, �Even if you don�t get to put that education into practice, you�ll have expanded your mind, filling your heart and mind with knowledge-- knowledge that you can pass on to your future children. That in itself makes it worth-while. And as a lot of us realize, you don�t necessarily have to enroll in college to do it. All it takes is a library card, maybe an internet connection, some people with whom you can have discussions, and a desire to learn!� Cheesy, yes, but think about to whom I was posting.

My final cyber-sin was a post in response in a thread devoted to one of the few girls who�s enrolled in a high school instead of being home-schooled like most of the others. She was writing a paper for sociology about why feminism is bad. There were some serious misconceptions, not only on her part, but on the part of the other posters as well. Girls kept lamenting over how terribly wrong it was for feminists to want to be just like men and how we need to accept our feminity and roles as mothers and wives.

So, I wrote, �That�s what I had thought too! [smiley emoticon scratching chin, eyes looking upward thoughtfully] But upon speaking to some feminists, I learned that this is not what it�s about. It�s not about being equal to men in characteristics and behavior, but in value. It�s not about eliminating feminity, but celebrating it. Many feminists believe that feminism = pro-feminity. Just think how beautiful it would be if feminity was valued as much as masculinity?� Ok, sappy and over-simplified, and totally ignoring things like reproductive freedom, pay equity, and countless other pertinent issues, but come on! BABY STEPS!

My fellow boardies� posts were no more controversial than my own, all had very positive, friendly tones, and were punctuated with cheerful emoticons... and yet we were all still booted! Where did we go wrong? Sheer stupidity! How did we not think of REFERRERS??? We�d been using a link on our board to get to their board! And I didn�t even think of it until this morning as I was checking my own referrers here at D-Land! So, after learning that we�d all been banned, I posted on our board that their administrators were probably reading everything we were posting on our own threads! Shortly after, our administrator confirmed that they had indeed been reading everything and had contacted her because he believed that a plan to hack into the board or its server might have been under way! He threatened legal action if any attempts to compromise their server or boards were to take place. WTF? Hacking? Most of us couldn�t hack our way into a cardboard box! Luckily our administrator, who also happens to be the editor-in-chief/publisher of the magazine which birthed our board was reeeally cool about it and said the possible legal case against us would be �tenuous at best.� Thank Maude!

So, yes, I do feel really foolish for thinking I could get through to fundies. But most of all I feel frustration that I wasn�t even given a chance to try to do so, especially since the girls there were surprisingly welcoming and very sweet. And more importantly, I�m really kicking myself for not copying that one girl�s recipe for rosemary muffins!

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