Briefing Note For The 405th Infantry Division: Canadian Volunteer Staff Resignation

[TorrinNorixius]

It's great to see how so many people miss the entire point of what we are leaving for. we clearly explained multiple times. The issue is the leader being a dictator. It's not directly centered on the pride logo.

For the French limitations, we clearly had offered to help in any way but I believe that we were constantly told that they would do it, but ended up never having returns on the subject. Considering it's a LAW issue on this, I believe it should have been taken more seriously.

We ended up giving up and making our own visuals after MONTHS of waiting, but then we got yelled at for doing that? What a joke.

It is a shame to see that people do not understand. This is a huge change and for people to ignore the root problem that Art is the issue, is a problem in of itself. I applaud you all for stepping up for yourselves and im sorry it got to this point. At the same time though, I am happy. You all get to continue what you love without Art at the helm.

 

[BlazedStarbon]

I understand it's a tricky process and I can only speak for myself when I say that I 100% understand the reasons everyone's leaving, but there's also two sides to a story.

When I was CO, I worked with what was given, and things will always turn out ok so long as everyone works together within a regiment. (Forget division staff for a moment here.)

My main issue with all of this, is how everyone who stepped down in the last 24hrs does not see that their words are not making themselves any better than those they accuse of.

Everyone from current staff are no better when they begin using disrespectful terms, and hateful comments towards others for not sharing their beliefs/views.

This is a lesson everyone who stepped down will need to learn.

I don't condone ANY form of hate towards anyone, yet I've witnessed for far too long, the very people preaching they'd go after haters, by becoming the very thing they keep swearing to defend against.

It's hypocritical that a regiment I helped bring to life, is being left in shambles by issues that should never have become issues.

The 405th is not meant to be a political place. It needs to go back to being a welcoming place where we share our love of a video game, build costumes, and we can have open discussions with EVERYONE. Not just those who share the same views.

If you proclaim that Art is a tyrant and dictator, then I'll politely remind this regiment's staff that you all acted the same way since I stepped down.

There's been no reason, no patience, no willingness to try other avenues. No respect, no kindness.

That is what I see, and it hurts. I respect people choosing to do what they must, but I'd appreciate that these same people don't act innocent when they've caused damage too.

 

[NobleofDeath16]

It's great to see how so many people miss the entire point of what we are leaving for. we clearly explained multiple times. The issue is the leader being a dictator. It's not directly centered on the pride logo.

For the French limitations, we clearly had offered to help in any way but I believe that we were constantly told that they would do it, but ended up never having returns on the subject. Considering it's a LAW issue on this, I believe it should have been taken more seriously.

We ended up giving up and making our own visuals after MONTHS of waiting, but then we got yelled at for doing that? What a joke.

Just wanted to add here as someone who was completely unaware of this both being an issue from both your regiment and a legal stand point, and to whom it was being communicated to;

I've done some digging with forum support staff and we have located a plugin that would handle a majority of this work and would just leave translating media and documents manually. While obviously too late for the situation at hand I am working to now rectify this before end of year for French and Spanish translations.

 

[BlazedStarbon]

Just wanted to add here as someone who was completely unaware of this both being an issue from both your regiment and a legal stand point, and to whom it was being communicated to;

I've done some digging with forum support staff and we have located a plugin that would handle a majority of this work and would just leave translating media and documents manually. While obviously too late for the situation at hand I am working to now rectify this before end of year for French and Spanish translations.

On behalf of the Canadian Regiment, thank you for this aid.

 

[NobleofDeath16]

On behalf of the Canadian Regiment, thank you for this aid.

There is a sweep of incoming accessibility changes I have in the works that fingers crossed, will start rolling out once the next big Xenforo update hits this weekend. While its better late than never; I still apologize for the delay.

 

[BlazedStarbon]

There's nothing to apologize for, but thank you for adding this fix in your spare time regardless!

 

[CplYapFlip]

BlazedStarbon

Tolerance is a social contract that is all of us agreeing to not be jerks to one another. When someone shows intolerance, we are not magically also the intolerant ones by pointing out someone is being a jerk.

I'm sorry that you felt lonely that no one took your side when you were vocally and adamantly antivaxx and transphobic on your personal channels, but that really isn't any of our responsibilities, nor any of the remaining Canadian members for that matter.

Claiming that we have been the tyrants when we had a standard election in the new year after you stepped down, and have followed the Mantle ever since is a hilarious reach. Espeially as, despite many of us personally disliking you, you were also never barred from any events that you were legally able to attend otherwise.

Your whole post reeks of bitterness that the Canadian leadership IS working in unity, but we didn't do it for your cause when you stepped down. And I can hardly say I'm surprised.

Similar to FANGS, I also have no care for if folk remain part of the 405th while joining other costume groups. I will just highlight for folks sticking around how interesting it is that after standing up to say our piece, this transphobe felt it was her time to return and be heard.

 

[Zachary]

here is a few elements you got wrong BlazedStarbon

this saddens me to see the team dissolve

the team is not disolving, we are moving out! simple as that!

[Apologies in advance, but seeing everyone step down now is disappointing.

once again, we are not stepping down, we are creating something that will have consistent rules with accountable leaders that listens to their members.

I expected better, and pray that everyone can work out their differences rather than allow initial emotions to get the better of them.

we are way past the ''initial emotions, this has been going for months in regard to art and YEARS when it come to issues the the montreal battalion has faced.

Both staff members & division staff also work full time jobs, so physical help shouldn't always be expected for limitations like french translations with Montreal.

true, i have 2 jobs, work 6 days a week with an average of 70h/week, and i never expected division to do the work for us, all i EVER asked was the working files and a review of what we would make to share with the rest of the communitiy, and after over 6 months of silence from division anytime i inquired, and we did our own, we were met with threath and backlash.

not give up when things got tough

not giving up, were moving on, were tired of the constant fight with art and division

Canada can move forward in a better light once everyone calms down and sees reason

oh we are, under a diffrent banner (that have already been mentioned multiple time but i wont share again in respect to FANGS wishes)


overall i belive you complelty missed the mark on our message and used it as a tribune to bring back up old conflict that is complelty irrelevant to this situation

moving on

The 405th is not meant to be a political place. It needs to go back to being a welcoming place where we share our love of a video game, build costumes, and we can have open discussions with EVERYONE. Not just those who share the same views.

we never mentioned politics in our message, we want the same thing, a welcoming place for all, what we asked for was a dialogue with ART who has been quiet since and more accountability and transparencies on the decisions taken above us, no politics, no views, no religions, we wanted dialogue.

If you proclaim that Art is a tyrant and dictator, then I'll politely remind this regiment's staff that you all acted the same way since I stepped down

i beg to differ, wheter at a battalion level or a regimental level, we have been anything but listening, welcoming, helping and accomodating to anyone in the regiment/battalion. but please if you see anything here or anywhere else and provide screen shots of interactions that could have been tyranic or dictatorial, i will gladly answer for them otherwise, please do be careful with such accusations as it is highly disrespectful to the people who have been/still are the pillar of the community in canada.

There's been no reason, no patience, no willingness to try other avenues. No respect, no kindness.

i will simply point back the archive shared by ziggy, everything is in details, and again, if a lack of respect or kindness has occured and you can share evidence in forms of screen grabs, i will answer for them myself and take full responsability.

that goes over all i have to say to your threads, you prove our points every step of the way

Your whole post reeks of bitterness that the Canadian leadership IS working in unity, but we didn't do it for your cause when you stepped down. And I can hardly say I'm surprised.

i whole heartly agree with you and your entire reply

 

[BlazedStarbon]

BlazedStarbon

Tolerance is a social contract that is all of us agreeing to not be jerks to one another. When someone shows intolerance, we are not magically also the intolerant ones by pointing out someone is being a jerk.

I'm sorry that you felt lonely that no one took your side when you were vocally and adamantly antivaxx and transphobic on your personal channels, but that really isn't any of our responsibilities, nor any of the remaining Canadian members for that matter.

Claiming that we have been the tyrants when we had a standard election in the new year after you stepped down, and have followed the Mantle ever since is a hilarious reach. Espeially as, despite many of us personally disliking you, you were also never barred from any events that you were legally able to attend otherwise.

Your whole post reeks of bitterness that the Canadian leadership IS working in unity, but we didn't do it for your cause when you stepped down. And I can hardly say I'm surprised.

Similar to FANGS, I also have no care for if folk remain part of the 405th while joining other costume groups. I will just highlight for folks sticking around how interesting it is that after standing up to say our piece, this transphobe felt it was her time to return and be heard.

I didn't care whether you all agreed about pandemic stances, but it also gave you no right to hate on others who were cautious about a medical experiment still in trials (and I was never transphobic. You began calling out names when I tried to have a discussion with you and everyone else. Instead, you harassed my socials after removal, which ultimately led to you being blocked.)

However, I'm not here to do the same.

You all allowed your personal beliefs to overshadow the rest of 405th members with different views, and in turn, it led to you calling us rude names and being downright cruel both in public amd private.

I have never done so to anyone, which is why I tried to keep the peace at the time, but the Canadian regiment didn't want to work as a team, allowing personal grudges to interfere with my attempts to keep everyone respectful.

I'm sad for you that it took over 2 years to say how you really feel - by disliking me, when I gave everyone EVERY opportunity to resolve any issues that were caused by fears of the pandemic back in 2022, yet no one wanted to communicate.

No one.

It's a shame because I liked you all until I was forced to step back when no one wanted to fix anything nor help resolve any supposed grievances.

So I stepped down because yes, you all were showing your cruelty for those who did not share beliefs. Nothing that had to do with the 405th, yet here we are.

I never judged anyone based on their views over any topic, but I can be disappointment by one's character for lack of self-respect when not playing nice over personal beliefs.

(Also responding to Ziggy here)
If you all claim to make a place welcome to all, then WHY, oh why, allow your own personal prejudices to make false claims about myself as a person and not work with me when there were issues? Instead, you all ignored any attempt at reason and have silently shunned all who may disagree with you.

A true place of welcoming would not show bias, which is what I miss seeing within the 405th.

At Ziggy again, don't offer to see screenshots because firstly, there's too much documention and secondly, it does no one any good when again, you all cut ties with your predecessors before even trying to get things resolved while I was still CO. Now it's happening again.
I want to keep this as respectful as possible here.

So with all that in mind - How is that inclusive? How can you stand for unity when you can't commune with those you disagree with and find resolution?

I'm also not calling people tyrants, only stating the obvious that the way everyone's been expressing themselves the last 2 years is similar. I've witnessed both on the forums, discord, and socials, how members who share varying opinions are treated horribly if it's different from what most in this regiment believes.(Again, this is wrong to do.)

Again, no one has the right to be mean towards others just because they don't like where they stand religously, culturally, etc...

If you say that most disliked me, yet refused to sit down like adults and work it out civilly, yet still refused while continuously referring to me by terms that are a lie all because I did my best to show respect when it was no longer returned - then yes, unity has failed within this regiment.

If most choose to leave for another group, I wish all those members well. It's your choice after all, and everyone is entitled to that freedom.

However, you all still need to learn that being spiteful and hateful towards those you seem to dislike without complete understanding, does not make you any wiser.

Sometimes issues or fixes take longer than we care to have patience for, but showing anger at those people is never the right course of action.

The thing is, I'm not wrong on my previous posts, and I'm not wrong here. I've never hated any of you, never disrespected nor harassed you, yet what I've witnessed over these forums since summer is appalling that some people believe it's ok to treat others with little dignity.

I've never resorted to calling other members names, being disrespectful/hateful/etc...even if I disagreed with anyone here. Of course it's human nature to get upset over a lot of things, however, the way everyone has worded their responses and reasons for stepping down and moving on was not exactly set to a higher standard. As a former staff, I've always held everyone to a respectable standard that we could all maintain amd yet it might've been too much to ask.

There's so much that could've been resolved had everyone taken a deep breath, calmed down, and actually listened to each other. It might've saved the untimely demise of resignations.

Communication needs to be accepted from all sides in order to work, and how I've watched regiment staff jump to conclusions far too quickly, well, a lot of things might of been different. I'm sure you would've been able to seek answers to your issues if patience, and kindness were included.

Everyone has room to learn and grow. I pray that God will humble us all in that respect.

Edit: I only responded to this because it's public, I'm still a member of this community, and care about equality for everyone, including those I disagree with.
I came on the forums tonight to look at cool costume builds, not to find that the Canadian Regiment fell.

 

[ZiggyGrimm]

(Also responding to Ziggy here)
If you all claim to make a place welcome to all, then WHY, oh why, allow your own personal prejudices to make false claims about myself as a person and not work with me when there were issues? Instead, you all ignored any attempt at reason and have silently shunned all who may disagree with you.

A true place of welcoming would not show bias, which is what I miss seeing within the 405th.

At Ziggy again, don't offer to see screenshots because firstly, there's too much documention and secondly, it does no one any good when again, you all cut ties with your predecessors before even trying to get things resolved while I was still CO. Now it's happening again.
I want to keep this as respectful as possible here.

Responding to me? I didn’t even talk to you. But if you want me to talk so badly…

We can talk about respecting people and their opinions and being welcoming…

You came into the Discord with your personal beliefs and politics and promoted them making several members extremely uncomfortable. So much so that they also had to contact me and other staff about it. I fortunately didn’t have to deal with it as I was new at the time and my other leaders handled it and brought it to the attention of others up the chain (as far as I know, like I said… they were gracious enough to shield me while I transitioned… without your help).

The fact that a past leader immediately put me in a situation where they were posting about unrelated political topics in the discord is a horrifically uncomfortable situation. Which is part of why I can empathize with FANGS also having to deal with hard situations. As a past CO, who I’m guessing had to deal with some unruly members, you should have known what that is like and not actively put other leaders through that. It showed a complete lack of empathy and your character both as a leader and as a person. If you truly supported or cared about this community why would you do that? Not welcoming, not respectful.

Once that happened, you seemed to disappear, since you resigned and were no longer active, why would I chase you or as you put it “cut all ties” for information. The leaders you left behind had it under control and didn’t need you. In fact, the interaction you did have prior to disappearing was negative and caused headaches… why would I want to reach out to someone behaving that way? It didn’t come across as an open bridge… you seemed to want to burn it.

I do believe we have screenshots of those posts, if you’d like them to be shared as proof. By your own admission you have no interest in reading any screenshots, I’d assume those include the ones of the way you conducted yourself.

That being said, I’m not here to shame you, you probably weren’t in a good place mentally. In the external world it was probably difficult constantly being engaged with people standing against your beliefs that should have remained in that external realm. That was probably rough and I’m sorry you couldn’t compartmentalize it and keep the community free of such discussions. Alienating yourself and making yourself feel unwelcome in a space must have been a terrible thing to go through. I hope you are in a better place now and doing better.

With that being said, I graciously stepped in to fill in a leadership position (not your position btw, we reshuffled, but for some reason you want me to be the problem because I stepped up when you stepped down… I’m sorry you feel that way).
You put your personal beliefs ahead of the community which was why you stepped down. You are correct that I didn’t come to you for any sort of transition, why would I when your actions were openly hostile.

If I’m being honest, I don’t care about positions or titles, I care about the community. You want proof of that? Despite Art sending us on a guilt trip that resignation would mean abandoning our community (it’s in the document you refuse to read), we have independently spoken to most of our community who we could get in touch with and they are all coming along for the ride (while some will stay here too and we are more than cool with that)… turns out we didn’t have to abandon anyone, we aren’t forcing anyone to abandon here. Everyone is welcome and the community is taken care of. We didn’t run away from our community members when they called out our leadership, we worked with them to make sure they were provided what they need to feel safe, happy and heard.

The fact that there is “too much documentation” is a terrifying sentiment. Both as it attests to the amount of proof we have provided, and in the fact that you want to thrust yourself into this conversation, yet you lack either the will or ability to educate yourself. If you were willing to put in any sort of effort to read, documentation, a situation, or a room, you probably wouldn’t have felt the need to step down. Everyone is on a journey of personal growth and I hope you get there in yours.

While some members may not have agreed with your opinions or positions on subjects we shouldn’t have been discussing here or elsewhere 405th related, the major issue that came up was you forcing those topics and conversations, making our staff and membership uncomfortable, and not abiding by rules you should have known.

Honestly, I don’t care what your political stances, personal beliefs, etc. are. I have friends who support many of the same causes that you do, probably some even more extreme ones. But you don’t want to hear that… you want someone to blame. I am strong enough to be that person.

I’d love to know what false claims I’ve made. As far as I know, I haven’t so much as thought about you since you left… prior to that I only knew you through a few messages here and there. To me, you are just “the person we reshuffled for”. I haven’t discussed anything about you that you haven’t openly and publicly posted, nor do I care to. I can’t say I know you as a person outside of the actions I’ve experienced. From the way you have treated me I would honestly prefer it to stay that way. I wish you nothing but equal amounts of joy that you bring to this world. Have a nice life.

 

[FANGS]

Yeah....okay we aren't doing this here. BlazedStarbon - while you are certainly entitled to your opinions, your situation is entirely not the same nor related to what this thread is about. I'm going to ask you to refrain from further posting about it. Feel free to continue on with your search for cool costume builds. There are certainly lots of those to see. But please stop further posting here. You've said what you felt you needed to say, now please move onwards.

 

[ZiggyGrimm]

Apologies FANGS. I’ll also happily drop it. I posted that just before your post. If you’d like I’ll happily remove it, I just felt as though I needed to defend myself from a person attacking me while I hadn’t so much as spoken to them in years.

 

[BlazedStarbon]

Yeah....okay we aren't doing this here. BlazedStarbon - while you are certainly entitled to your opinions, your situation is entirely not the same nor related to what this thread is about. I'm going to ask you to refrain from further posting about it. Feel free to continue on with your search for cool costume builds. There are certainly lots of those to see. But please stop further posting here. You've said what you felt you needed to say, now please move onwards.

[Ziggy, apologies, I thought you were Zach with a name change. That one's on me, although my earlier points stand on hypocrisy.]

Angela, while I agree with the sentiment, the fact that this was made public, and witnessing hypocrisy in words spoken by everyone, that is why I aired my concerns.

Everyone has the right to express worry and discussion in equal measure. I was merely pointing it out so others may learn from their mistakes as well as no one is innocent here.

For the record on forcing political views, I never did. Just to clarify. People started hating me for not sharing the same views. Anyone that says otherwise is at fault for not wanting to have an open discussion or agree to disagree with respectfulness in mind.

Keep in mind that while I've remained respectful towards everyone regardless of differences, others get a free pass to degrade myself and others with horrible terms. [Seriously though, it's harassment and disrespectful.] I kindly ask that you extend this warning to them as well if you're going to ask me to stop when they've done far worse with name-calling and bullying when I have NEVER done so to any of you. This is not how anyone should treat fellow members.

God bless.

 

[FANGS]

BlazedStarbon everyone here, except you, has been around for the conversation and are all fully aware of how I expect this conversation to go. They do not need to have a warning extended to them. You are being told for the first time what my expectations are. I expect you to respect my wishes and stop trying to make this about a situation involving yourself when it most definitely is not. So please, if you have a concern, bring that to me outside of this thread. This is not the time or the place.

 

[BlazedStarbon]

FANGS
It's not about me, but the hypocrisy that everyone else is playing victim to and appears to get away with bullying remarks (both past and present all over the forums/socials/etc...)

No one is perfect, but everyone here must also see their own errors when expressing their own frustrations in conversations/threads because everyone here is guilty of being mean in their interactions across the forums. People need to do better at communicating properly and not resort to snide remarks or disrespect.
(Again, not just towards me from 2 years ago, but I've seen the remarks on certain topics where other members are ganged up on, so it's not just me.)

It's been an ongoing issue that I've witnessed for years, and it can also apply to my added situation when I never received help while I was RCO. Something I can relate to WITH them. The same claim they're making by stepping down.

It's hypocritical and wrong to be upset and claim unity when they broke the mantle's meaning while shunning others.

That's why I responded. It's all the same claim at the end of the day, yet I'm being attacked for bringing it to light while others are allowed to respond with disrespect towards me?

That is not what we as a community stand for, and I will not tolerate bullying against anyone.

I'll respect your decision, however, it'd be best to lock this thread from further response because if no one outside of who it affects directly is allowed to comment, then it should not have been made public outside our regiment's personal forums either, nor should the affected members been allowed to make elaborate posts while dragging the 405th's/members name in bad conscience despite disagreements.

Again, I'll respect your wish, but ere warning against those who remain hostile towards fellow members.

May God guide you.

 

[CplYapFlip]

It's hypocritical and wrong to be upset and claim unity when they broke the mantle's meaning while shunning others.

Hypocrisy is a tantalizing element isn't it? Shame you're not really managing to carry water in your attempts to explain what's hypocritical here.

The Mantle is more of a suggestion, based on the lack of a DJO, bans without any procedure followed, and our biannual rather than annual elections among other things. Ironically, without that first aspect we can't fix the others. Regardless I'm not sure what you're implying any of the previous Canadian Regiment staff have broken.

Also you weren't shunned, you "dropped your phone" and managed to press exactly the 5 buttons needed to leave a facebook group chat, and that had nothing to do with said group chat refusing to stop being excited for their first convention after the Pandemic began-- just because you were not able to attend due to your own personal choices.

 

[SgtSaint]

I know this is a charged subject. I'm well aware that no matter how well I phrase "if we're all equal then we shouldn't have to cater to one group more than another" I'll get name called, hated on, verbal spit upon and so on - because every time I try to point out that the 405th logo, and its people all stand for *everyone* that's the level of abuse I get.

Instead in the interest of sharing a perception - because I feel its through seeing a situation through the eyes of the other party do we all begin to have a deeper understanding and thus the start of a true, meaningful dialog... I want to share what I've been met with here.

Before I do I want to share some context of who I am and I what I believe in order to provide context for these observations.
I'm former US Army. I don't care where someone comes from, what their upbringing was, what there religion is, who they date, what their skin color is, or to put it bluntly: I don't care what you stick where. I don't see black, brown or white: Everyone is green to me. I protect the person to my side and expect them to do the same for me. I did not pledge to defend just white straight men, but all people without exception. An oath I hold to this day. I still stand up for the weak. I will speak my mind honestly and as an adult. I do not *overly* concern myself with whether or not something I say makes someone _uncomfortable_ so long as I remain civil, polite and do not encroach on someone else's rights, or the context of the environment in which a conversation is taking place, because there will always be someone that chooses to be uncomfortable even if its only me saying "Its a beautiful day, huh?"

On to the observations I've seen in the last couple years. Again, no accusations or names. Just the sharing of a perspective in the hopes people can find it a starting point for productive dialog by seeing "the other side."

• 99% good. Good people. Good attitude. Sharing of ideas, conversation, tips and tricks on costuming. Hoping to find *community* and social sharing of a common interest. Its these 99% that make the rest of the b.s. worth sticking around for.
• 1 % - People that exclude through inclusion. A small but disproportionately vocal subset that go on and on about understanding and inclusion *towards* them but have no tolerance for someone that doesn't raise them to the level of 'special'. Equal isn't good enough. It makes me want to point out that being a minority, or a demographic doesn't automatically make a person right.

I have on several occasions posted things like "stirring the pot just isn't needed"... pointed out that existing logos are already all-inclusive... made efforts to get the temperature of a thread down a few degrees. None of that included name calling, venom, hatred, disgust, calls to violence. I have then been flooded by that 1% with anger, name calling, degrading comments about who I am as a person and what my beliefs surely must be, twisting of statements to provoke, and the like - because if I'm not someone's cheerleader I must therefore be some kind of phoebic antichrist the way that 1% respond.

Once in a while I'll try to clear up the misunderstanding thinking that obviously my comment was not received the way I intended to send it. Then two or three exchanges later it becomes clear that the other side has no interest in clear and honest conversation and I stop, finding it ironic how that 1% wanting understanding and tolerance can't show it to others. But again, I do not feel that everyone sharing that demographic shares that nearly militant attitude: Its just 1% that walk into the room looking for a fight. The problem is its a disproportionately vocal 1%. As BlazedStarbon said there are some that get away with bullying others. Yet if the same language was used at them they would play the victim.

I also find that BlazedStarbon was right when calling out this same 1% as doing to others what they are complaining about being done to them: Namely having someone else make the decisions for the whole group without a group consensus.

• Case in point 1: Did the Canadian brass take a survey of all the Canadian membership to see if the entire group wanted to pull out and be renamed? Because it kinda sounds like that's what they did. In fairness I could be wrong about the nitty gritty of the forming of the new group. Again - I'm sharing the perception I have on the events in an effort to get some shared and common understanding to both sides of the aisle here. So if I'm wrong about that, I apologize.
• Case in point 2: I know the Australia brass didn't ask the body of the AU membership when they took it upon themselves to rebrand the 405th Australia facebook page and make the decision for all the Australian members that the official 405th chapter page was no longer 405th affiliated.

In other words, on more than one occasion I have seen as a protest for management making decisions for the lower membership, the local management made a decision for all the lower membership. It was fine when they did it, but not fine when someone else did it.
I believe this is the kind of hypocrisy that some are referring to; along with all the protests and cries for understanding another person's position while not being open to returning that understanding of a viewpoint different than your own.

Just one guy's view from the outside looking in. Take from it what you will.

 

[BlazedStarbon]

CplYapFlip I can't force anyone to believe what they want to believe but the truth will forever remain the truth.

You already mentioned how you disliked me, yet again, refused to communicate properly when given the chance. (Why?) Same as everyone else. So that renders this entire conversation invalid.

I never wanted to stop being friends with anyone, but it was all of you that decided something and I picked up on the tonal shift in conversations, etc...if you guys actually cared to have myself or others in similar positions tye last 4 years around, you wouldn't have done and said the things done. So please don't act innocent when you refused to respect my request for no more interaction after disrespecting me, only to then stalk and harass me across my social accounts.

I genuinely wanted to fix things and reach an understanding but how could I when no one would take me up on the offer? (While still RCO too) Again, I find it hypocritical when this thread could've stayed hidden and Division made a post of everyone's departure. It would've been a more mature approach to handle the situation.

We all had an amazing time at Halo Outpost Discovery in 2019, yet I can only assume your hatred began the following year for reasons I can only imagine, despite my efforts in wanting to resolve them so we could all move forward.

Again, that was on all of you. I tried to offer support and a clear path for understanding but everyone refused because I held different thoughts on certain subjects. I tried to keep things neutral, and yes, expressed my sadness for being barred from attending events throughout the pandemic because I wanted to bring Cortana out. How people responded harshly to that, was also not good. I wanted to show compassion to all sides, yet no one accepted it either.
I care about everyone, including you.

So how did you think I'd respond? The Canadian Regiment made it silently clear that I was, for whatever reason, not welcome to attend events despite the societal ban during the pandemic. (Which I won't get into. Info is out now, so believe what you feel is best for you now.)

I didn't make my posts to fight, but to call out hypocrisy and the seemingly neverending attack with slurs. Yes, no one wants to be told they did or said something wrong or hurtful, but that's how we all learn and move forward in a better light.

You all were upset you didn't get aid from Division and stepped down, yet you all also acted that way to me when I tried to help 2 years ago without reconcile. All while still sending slurs and calling me disrespectful terms instead of realizing the mistake, owning up to it, and apologizing.

The same can be applied to how recent staff handled their own posts with stepping down. It's appaling to me that everyone is leaving on bad terms and thinks it's ok to trash names they dislike, all while refusing to look in a mirror.

While I'm not defending anyone, I can't imagine anyone being ok with reading people bad-mouthing anyone or anything. That never helps to state a claim.

I know it may be a lost cause, but a small part of me still hoped that with some time away, everyone would see the light and errors of such actions.

Again, I don't consider myself perfect, I've made mistakes over the years, but my actions the last 4 years to keep my inboxes open were genuine and none took up that offer to help rectify whatever it was that made you decide I was a bad person.

My actions by distancing myself the year before I stepped down was because of all this. I no longer saw hope upon witnessing bullying & disrespect being ignored by everyone.

If this new costume group claims to be welcoming to all, why not start with a little more compassion and understanding towards those you dislike? Every group and community will always have people you disagree with or not get along with in them. The goal here, is to treat everyone respectfully, because chances are, we can always learn from each other and find new friendships.

I understand my posts may sound stern at times, but I do still care about everyone in between the disappointments. I can't force anyone to change either, but it doesn't hurt to take a breath, review the negativity laced within your posts, and try to do better.

Communication goes both ways and I have faith that people will eventually do the right thing, not what the majority seem to accept.

Yes, I could've remained silent and ignored all this, but a foolish part of me wants to remain hopeful that this group can heal.

The Internet gives no one a free pass at being mean in any way towards anyone.

SgtSaint thank you for some more insight. I also apologize that this is a conversation that exists.

As always, I'll pray that everyone can reach some level of understanding.

God bless.

 

[Lukavago]

I can't believe how many times this has to be explained.

This.

Isn't.

About.

The.

Logo.

This has never been about the logo. This has always been about the abuse of power from on high. The lack of discussion on topics. The rules that are ignored. The gas lighting. The lies. Yes, this started because of an issue with the logo, but the response that came from Division is what has cause all of these problems.

As an aside, the Canadian Regiment still exist. The staff decided that they could no longer hold their positions and resigned. That they have decided to move on to other adventures doesn't make the Canadian Regiment disappear. But I'll remember to check in with the entirety of Washington Battalion if I decide to change my profile photo.

 

[valkydesigns]

I know this is a charged subject. I'm well aware that no matter how well I phrase "if we're all equal then we shouldn't have to cater to one group more than another" I'll get name called, hated on, verbal spit upon and so on - because every time I try to point out that the 405th logo, and its people all stand for *everyone* that's the level of abuse I get.

Instead in the interest of sharing a perception - because I feel its through seeing a situation through the eyes of the other party do we all begin to have a deeper understanding and thus the start of a true, meaningful dialog... I want to share what I've been met with here.

Before I do I want to share some context of who I am and I what I believe in order to provide context for these observations.
I'm former US Army. I don't care where someone comes from, what their upbringing was, what there religion is, who they date, what their skin color is, or to put it bluntly: I don't care what you stick where. I don't see black, brown or white: Everyone is green to me. I protect the person to my side and expect them to do the same for me. I did not pledge to defend just white straight men, but all people without exception. An oath I hold to this day. I still stand up for the weak. I will speak my mind honestly and as an adult. I do not *overly* concern myself with whether or not something I say makes someone _uncomfortable_ so long as I remain civil, polite and do not encroach on someone else's rights, or the context of the environment in which a conversation is taking place, because there will always be someone that chooses to be uncomfortable even if its only me saying "Its a beautiful day, huh?"

On to the observations I've seen in the last couple years. Again, no accusations or names. Just the sharing of a perspective in the hopes people can find it a starting point for productive dialog by seeing "the other side."

• 99% good. Good people. Good attitude. Sharing of ideas, conversation, tips and tricks on costuming. Hoping to find *community* and social sharing of a common interest. Its these 99% that make the rest of the b.s. worth sticking around for.
• 1 % - People that exclude through inclusion. A small but disproportionately vocal subset that go on and on about understanding and inclusion *towards* them but have no tolerance for someone that doesn't raise them to the level of 'special'. Equal isn't good enough. It makes me want to point out that being a minority, or a demographic doesn't automatically make a person right.

I have on several occasions posted things like "stirring the pot just isn't needed"... pointed out that existing logos are already all-inclusive... made efforts to get the temperature of a thread down a few degrees. None of that included name calling, venom, hatred, disgust, calls to violence. I have then been flooded by that 1% with anger, name calling, degrading comments about who I am as a person and what my beliefs surely must be, twisting of statements to provoke, and the like - because if I'm not someone's cheerleader I must therefore be some kind of phoebic antichrist the way that 1% respond.

Once in a while I'll try to clear up the misunderstanding thinking that obviously my comment was not received the way I intended to send it. Then two or three exchanges later it becomes clear that the other side has no interest in clear and honest conversation and I stop, finding it ironic how that 1% wanting understanding and tolerance can't show it to others. But again, I do not feel that everyone sharing that demographic shares that nearly militant attitude: Its just 1% that walk into the room looking for a fight. The problem is its a disproportionately vocal 1%. As BlazedStarbon said there are some that get away with bullying others. Yet if the same language was used at them they would play the victim.

I also find that BlazedStarbon was right when calling out this same 1% as doing to others what they are complaining about being done to them: Namely having someone else make the decisions for the whole group without a group consensus.

• Case in point 1: Did the Canadian brass take a survey of all the Canadian membership to see if the entire group wanted to pull out and be renamed? Because it kinda sounds like that's what they did. In fairness I could be wrong about the nitty gritty of the forming of the new group. Again - I'm sharing the perception I have on the events in an effort to get some shared and common understanding to both sides of the aisle here. So if I'm wrong about that, I apologize.
• Case in point 2: I know the Australia brass didn't ask the body of the AU membership when they took it upon themselves to rebrand the 405th Australia facebook page and make the decision for all the Australian members that the official 405th chapter page was no longer 405th affiliated.

In other words, on more than one occasion I have seen as a protest for management making decisions for the lower membership, the local management made a decision for all the lower membership. It was fine when they did it, but not fine when someone else did it.
I believe this is the kind of hypocrisy that some are referring to; along with all the protests and cries for understanding another person's position while not being open to returning that understanding of a viewpoint different than your own.

Just one guy's view from the outside looking in. Take from it what you will.

Once again,

It's great to see how so many people miss the entire point of what we are leaving for. we clearly explained multiple times. The issue is the leader being a dictator. It's not directly centered on the pride logo.

Now I do apologize for loosing my cool with you, I just find it ridiculous and disrespectful when someone has the audacity to say things like: "Stirring the pot just isn't needed. Let it go, move on, that was a long time ago, there's no reason to try to keep wounds fresh and feelings bad."

When we tried for MONTHS to have a calm conversation to see if there was hope to fix the bigger problem. We were met with silence every time. So at that point, we're simply going our own way and doing our own thing, cauz we don't want to be met with dictating problems that will constantly make us forced to follow behind decisions we do not want.

The 405th should take decisions based on a staff majority vote for all problems. This is not the military, we should have a right to confront higher ups decisions if we feel like it's needed.

But clearly it won't go stick in both of your minds why we are doing this (Blazed and Saint) so I'm logging out. Won't bother replying at this point and I don't know if I'll ever come back to the forums. It was nice to meet most of you and I hope to find the awesome people I met here on our new server

Thank you FANGS for trying, but clearly some people won't ever get it.