20181024 đ§ RLC âFollow Upâ 3
@1341 Me to Elaina (separate thread)
Hey Elaina, Shane said Iâve done something to hurt you or that disrespected you. If thatâs true, I am very sorry for allowing myself to lose restraint or for in any way making you feel less than an amazing person. If youâre willing to share with me what I did so that I can improve how I interact with folks in the future, I would be deeply grateful to hear from you. My cell is 714-559-8925 if calling or texting happens to be a preferred method of communication. I also respect the fact that you do not have to reply if you feel uncomfortable doing so.
Me @1411 to Don, Shane
I spoke on the phone earlier with Shane, who defended basically the same message from your email, Don, without citing anything tangible or concrete to help me understand the allegations made known to me less than 24 hours ago.
I will say again that I am happy to hear specifics from you, but I will not respond to generic allegations that involve specific stated feelings. Furthermore, if you have incidents you can cite that will help me see how I have disrespected you, I am open to hear what those events are and how you experienced them. However, if others are unable or unwilling to tell me how I've disrespected them, I can promise to not interact with them, but I will not hear their concerns second hand through you. If we are in the realm of feelings, then you have to speak for yourself.
Shane seems to have said everything he can say based on his continuing to ignore and minimize the specific concerns I've been raising with him since 2010, before RLC became a thing. Given the culture of the organization he built, I have to remove myself from public association with Red Letter Christians. Given your most recent comments, Don, this was already the feeling you claim on behalf of RLC, so we may already be on the same page. If not, let me know.
In light of the history we've shared in writing, I cannot and do not trust that either of you are genuine in your claims. It appears far more likely that you are trying to save face in light of a perceived threat, not unlike what probably goes on in Liberty University or 1st Baptist in Dallas, behind closed doors. The discomfort you feel is something you are both happy to dish out to your perceived enemies but not swallow yourselves when coming from someone you claim is your friend. Or, if you are genuine, then you are blind to the power and privilege you wield and will continue to operate according to your own desired story rather than the story of the Church, a broken body held together behind the scenes, under the rug, and, apparently, over your heads.
I suspect that paragraph may be cited as an example of disrespect. That's fine. I don't owe you respect, I owe you love. And sometimes love doesn't feel good. If you need to feel good to work with people, you will only ever attract the wrong kind of people. If, on the other hand, you can make me be a better person by helping me to understand how I've done actual things wrong, then you can reach me any time, at any hour, through any means of communication. I'm always open to hearing how I have been wrong, as any Christian must be. Until you show yourselves to be genuinely interested in reconciliation, I must withdraw permission to use my works and likeness from any and all pages associated with your organization. I'll be in touch with Elaina about removing them.
Me @1527 to Elaina, shane, don
I was in the process of looking up the articles I've contributed to RLC to archive them myself, given the conversation included here. I told Don I was withdrawing my consent to use my works on the site, but they've already been removed, preventing me from accessing the published versions.
Can you send me the copy for the following articles?
Elaina @1602 to me, shane, don
Don forwarded me your email conversation with him, and I immediately deleted your files to honor your wishes. Unfortunately, our website does not allow us to retrieve deleted material. I did not realize you would want a copy of your published writing with RLC, but hopefully you can still pull together draft pieces of your writing through email correspondence with our previous editors. (I came on board with RLC in March 2017.) Attached are the three pieces that I have worked on with you, which I retrieved from our email conversations.
Me @1735 to elaina, don, shane
Got it, thanks. And if you feel empowered to share with me about anything Iâve done to put you off in any way, I know Iâd be all the better for hearing it.
