Let's Go To The Video Tape...

In case you didn't know, the General Assembly of May 21 was video taped. If you were one of the many who spoke that evening, your words are forever memorialized on tape. Now there isn't anything wrong with a meeting being either video or audio taped. It can certainly add to accuracy when our memories fail or insure that action is taken on items discussed.

It would have certainly been helpful though, had the gathering been told there was a video camera in the room taping the proceedings. It just seems fair and proper to make such an announcement informing those present not only that taping would take place but also the purpose of the taping. Instead, those in attendance who did not know that the meeting was taped are left in the dark and those who saw the taping take place are left to draw their own conclusions as to why.

Consequently conspiracy theories run amok: "It's so the Metropolitan can see what we are doing..." "They want to know who the troublemakers are..." "They are trying to see who else they can excommunicate..." "What are they going to do with the tape?" A simple explanation at the beginning of the meeting letting the assembly know would have gone a long way. Then again, secrecy and clandestine behavior have been the standard so why would anyone expect any kind of courtesy? "Send your stewardship, shut your mouths and don't ask questions, we've got everything under control." How much longer do we sit back and take it?