Friday, January 12, 2007

The Meeting With Drennan

Since his original letter of grievance was deleted in 2003, it appears Robin Edgar has not provided a clear or complete description of his meeting with Ray Drennan on November 9, 1995. The account below is pasted together from three different sources, and should be the most complete account anywhere. There are minor continuity errors in his different retellings, but I did my best to smooth them out.

It is not clear how long they had been talking before this account begins, or what about.

When Rev. Drennan dismissed my religious beliefs, as informed by my revelatory religious experience, as being nothing but "silliness" and "fantasy" during our meeting of November 1995 when he tried to leave the meeting without having even dealt with the very reason that I had invited him to my apartment to explain and justify my beliefs by showingb him an exposition of images that illustrated my research into how total solar eclipses had influenced ancient humanity's religious beliefs I simply but firmly reminded him that the whole purpose of having the meeting in my apartment was to be able to show him the said exposition as a "visual aid" as it were that help to validate my beliefs. He reluctantly agreed to stay and proceed to express extreme skepticism about my beliefs as presented in the exposition of images in a sarcastic manner.
When I attempted to explain my claims via the exposition Rev. Drennan repeatedly interrupted my discourse with negative and insulting comments such as, "So you're God's messenger and you're here to tell all the world's religions that they're wrong..."

As I was explaining my beliefs and specifically speaking about my revelatory religious experience he rudely interrupted me by cutting in and sneeringly saying, "You mean your psychotic experience." I might add that he was quite literally in my face when he did this. Rev. Ray Drennan stands several inches taller than me but he stooped down a bit, cocked his head to the left a bit, and with a grimace of anger and contempt said what he said. If I remember correctly I did not immediately challenge that intolerant and abusive outburst but quite calmly continued to try to explain my beliefs to him.
I don't remember every single word of the "full sentence" or indeed paragraph that Drennan said when he angrily insisted that I must seek "professional help". That was an immediate follow-up to his brazen assertion that my revelatory religious experience was nothing but a "psychotic experience".

The next intolerant and offensive, to say nothing of abusive and malicious. . . thing that Rev. Ray Drennan did was to once again rudely interrupt me as I was telling him what Creation Day was all about by saying, "You mean your cult." When he said this I immediately responded by saying, "What do you mean by "cult" Ray?" I asked this question because the word "cult" has several levels of meaning and in and of itself is not necessarily intolerant and offensive. I knew from the contemptuous manner that Ray used the word that he meant it in the worst sense but I wanted to have him to either confirm that or back away from his intolerant and abusive outburst. He responded to my question by saying, "I mean a manipulative and secretive religious group." I don't remember my exact words in response to that but I do believe that I calmly but firmnly expressed my objection to his labeling of Creation Day as "your cult". This did not prevent Rev. Ray Drennan from hurling the four-letter 'C' word back at me twice as he was leaving my apartment. . .

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Is Robin Edgar a liar?

I have accused Robin of lying, this is an explanation.

Short Version: Robin Consistently posts two or three word quotes from his conversation with Ray Drennan. Over a period of 10 months, I asked Robin for more context or a transcript a total of 9 times. At times, he agreed with me that context was important, but he did not even give me any full quotes. At other times, he said that I already had plenty of context. My request was shortened to "What did Drennan say?" Which I clarified as a request for full context at least 3 times. He said that he had posted full quotes from Drennan many times in the past, and that I was engaging in denial for claiming not to know. He then said that what Drennan said was 'all over the internet'.

There was no transcript or description with full quotes available anywhere that me or Robin could find.
To date, there still is none. (Oct 30,2006)

Robin acknowledges that the document that had provided a complete description was deleted in 2003, and that he always knew this.

The long Version:
Nov 26,2005 - I asked robin to tell his story simply and clearly.
Dec 16, 2005 - While trying to clarify Robin's case, I listed what quotes from Drennan I could find, and asked "what was said?"
* "silliness and fantasy"
* "your psychotic experience"
* in immediate need of "professional help."
* "your cult."
* "I mean a manipulative and secretive religious group."

I note that most of these are not sentences, and lack context. What was said?
Dec 08, 2005 - I offered to help robin, and asked a series of questions, including:
I have a simple, clear, list of questions:
1: What the hell are your grievances?
2:What happened?
3:When did it happen?
4:Where?
5:And in what context?

(In 1-5 I'm looking for a clear timeline.)
He referenced his Letter of Discontent post.

Jan 26, 2006 - I asked:"I'd also like, to the best of your recollection, a transcription of the conversation where Drennan said 'your cult' and 'your psychotic experience' and such. Establishing context is very important."
Robin Cited his original letter of grievance, stating that it was detailed and provided plenty of context. He "whole-heartedly" agreed that context was very important, and stated that "That is precisely why" his original letter provided 20 pages worth of context. He linked to a google groups search, perhaps believing that the document was still available online.

Jan 30,2006 - Feb 6, 2006 - I said: "To date I have not even heard you once quote the full sentences Drennan used, to say nothing of the context. "
He Said:"Actually I have provided the full phrases that Rev. Ray Drennan used and the context that he used them in many times over. " Apparently in reference to his original letter.

June 17, 2006 - I called robin an ass, and list offenses he has made against the UCM.

June 19,2006 - Sept 26, 2006 -
I said:"I spend most of my time here asking you for more information"
Robin, after having answered none of the above requests, said:"Correct and I have provided plenty. You have more than enough information available to you to wotk with."

At this point, I became very angry.
Ok, listen up. This pisses me off.
I can't work with shit. Ya know why? Because you won't tell me what the hell drennan said.
You throw around little fucking phrases, but never give me any fucking context. You refuse to quote me or even paraphrase one fucking sentence he said. This conversation is absofuckinglutely central to this conflict and you won't shed one fucking ray of light on it. For ten fucking years you've been bitching about this and as far as I know you've never told anyone what he really fucking said.
What did he say Robin? What did you say? If I don't have any fucking context then I can't fucking work.
Robin makes no response to this.

On my own blog, on Sept 04, 2006:I asked "What did Drennan say?"
Robin Responded:"You know very well what Rev. Ray Drennan said. It is repeated in every letter of grievance that I have written about it and is now spread all over the internet."
I replied that it is not, that Robin was quoting words without context, and That I did not know what Drennan actually said.
Robin responds on Sept 05,2006: "I have in fact provided the full phrases and sentences that Rev. Drennan spoke to me many times over, as well as the context that he spoke them in. You are apparently engaging in a certain amount of denial and ignorance yourself here. You know what he said and that it was clearly intolerant, bigoted and abusive to say nothing of hostile and malicious."

In the previous thread back on Robin's blog, on Sept 07, 2006, Robin quotes Drennan as saying "you mean your psychotic experience." Apparently for the first time since 2003. I ran a Google web search shortly afterwards and found no examples whatsoever of that phrase. By the time I replied, Google had indexed the thread itself.

On Sept 20, 2006, I replied:
HOT DAMN! That is a Sentence!
Thank you, that's a start.
But wait, That phrase isn't found Anywhere else on google.
But I DID find, ON MY OWN DAMN BLOG:
The Emerson Avenger said...
I have in fact provided the full phrases and sentences that Rev. Drennan spoke to me many times over, as well as the context that he spoke them in. You are apparently engaging in a certain amount of denial and ignorance yourself here....

So I ask you, What the fuck?

Now I'll admit that your description of this exchange does sound familiar, so maybe I saw it on Bnet years ago. I thought it might be in the documents you sent me, but I couldn't find it.

The point is, this information is not readily available, you said it was, and you belittled and insulted me because I asked for it.

That makes you an Ass.

Again.
...
Bottom Line:What did Drennan say?
Robin did not respond.

Sept 26,2006 - I repeated "What did Drennan say?" Three different times, in bold. No response.
Sept 29, 2006 -I asked "What did Drennan say?" Robin responds with a link to a lecture by Drennan. I questioned that he "can't link to one place where you've supposedly transcribed the conversation?"
Sept 29,2006 - Oct 17, 2006 - I again asked "What did Drennan say?" and Robin Said:
If you bothered to actualy listen to what I say Indrax you would know perfectly well what Rev. Ray Drennan said that I am objecting to. You are the only individual on this planet who has pretended not to know what Rev. Drennan said after having been provided with documents that clearly state the intolerant, demeaning, hostile and abusive words that that Rev. Ray Drennan said to me. It is all over the internet. I repeat, just in case you are still not listening to me, that in the
whole decade long span of this conflict NOBODY, other than you, has ever asked me, "What did Drennan say?" after having being told what Rev. Ray Drennan said or having been provided with letters or other documents that clearly stated what Rev. Ray Drennan said to me. Everybody in the U*U world, and the real world, who is reasonably well informed about this conflict knows very well what Rev. Ray Drennan said to me.
At which point, (Sept 29) I said that something he had said was a lie, I later clarified:
You said that Drennan said "you mean your psychotic experience.".
You also said that what Drennan said was 'all over the internet'.

One of those is a lie.
Google, at least, cannot find "you mean your psychotic experience" anwhere but on very recent posts of yours. None of the documents you sent me contain the phrase either, nor anything approaching a clear description of the conversation.
The only document I know of which you claim IS specific, is your 20+ page complaint, which you have not posted.

You say you've posted these things repeatedly, but you never link to them.
The rest of the thread is too convoluted for me to summarize now, and mostly consists of hair splitting.

Oct 14, 2006 - Robin Said, in previous thread, in response to 'linking to a transcription':"That's correct. I cannot link to a document that is not posted to the internet at the moment. . ."

The Short Short Story

Robin Edgar claims that he is a victim of persecution and intolerance by Unitarian Universalists.

This is my attempt to organize and document what has really happened, and determine what it means.

Who can post here?

Most posts here are for reference, and comments will be disabled by default. Backlinks are enabled, so if you must respond to a post, you can do it that way.

For the posts that have comments enabled, I have disabled anonymous posting. This is mainly because a number of people want anonymity, and this can make discussions confusing. If you want anonymity, it's not that hard to create a second blogger account.

I also have comment moderation turned on. This means that all comments are reviewed by me before they appear. I will delete, or simply not approve, any post at any time for any reason.

Think of this more as a wiki than a blog. If you want to know what changes on the site over time, subscribe to the RSS feed. If you want to make a permanent statement, get your own blog. The primary purpose of this site is reference; It needs to be consise, not conversational. That said, comments and input are welcome.

...But not from Robin.
Robin is many things, but he is not generally concise. Any information he wants to provide, he can provide via his blog or through email. If he is considerate, he will save me the trouble of deleting his posts.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Open Questions

Who can post here?
What are Robin's Accusations against Drennan?
What did Drennan suposedly say?
What does Drennan say he said?
Were Drennan's words or attitude improper, and if so how?
How did the UCM respond to Robin's claims? Was this proper?
Was there anything improper about the UCM's rejection of a second creation day?
How was creation day recieved by the UCM?
Is Robin religiously intolerant?
How was Robin involved in the Church when he was a memeber?
Did Unitarians Fail to "Validate" his revelation?
Is Robin Credible?
Is Robin Crazy?
Is Robin Amoral?
Is Robin trying to hammer his practice into UUism?
What IS wrong with Robin?
When did Robin decide that indrax was unhelpful?
Why was indrax mean to Robin?
What is the UCM's stance on Robin?
Does the UCM have a Procedure for reinstating Robin?
Why exactly did the UCM expell Robin?
What was the UCM Procedure for expulsion? Was it followed?
Is Robin a Spammer?
What other cases of UU abuse are there?
Is UU abuse systemic?
Was anything that happened in violation of Canadian Law?