The Rabid Paladin

Every organism has parasites. Institutionally, organizations have them as well. You've probably seen them at companies that you work for or at churches where you worship. Maybe we need a different word for them, but their function is simple enough—like any parasite, they sap the strength of their host to fulfill their own selfish needs.

And before the contrarians speak up, I'm not talking about symbiosis here, either. You get that, too, but at least with the symbiots, you get some value in return. The distinguishing feature of the parasites are that they take without giving anything of value in return.

Being an old-time veteran of Massively Multiplayer Online Games, I've been able to track what happens when an in-game guild fails to deal well with its parasites. If I were a sadist, I could probably take up guild watching as a source of eternal entertainment. Since I'm not, I've learned to be picky about who I join.

Melissa recently left the discussion email list for the Association for Mormon Letters. She's been involved with the list for years (eight?). Come to that, we joined together but I left the list myself a couple of years ago. We both left for the same reason—an individual or small group of individuals had decided that the list existed as a means of personal validation and support. Which would have been fine in a therapy group, but the purpose of that particular list is to discuss LDS Literature.

Oh, and to be clear, we're both still happy members of the actual Association for Mormon Letters. I'm just talking about the practically unaffiliated email list that grew up around the AML.

Parasites are inevitable, but how you respond to them is not. Being the paladin-crusader type that I am, I generally choose to excise them in an active manner. Typically, the damage of the expulsion will heal. Melissa is more of a "make it uncomfortable for them to stay" kind of person. Either way, action is absolutely needed if the organization is to survive.

Of course, if you're like the other members of the AML-list, you can choose to see things from the parasite's perspective and help them fulfill the needs that cause them to act destructively.

That's an unfortunate response as it converts what used to be the host into an appendage of the parasite. I hate when that happens to an organization I formerly cherished. What used to be a forum for serious discussion and a way to share points of view with people you disagree with in an environment of respect and shared basic beliefs is now like every other discussion list where the loudest, most abrasive voices dominate.