Post
by erindeann » Sun Jun 07, 2009 5:23 pm
Just wanted to mention --- as an relatively naive "outsider" who is new to MCN (starting with our first bub due in August) --- that I had heard about the Real Nappy Week before the event (March I think) and was originally quite interested in attending. That said, when push came to shove, I didn't attend.
I hope this isn't too taboo to say, but ultimately I opted NOT to attend because the event was held at a local church. I don't consider myself "anti-religious," but as a secular humanist, I was worried that the event would be somehow affiliated with the church itself, or that there would be people / aspects of the event that would incorporate advocating religious beliefs associated with that church.
While I realize that in all likelihood the event was probably booked at a church due to cheap rates / or someone being involved with the church --- the venue gave me enough pause to not attend. I was just a bit worried that perhaps the church and the event were somehow affiliated with one another. I've just recently joined the nappy network and found that they aren't associated, but obviously as a "newbie" who just saw the flier and heard about the event via word of mouth, I didn't know that from the onset.
I hope that's not offensive to anyone who planned / organized the event! But I thought that it might be useful feedback. Perhaps I'm the only one who would be slightly concerned about church affiliation involved, BUT it is also possible that a lot of people in Christchurch are secular in nature (or maybe belong to other faiths) and may have considered the nappy event to be associated with that particular church or religious doctrine.
Anyway, it's just food for thought.
I would have likely attended were the event at a more public or "neutral" type venue -- like a library, or a school for example.
I hope that helps! Again, it's not an issue of being anti-religion, but I think a lot of people may have thought the church itself was sponsoring the event, or that there would be overlap in kind of information given.