“If an organization actively supports some of one’s major interests BUT also supports major issues they adamantly oppose, how should anyone decide whether or not to be involved?”
As ridiculous as it may sound, I’m still a little ambivalent about my 1970s membership in a certain activist organization for, mostly, women’s rights and traditional American values.
Because the founder and platform were SO controversial, I never told anyone except my then husband about my involvement and participation. (It’s important to me to be clear it had nothing to do with racism or xenophobia.)
When I left the organization after several years, I shredded everything I had associated with it. (Hey! Those were “scary” times, and it seems not much has changed even today regarding intolerance for differing opinions.)
The organization is still active even though the founder passed away several years ago. Their impact was so consequential in the 1970s, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History preserves a collection of early artifacts and documents for their political and civic importance.
I’m glad I wrote this. For one thing, I’ve recalled unrelated, long forgotten memories. Also, it’s given me a definite feeling of pride erasing lingering ambivalence about the best decade in modern history.
The 1970s, in my opinion, can never be replicated because the recipe with the precise mix of cultural and political ingredients was available only once and for only one generation: mine!
