X-Message-Number: 1883 Date: 03 Mar 93 23:20:21 EST From: Charles Platt <> Subject: CRYONICS Member Expulsion To: Cryonet March 3, 1993 I have already expressed my own opinion on member expulsion here, many months ago, when the Michael Paulle episode came up. However, Steve Jackson has extended the discussion in an interesting way, and I'd like to reply to him, basing my reply on what little I know about public relations. If a member of Alcor did murder his family and had them suspended (as Steve describes in his hypothetical scenario) and then that member claimed "they aren't really dead" in his trial and got a lot of publicity, this certainly could be embarrassing to cryonics. But I don't think the best solution would be to excommunicate the member. The media tend to be superficial and inaccurate, but they do like to cover themselves by making a pro-forma attempt to get statements from both sides when dealing with controversial stories. Therefore, this would also be a publicity OPPORTUNITY for Alcor, and I think it would be relatively easy to get airtime for a spokesperson calmly and reasonably explaining that the organization can't be held responsible if an unbalanced person chooses to buy its services. "We deplore this member, but will not take away his ticket to a new life" seems a more effective media statement to me than "We deplore this person, so we decided to get rid of him." (Of course, this is a matter of opinion.) There are parallels here with the United States. So long as it doesn't discriminate against immigrants, it receives grudging admiration around the world. As soon as it starts to pick and choose (trying to exclude Haitian refugees and people who are HIV-positive), you hear a chorus of catcalls-- because everyone is always ready to despise an institution that espouses high ideals but fails to live up to them. However, there's another angle on this that hasn't been raised. Maybe the whole problem crops up because we keep thinking in terms of members and nonmembers. Organized religions, cults, countries, and political parties have members. Insurance companies and health plans merely have policy holders or subscribers. Obviously, an insurance company wouldn't excommunicate a policy holder just because the person embarrassed the company; that would be a breach of contract. Why DO cryonics organizations have "members"? Alcor is a lot more like a health provider or an insurance business than a religion or a political group. Cryonics is not a faith; it's a quasi-medical service. At least, that's how I see it. --Charles Platt Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1883