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

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