Tweeting Vincent's Horn

I am pleased to follow-up on a blog post from last year and report that Vincent Horn, one of the co-founders of Buddhist Geeks, has unblocked me from Twitter.  We exchanged the following messages yesterday:

VincentHorn@Me: Sorry for blocking you.

Me@Vincent Horn: Wow- thank you! That is the most gratifying and encouraging tweet I have ever received. Would you care to say more?

VincentHorn@Me: Just that I think it'd be helpful for @kenmcleod to respond publicly to your allegations and that I have encouraged him too do so.

Me@VincentHorn@ kenmcleod: Mistakes are inevitable, nobody to blame, but openness to processing (publicly or privately) helps everyone move on.

VincentHorn@Me: Agreed.

I truly was encouraged by his gestures, not just his unblocking me but his apology, and a public one at that!  It demonstrated an all-too-rare willingness to learn and modify opinions and behaviours, and an equally rare humility to admit having made a mistake, an indispensable adjunct to growth.

I am also pleased that Mr. Horn has encouraged Mr. McLeod to break his silence.  It takes courage to confront people with our truths when they contradict theirs, all the more so if we appreciate and admire them, as I imagine Vincent Horn does Ken McLeod.

All in all, it is heartening to see how this situation has evolved since my first attempt at publicizing it almost two years ago.  More and more people from the Buddhist community are questioning Ken’s censorship and silence, and coming out in support of open dialogue, here and here, for example. 

I am cautiously hopeful that Ken’s BOD will have the wisdom to guide Ken to engage this situation more productively.

Thank you, Vincent Horn.