[MR] Egyptian Personas in the SCA

[David W. James]

On 2011 Jun 04, at 1:10 PM, David Wendelken wrote:
> I don't know how much clearer the following section could be:

> "For Society members, most of the world, and all of the centuries prior to
> the 17th, can serve as a source for personal research."

	First of all, it is from the 'A Brief Introduction to' [the SCA], not from the actual governing documents themselves.  Note also that it says 'for personal research.'  It doesn't say that you can expect your interests to be widely (or even terribly narrowly) found  or used by others.

	Second, and more importantly, you clipped the rest of the paragraph, which addresses just this point:

> "However, the further you go from the core of Medieval and Renaissance Europe, the less the environment we offer will resemble what someone of your time and country would find natural or homelike. For example, you can be an Asian or African guest at a European court, but you cannot expect others to share your special interests - like any long-term visitor in a foreign land, you are the one who will have to adapt to the customs you find around you."

Corpora and the By-Laws discuss the SCA's scope in the following sections:

Corpora, II.A:

> The term “Society event” refers to tournaments, feasts, and other activities whereby participants can display the results of their researches into the culture and technology of the period in an environment which evokes the atmosphere of the pre-17th century European Middle Ages and Renaissance. 


But it is in the By-Laws that we find the clearest statement, when it defines the SCA's Objectives and Purposes:

> 				III.	OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES
> The SCA shall be dedicated primarily to the promotion of research and re-creation in the field of pre-17th- century Western culture, as stated in greater detail in Article II of the SCA’s Articles of Incorporation.



That 'greater detail' is:

> II. This corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for charitable purposes. The purposes for which this corporation is formed include:

> (a) Research and education in the field of pre-17th-Century Western Culture.
> (b) Generally, to engage in research; publish material of relevance and interest to the field of pre-17th- Century Western Culture; to present activities and events which re-create the environment of said era, such as, but not limited to, tournaments, jousts, fairs, dances, classes, et cetera; to acquire authentic or reproduced replicas of chattels representative of said era; and to collect a library.


And there you have it.

Kwellend-Njal
--
"I guess if you push it, you could count a difference between a fury and a      
   female angel for coiffure and temperament..."  T. Averil