CFA Cat Fancier's a*s., Inc Is CFA Aging? Does CFA Have Self Worth? You be the judge Alliance, Ohio

Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:44 pm (PDT) I probably shouldn't add to the conversation but what ---- said was true back in 1987/88 when I first started showing. We started showing a white Maine Coon and were told we wouldn't get anywhere unless we showed a brown or brown and white. I asked where was I supposed to be getting. I was also told we needed to pay our dues. I said I'm paying my entry fees what dues am I supposed to pay. We showed CFA for a year and did very well with our household pets. Then we showed TICA. At least the Judges actually looked at our white cats and the exhibitors were extremely friendly.

Unlike CFA where they talked about me in front of my face because they didn't recognize me yet and everyone was backstabbing everyone else. CFA used to be the first in everything and everyone else copied. It seems to me that we are not getting older but that CFA is stagnant in its beliefs. I have had (and still have) many friends now in both organizations and my first stud ------ is in many, many pedigrees across both organizations. Prejudice is what held the whole world back. It's certainly time to look forward, accept everyone and grow.

Sent: Friday, April 22, 2011 2:25 AM I have an opinion for what it is worth. I think CFA is aging because of the engrained belief that everything from the past is sacred and cannot be altered or even challenged. There is a segment of people who still hold the belief that breeds fell from the sky "pure" and that it is our duty to maintain this closed gene pool to the detriment of breeds. It is the mistaken notion that cats from the same gene pool who are different colors must be different breeds. It is the arrogant belief that if one shares his lines with others, they will threaten one's own success and importance in CFA.

It is the, "head in the sand belief" that one is preserving the goodness of a breed while others are trying to destroy it. It is the ridiculous notion that a person has to earn the right to achieve a national or regional win. It is mistaken belief that CFA exists for one person instead of for the good of all of us and the cats we produce. It is seen in the way people use CFA to define their self-worth instead of integrating it into a well balanced life.

These selfish notions have produced a generation of people in CFA who put their own power and importance ahead of the welfare of a breed, CFA, and the cat fancy in general. It is seen in the critical attitudes expressed on this list, the failure to share lines, the struggle for voting power, and worst of all the resistance to change. It is the reluctance to accept change as change is happening all around us. We ask others to conform to us instead of listening to and accepting them the way they are, and then we wonder why they don't want to join us.

CFA is aging because of the belief held only by us and not others outside CFA that we are so much better than any and all of them. We reject their good ideas that have allowed them to grow and attract like minded people while we sit by and question why they turn to TICA. Those who do embrace new ideas in CFA are often too afraid of failure to even campaign for acceptance of their ideas.

In a nutshell, it is our own selfishness that is destroying us and leaving behind only the hardened souls that can withstand the negativity. It is easier to leave than to fight for improvement. Young people are smart enough to know that there are other ways to spend their time and money than to keep hitting their heads against the wall. There are just too many alternatives that are more rewarding.