I resigned from Mensa a number of months ago. I wrote to the then Int'l Chmn and told him I wanted *out*. I was instructed to turn in my card and was given a refund of my membership fees for the year together with a letter from Mensa Israel (the branch of Mensa I belonged to) that said "WITHOUT PREJUDICE" on it in capital letters to top off the threatening atmosphere of Mensa.
Mensa was started by two barristers, Dr. Lance Ware and Mr. Roland Berrill, in Oxford. From its inception, Dr. Ware saw to it that he, Berrill and a few chosen members in his circle would dine lavishly and attend exclusive meetings, while the "plebes" in the organization would meet at a pub. Why the "plebes" acceded to this sort of treatment in an organization that was supposedly on of a "round table of peers" is beyond me. Perhaps they knew their chance to degrade other, newer, members would come. It is indeed the case that some of those same people who ate in pubs in Ware's and Berrill's time are the unreachable decision makers in Mensa today.
I first joined Mensa ca. 1980 in Miami, FL. I went to one function, a meeting at a Sushi restaurant, which was one of the most boring experiences of my life. I never attended another Mensa meeting. I did not renew my membership until about a year-and-a-half ago here in Israel.
I got the creeps immediately upon joining. Despite the fact that the branch was only a few months old, the core members of Mensa Israel had already been installed in the important positions in the organization. Clearly, the clique had been formed. The Israeli branch of Mensa is run by a junta of right-wing extremists - and I mean *extremists*. Some of the writings of the Chmn of Mensa Israel were so racist and war-like that I knew I had to get away from Mensa Israel in order not to expose myself and my family to the potential danger that such writings are liable to incite in equally extreme members of the other side of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
I would not tow the Mensa Israel line and I was treated abysmally for daring to be my own person in Mensa Israel. One member would stoop so low as to try to humiliate me for living in the town that I do.
As an organization, Mensa is characterized not only by cliquishness, but by a generalized atmosphere of extreme social pressure to conform. There has been a filtering out of independently-minded people. Most of those who remain in Mensa are social misfits and unfortunates who can find friends nowhere else. They hang on to one another desperately. There are buzzwords that are used to bring those who might express individualistic opinions in line, "arrogant" being the most common among them. Regional meetings are often held in people's private homes, so anyone who is not acceptable to the in clique is simply not invited and cannot make the most of their membership dues.
There are virtually no democratic processes in Mensa today. It is not clear how the ever-growing list of "acts inimical" to Mensa is formulated and by whom. The commission of "acts inimical" within Mensa is punished by being brought up in front of kangaroo courts, the "verdict" of which is already determined. Punishment can range anywhere between admonition (humiliation) to expulsion from the Society. Cases are sometimes made against the former lovers of high ranking officers in Mensa when they want to get rid of them. The interrogations at those inquests often go on for many hours and there are a number of sessions.
If after writing this report about Mensa I would attempt to return to the organization (a purely a theoretical notion. I assure you) I would be immediately brought up on charges of "acts inimical" and subjected to such an ordeal. In fact, on one of the Mensa Yahoo! Lists members discussed how they would try me when (not if but *when*!) I return. They are so desperate to belong to Mensa that they would undergo any humiliation to retain their membership. They assume everyone else is as well. There are indeed members who were tried and begged, yes begged to be allowed to stay or to return when they wer
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I resigned from Mensa a number of months ago. I wrote to the then Int'l Chmn and told him I wanted *out*. I was instructed to turn in my card and was given a refund of my membership fees for the year together with a letter from Mensa Israel (the branch of Mensa I belonged to) that said "WITHOUT PREJUDICE" on it in capital letters to top off the threatening atmosphere of Mensa. Mensa was started by two barristers, Dr. Lance Ware and Mr. Roland Berrill, in Oxford. From its inception, Dr. Ware saw to it that he, Berrill and a few chosen members in his circle would dine lavishly and attend exclusive meetings, while the "plebes" in the organization would meet at a pub. Why the "plebes" acceded to this sort of treatment in an organization that was supposedly on of a "round table of peers" is beyond me. Perhaps they knew their chance to degrade other, newer, members would come. It is indeed the case that some of those same people who ate in pubs in Ware's and Berrill's time are the unreachable decision makers in Mensa today. I first joined Mensa ca. 1980 in Miami, FL. I went to one function, a meeting at a Sushi restaurant, which was one of the most boring experiences of my life. I never attended another Mensa meeting. I did not renew my membership until about a year-and-a-half ago here in Israel. I got the creeps immediately upon joining. Despite the fact that the branch was only a few months old, the core members of Mensa Israel had already been installed in the important positions in the organization. Clearly, the clique had been formed. The Israeli branch of Mensa is run by a junta of right-wing extremists - and I mean *extremists*. Some of the writings of the Chmn of Mensa Israel were so racist and war-like that I knew I had to get away from Mensa Israel in order not to expose myself and my family to the potential danger that such writings are liable to incite in equally extreme members of the other side of the Israeli-Arab conflict. I would not tow the Mensa Israel line and I was treated abysmally for daring to be my own person in Mensa Israel. One member would stoop so low as to try to humiliate me for living in the town that I do. As an organization, Mensa is characterized not only by cliquishness, but by a generalized atmosphere of extreme social pressure to conform. There has been a filtering out of independently-minded people. Most of those who remain in Mensa are social misfits and unfortunates who can find friends nowhere else. They hang on to one another desperately. There are buzzwords that are used to bring those who might express individualistic opinions in line, "arrogant" being the most common among them. Regional meetings are often held in people's private homes, so anyone who is not acceptable to the in clique is simply not invited and cannot make the most of their membership dues. There are virtually no democratic processes in Mensa today. It is not clear how the ever-growing list of "acts inimical" to Mensa is formulated and by whom. The commission of "acts inimical" within Mensa is punished by being brought up in front of kangaroo courts, the "verdict" of which is already determined. Punishment can range anywhere between admonition (humiliation) to expulsion from the Society. Cases are sometimes made against the former lovers of high ranking officers in Mensa when they want to get rid of them. The interrogations at those inquests often go on for many hours and there are a number of sessions. If after writing this report about Mensa I would attempt to return to the organization (a purely a theoretical notion. I assure you) I would be immediately brought up on charges of "acts inimical" and subjected to such an ordeal. In fact, on one of the Mensa Yahoo! Lists members discussed how they would try me when (not if but *when*!) I return. They are so desperate to belong to Mensa that they would undergo any humiliation to retain their membership. They assume everyone else is as well. There are indeed members who were tried and begged, yes begged to be allowed to stay or to return when they wer