Of all the wonderful things that can happen in the Bloggernacle, few are as full of schadenfreude as a good banning.
The path to banning is familiar to regular readers: a mild disagreement spirals into personal attack, followed by a warning, followed by more argument, followed by a good-bye. Sometimes these stages occur within a few comments, sometimes less, sometimes more. Occasionally people ask to get banned (Jami, you fool). I thought that penning a few words about who gets banned and why would be illustrative for BCC readers. Permit me to address a few misconceptions — but please, don’t interpret my opinions and conclusions as a policy statement.
1. BCC is notorious for banning faithful Mormons. Statistically, this isn’t so. First, it’s important to distinguish between getting banned and getting modded. Often, people who are making personal attacks in the context of a heated debate will be given the chance to cool their heels and return to a state of calm via comment moderation, which means that comments aren’t nuked, they are instead sent to the administrators for review and approval. Many internet sites moderate all comments by default. Sometimes, getting consistently modded is enough for some people to get the point and either simmer down or quit commenting. Returning to the issue of banning conservative or iron-rod Mormons, when I look at the list of people who banned or moderated, I don’t see the majority of them as being the strident conservative type. Such commenters are often extremely vocal and their departures are notoriously public, but they represent the minority.
2. BCC is notorious for stifling conversation with fringe membership. The flip side of No.1, a common complaint about BCC (if you frequent FLAK, anyways) is that anyone who doesn’t toe the party line is instantly banned from BCC — we hate free thought and can’t stand it when people question the Brethren. We are quick to ban and delete blatantly anti-mormon spam, but such is relatively rare. Generally, this notion is also overexaggerated — again, looking at the lists of banned and moderated commenters, the DAMU and FLAK participants are not a majority. It is once more the vocal nature of their comments that raises their appearance in the public eye. Rarely do people get banned for their opinions, conservative or liberal. Frequently do people get banned for acting like offensive jerks.
3. BCC bans a lot of people. Not that many, but yes, the list of banned commenters grows each day. Whether it’s because of spammers or otherwise, we have roughly 40 people in moderation and 50-60 in the banned list. Some of the names would surprise you, while others would not (Prudence McPrude). I believe that for a blog this size with a network of commenters this active, BCC is fairly hands-off. Those of you familiar with administrated blogs elsewhere on the Internet can attest to this.
4. Steve Evans bans whomever he wants. ‘Twere it were so! But alas, I do not solely hold the keys to banning. Like any nuclear device, our banning system requires more than one person to turn the key. It’s true that I am probably the one to have issued the warning or told a commenter to shut up, etc., but that’s simply a factor of my more regular participation in the comments. I don’t hold any particular sway, I don’t think — in fact, those who administer the blog with me are well aware of my mercurial attitudes and are quick to chasten me. Just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean you’ll get banned from BCC, believe it or not. You also have to piss off at least one other perma with admin*.
5. Steve Evans is the admin. There was a time that this was more or less the case, but for some time now BCC has been administered by a group of people, each with administrative duties and powers. I am no longer the sole omnipotent authority of BCC, a fact that produces reassurance amongst all. When you email the admins (see our info page), it goes to the entire administrative group.
Questions?
—————-
*Not an easy task. They are a notoriously cool-headed group. I should note however that patently offensive/profane comments or spam are deleted summarily by any admin.
By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog 
BAN HIM! BAN HIM!
Well, there goes my support for the Evans-God Theory…
I miss BoH style public bannination debates.
Do people actually think that BCC bans “faithful Mormons,” of which I count myself? Now, I am happy to promote the idea that we ban DAMUites.
For reasons of copyright, I would like to know if I may, when/if banned, stamp a large “BANNED BY BCC” across my forehead?
I should correct myself: right now there are 52 names on the banned list — of them, there are probably only 35 unique individuals.
I loooooove me a good banning.
sigh stapers!
So long as people don’t act like jerks they’re fine with me. Hellmut for example frequents BCC, because he can be intelligent and thoughtful. Faithful mormons can still be weirdo trolls (such as, say, your abishes and toshes). So I hate to draw conclusions based purely on ideology ab initio.
meh.
Ban DKL!
You mean people use more than one name?
How shocking!
What, pray tell, is a FLAKer?
Kaimi, that’s old hat!
Both you and DKL have been banned here at various times. It’s in some respects a badge of honor. Mostly, though, it’s just a sign you’re a dork.
J. Stapley, if by DAMUites you mean people who are both disaffected and prone to misbehavior, you’re right. But we also ban people who aren’t disaffected but are prone to misbehavior. Several of our frequent, well-behaved commenters are disaffected to some degree or another — and, as long as they behave themselves, nobody seems to mind. Indeed, you yourself often engage them in normal comment-thread conversation.
Tracy,
FLAC =Further Light and Knowledge.
Er, that’s with a “k” I suppose. Not sure what the “C” is suppsoed to stand for…
FLAK is “Further Light and Knowledge,” a message board in which people who are somewhat to substantially less happy with the church than your average BCC permablogger congregate to discuss religion and their lives. Sort of a support group crossed with a public forum.
So who is in moderation that would suprise anybody?
C’mon spill the beans
lemme see…. there’s William Coolidge, amongst other famous pseudonyms. I didn’t want him spreading his x-ray pseudoscience around here.
bbell, you are.
Ha! Just kidding!!!
You really banned Prudence?!? That sucks.
Prudence had it coming, that foul-mouthed bastress!
Randy, about 6 mos. ago we decided to rein in the use of fake names and fake characters. Prudence lives on I’m sure, just not around here.
That’s what is really funny, Randy. BCC is so egalitarian that permabloggers ban one another and delete each other comments. Just ask Ronan.
Hey, I hear you. We ban people too, over at T&S. Mostly the same categories, too. Some conservatives, who want to tell us we’re going to hell. Some antagonistic exmos (DAMU or otherwise), who want to tell us we’re all morons. And a lot of spammers.
Plus, the genuine weirdos. The polygamy restorationists. The race/political weirdos. (I sent Steve an e-mail a few days ago with a novel-length deleted comment about the huge conspiracy of Jews and Blacks and black helicopters and the CIA.) The woman who wanted to keep posting about her discussions with the aliens. The bizarre millenialists.
And the truly unintelligible. Languatron, for instance, or Aaron Brown.
To say nothing of the other stuff that some of the permas have to keep Ronan from doing…
Let’s see if I get this right:
Okay, this is just the most ridiculous, arbitrary bunch of crap by you so-called literati and effete intellectuals (thank you, Spiro Agnew!) that I have ever seen. No wonder you all haven’t been dragged into a chruch court for the venom you spew! YOU’RE ALL GOING TO HELL! And don’t threaten me! You’re just close-minded control freaks and deviants, masquerading as real people! And if you don’t agree with me on points 1, 2, and 3 in my previous comments, well that just shows how stupid you are! GOODBYE! I can always go read Meridian Magazine’s website!
Did I cover all the bases?
Is there a procedure in place to ban those who ban? Surely even the permabloggers are prone to losing their tempors and engaging in a personal attack now and again.
Lame-o.
ahhh Languatron. My 2nd favorite robot.
kevinf, nope. You forgot to quote something you seminary teacher or mission president said which has made such a difference in your life that you’d like to share it with everybody.
You know we’re all dying to read the “novel-length deleted comment about the huge conspiracy of Jews and Blacks and black helicopters and the CIA” now. No fair not sharing.
Unless, of course, legal standards of libel, slander, or copyright are involved.
Mark, # 31, foiled again!
Languatron and Linguo take a back seat to my favorite.
Not bad, Kevin, but it needs work.
For instance, you should always start with the immortal line, “DO YOU POEPLE REALY CALL YOURSEVLES MORMONS??!?” (Or some variation thereof.) That’s de riguer. It doesn’t have to be in capitals and with typos, but that really helps.
Actually, Languatron’s comments can seem concise and cogent, when compared to other comments that sometimes appear.
jimbob, that’s a good question. Who watches the watchmen?
First, as I mentioned nobody gets unilaterally banned. But in terms of policing one of the other permabloggers, it’s a rarity but disagreements can occur. I can safely say that I am the one the gets corrected the most. As we’re all friends, we communicate via email and IM, and try to reason with each other first. Occasionally comments are temporarily suspended. But such conflicts almost never occur at BCC (one of the hallmarks of our perma crew of which I am most proud, actually). Most typically, the person who wrote the offending comment (me) is easily persuaded by the testimony of his friends that he was acting jerkishly, and the comment is edited or removed. See here as a typical example.
Haven’t some BCC authors/moderators/permabloggers been guilty of “making personal attacks in the context of a heated debate”?
Do we commenters have any democratic means of “banning” together and, “by common consent,” voting to ban permabloggers who have violated the site’s own policy? At least temporarily?
Is blogging by nature a democracy, or a police state?
For some reason, this thread is making me really happy.
Sorry, looks like jimbob beat me to the punch…
Matt,
If you send an email to the admins and there is a viable complaint, anything’s possible (many of us have been looking for a pretext for banning Kevin for years).
Matt, # 38,
Chaos and anarchy, more likely.
Ana,
Glad that works for you and you are happy. Sorry about the typo. It’s ironic that I can be critical of others and then realize that I am far from perfect and should mind my own business.
Matt, BCC isn’t a democracy — no website is, really. I’m surprised that the only alternatives are democracy and a police state. Have you never had to ban anyone at Sunstone?
There is no process for commenters to demand that a perma get banned, any more than there is for someone say at Sunstone to demand (with any authority) that Dan W. or yourself quit. I’d like to think that this is an unusual occurrence. Generally, though, both permas and commenters alike are quick to point out (both publicly and privately) when a comment is out of line.
To be fair, BCC is not meant to be all things to all people. Our content, style and tone will not appeal to all, and we’re not trying to make it a panacea. That’s partially why sometimes banning is a blessing — people will sometimes be happier if participating at BCC is not an option for them. I love my friends here, I love BCC pretty much the way it is, and if others can’t stand it — well, then this is not the place for them to engage in conversation, simply put.
BAN HIM! BAN HIM!
Steve #44, fair enough.
I guess my “police state” remark was rhetorical hyperbole.
Kaimi was banned?
Was Languatron the guy who kept posting about Battlestar Galactica?
Clark, yes to both! Although Kaimi’s bannination was temporary — mostly to remind him that we can crush him ‘neath our mighty bootheels.
I hadn’t noticed the lack of “fake names” … but as I browse through the commenters here, I see all “real” names (some with modifiers) What will become of me? (Already too many John/Jons – hence the night of 6 Johns.)
Also, I love mentally pronouncing the acronym DAMU. =)
FHL, by “fake names” I mean fake identities and characters. Pseudonyms are OK — constructed identities (like, say, Jennifer Mailer) are for obvious reasons an abhorrence.
We’ve never banned anyone at SunstoneBlog, but we’ve deleted a handful of comments that crossed the line into personal attacks. There are also a few individuals – maybe 3 or 4? I’d have to look – that are in the automatic moderation queue. They usually land there for a personal attack as well.
I think our numbers are small, though, due to the lower activity rate at Sunstoneblog versus BCC. (And to head off any snarky comments about “activity rates”, I’m talking posts and comments, thankyouverymuch.)
Oh, and I did receive the novel-length conspiracy-theory rambling, too. I almost approved it, but we have enough problems without dealing with CIA and FBI oversight.
I’m not ashamed to admit it: I’ve been in heavy moderation for four years now. Otherwise, I have little doubt that I would have been banned years ago for personal attacks.
“Generally, though, both permas and commenters alike are quick to point out (both publicly and privately) when a comment is out of line.”
*hangs his head in shame, while trying to do better*
Kaimi’s been banned and I haven’t?! What craziness is this? Then again, maybe I was banned and I didn’t notice…
Actually, to my knowledge, in 30+ years, Sunstone has never “banned” anyone from participating in any kind of online, print, or symposium fora. It’s an impressive record, I know.
As for shunning, blacklisting, blackballing, and/or flat out ignoring… well, that’s another matter.
It may be my own semantic preference, but I suggest BCC toy with a new phrase for banning offenders… instead of saying something like, “You’re banned!” How about “No Soup for You!”
Justin, you make moderation sound like therapy. Or addiction recovery.
I am also wondering if “moderation in all things” is always a good idea?
Matt, I prefer _excommunicate_.
How about ‘shunning’?
Justin, personal attacks against the dead don’t count. Slander James Strang all you like.
Frank, if more people paid attention to your comments you doubtlessly would have been banned by now.
Full disclosure – I’m a FLAK denizen, with little interaction with the Bloggernacle. I will resist my predisposition to attack anyone here personally, as well as my penchant to burn Home Evening manuals and eat babies. It’ll be hard, but, what the heck, I’m up for the challenge.
I hold two principles dear – the notion that the best remedy for bad speech is more speech (not banning the bad speech…John Stuart Mill is my boy) and rights of free association, including all rights to define in-group and out-group behavior, including the aforementioned (and, IMNSHO opinion the typically-wrongheaded) banning of whomever, just as capriciously as the group/group leaders would desire. No one has a right to do just whatever they want within the strictures of a given group. This, of course, cuts both ways, as they do have the right to vote with their feet (OK, fingers and eyeballs in this particular case) and find a more congenial joint.
This potential tension is important. Groups should be free to acquire exactly the reputation that they earn with in-groupers and out-groupers. There are so many options in the Bloggernacle, DAMU, etc. that I believe anyone can find a comfy group for his/her particular kinks.
I would likely disagree with many/most of you on a lot, and I completely dig the fact that you work your mojo in your way. I truly do hope it works well for you.
Re #27 You also forgot to ask, “why, if the church bothers you this much, don’t you just go to some other church? I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings, but am genuinely curious”
It is therapy, kevinf.
Moderation of some of my rants by BCC admin probably saved my church calling. For that I thank Steve.
lol, hank, thanks for the comment — and I hope things work out for you too.
Justin, were it not for BCC you’d be WML by now. So yes, thank us.
Thank you, Steve. This is an amazingly helpful post which will (I’m sure) be of great help to me and others in the future. I’ll refer to it often.
(Oh, and that’s ‘idiot’ for future reference.)
OK, got FLAK but, what means DAMU?
I’m waiting for a wave of complaints similar to what appeared when Nixon’s “enemies list” became public: many folks demanded to know why they were *not* on it — they didn’t want to be known as not enough of a Nixon enemy to be excluded.
Yes, the powers-that-be over here are prone to ban BCC permabloggers in their pseudonymous forms. A bubbling cauldron of insightful commentary from which BCC readers are not allowed to imbibe. It really is a shame, I say.
Aaron B
DAMU = DisAffected Mormon Underground.
Some of Prudence’s best jokes were deleted by Admin McAdmin back in the day. What can I say … Kaimi has no sense of humor.
Aaron B
What is DAMU and FLAK? I see there was a bit of an explanation of FLAK… can someone share a bit more?
Also, being a newbie to the church, I’ve noticed quite a bit of alphabet soup in discussions on the internet and sometimes in conversation at Relief Society and other functions. What’s the deal with that?
68: “Also, being a newbie to the church, I’ve noticed quite a bit of alphabet soup in discussions on the internet and sometimes in conversation at Relief Society and other functions. What’s the deal with that?”
It’s like text messaging in the military. You’ll pick things up as you go.
69: (heh… 69 cool..[hope that doesn’t get me banned]… yeah… 69)
Anywho, my husband who’s been a Later-Day Saint for ever, finds himself a bit lost with it too.
Though, just now, I almost wrote LDS, BIC, in the sentence above. It’s like some secret language!
The alphabet soup thing is unfortunate. It’s an unconscious way of maintaining insider/outsider boundaries. We ought to get over it and just say what we mean, I guess…
Thanks, Kaimi, Mark, and Starfoxy for the pointers. Maybe I should go practice ranting and getting banned at some other corner of the ‘nacle till I get good enough to get banned here. Any suggestions?
Any possibility that these two comments are incompatible?
jimbob, I don’t think they’re incompatible. We have tons of faithful Mormons who seem happy with our style and tone, believe it or not. That’s the majority of our audience.
jimbob, people who like to express themselves in extreme terms, be they liberal or conservative, are unlikely to feel comfortable at BCC. I appreciate what you are getting at in your ever-subtle comment but I do not believe the two comments are incompatible. The fact that so many faithful mormons read BCC and write for BCC is proof of the compatibility.
I dunno, JNS. Would it really be more clear if we replaced every instance of FLAK with “The message board at Further Light and Knowledge”? That still doesn’t say anything significant to an outsider.
That particular boundary (what is FLAK?) exists not so much from the acronym per se, but from the level of inside connunity knowledge needed to understand just what that description means.
71: Exactly. While I was a visitor to the meeting house months before I decided to join, I had to keep correcting people to not refer to me based on my member status, or lack thereof. Or worse, to not label me as an Investigator, because A) That was a bit out of left field for me to be suddenly labeled right off the bat, and B) I wasn’t like part of the FBI.
At one point, I corrected a Stake President that I was a Visitor. He asked from where, I promptly said the city I lived in. He then asked what ward, at which point, I said this one.
He was thoroughly confused.
I didn’t know what a Stake President was. (He was dressed like everyone else.)
Anywho, when he finally figured out what I meant by visitor, he tried to correct me with a new label. I promptly corrected him, not really understanding why he looked so flustered.
I get it now. I still don’t like the labels or the alphabet soup. At the time though, it really felt like I was either “in” or it was made clear that I was “not-in”.
Kaimi,
That’s like three comments on a single BCC thread. You get banned at T&S or something?
BCC is notorious for banning faithful Mormons.
jimbob, I regret that Steve made that comment as it isn’t true, I don’t think. He was just trying to say that we don’t ban people for their ideology. Well, I think we do on some occasions (e.g., we ban anti-mormons).
I’m obviously more strident in my perceptions. I’d be happy to ban Rearden with all his DAMU friends.
I miss some of the banned. For example, that Pretty Pauline was a real firecracker.
jimbob,
FWIW, I’m not aware of any BCC permas that are not “faithful” LDS. That’s not to say that they all are. I just don’t know. In all our correspondence, email, IM, etc., no one’s ever said anything that led me to believe they were less than “faithful” by any meaningful measure. Off the top of my head, the most notoriously “liberal” among us (me, Ronan, Kevin, Steve, Kristine, JNS, Taryn) are all active members in good standing.
Some, of course, I don’t miss. Ban Kaimi all you want.
Brad,
I’m just having a hard time containing my joy now that Steve finally unbanned me. (Make one unkind remark about Frank Miller’s Batman, and it’s a fraking life sentence.)
Damn, that’s comment number four, innit? Okay, fine, I’ll go argue some more with Adam about abortion.
Careful there, Brad 81. Don’t write any checks you can’t cash.
MCQ,
I hope you don’t plan on commenting at T&S any time soon, buddy. And I’m gonna pull strings and try to get you banned at Tales, too. Giulilani has nothin on me, buddy.
Steve,
So are you saying that BCC is kinda like a chess club? But there are these folks who keep trying to get you to play checkers, instead . . .
Kaimi,
I already took care of that one for you.
Brad, are those names in increasing or decreasing order of liberal-ness? And what liberal-ness do you have in mind, anyway? Political? Religious (which I think is underdefined)? Fashion-sense?
JNS,
I used “liberal” in quotes in part to point up it’s utility as a catch-all for “un” faithfulness. I guess it could mean anything from believing in evolution to watching rated R movies to voting pro-choice to wanting to extend full fellowship to gays to wanting to ordain women to rejecting the virgin birth to wearing window-paned shirts while blessing the sacrament. My point was that, regardless of how you define it, it’s not a gage of “faithfulness”.
“Okay, fine, I’ll go argue some more with Adam about abortion.”
and then you get the occasional comments that are absolutely hilarious but indecipherable to those without the proper decoder ring. (OK, since Adam-abortion is an official doctrine, that might not be a good example.)
Hey, that was worthy of being on a humor site.
Thanks for making me smile.
Brad, good point. I will now go back to watching my R-rated, homosexually-themed film about the evolution of the idea that the virgin birth didn’t happen. While reading my scriptures.
Am I banned?
If this appears, guess not.
Just checking.
Kaimi, nice use of classic Fogelberg. That brought back memories.
Don’t ban me, bro!
spectator wins. Excellent comment.
Since when am I one of the more liberal permas?!?! Brad, bone up a little, newb.
Steve,
Everyone knows Canucks are just a bunch of dirty, welfare-state dependent, socialized-medicine-worshiping, anti-torture, tree-hugging, foreign-policy wimps, who would have long ago been colonized by the Soviets were it not for American courage. In a word: liberal. Plus, you swear like a sailor, smoke unfiltered cigarettes, are a self-admitted pornographer, see R rated movies, and run BCC — all of which makes you liberal from a number of Mormon angles.
Steve, perhaps since you declared the National Review “Satan’s News” and the ACLU “the Army of Helaman”?
ahhh, good times, Eric. I miss the blogroll of yore!
Brad, you’re taking “bone up” a little too literally.
Too literally? I don’t even know what it means!
I haven’t been banned, but Stapley would like to. Somehow that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I can suggest a way to “rein in the use of fake names and fake characters.” You could use “wordprinting”, the same way Larsen-Rencher-Layton proved Joseph Smith didn’t write the Book of Mormon.
http://en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon_wordprint_studies
That way you can figure out all 12 of my identities and ban them all.
Why does the DAMU exist in the form of message boards, while the Nacle retains the blog format?
Imagine BCC with avatars.
Steve Evans would probably have a Darth Vader avatar.
Larry, so long as it could be the “noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” Vader. Or Chad Vader!
If you think the only difference is the avatars, man, you’re mistaken.
I don’t think I’ve ever been banned, though a few comments have been deleted.
I seem to recall one T&S comment being deleted for using the words “Steve” and “butt-pirate” in the same sentence.
Re 81:
Brad,
I was assuming that when Steve used the word “faithful” to describe the people that aren’t banned in large numbers in the original post, he wasn’t referring to those in good standing, but instead to the more conservative member. Then again, nuance has never been a talent of mine, so I’m happy to be wrong here.
jimbob, the conflation of “conservative” with “faithful” is an unfortunate component of much of Mormon culture for which I by no means hold you personally responsible. My frustration with the conflation in general was reflected in the snarkiness of my comment.
jimbob, you are indeed mistaken. “Faithful” and “the more conservative member” are definitely not synonyms. But neither are banned in large numbers at BCC.
Ann, don’t worry. Stapley bans you over my dead body. I imagine there are plenty of folks from the DAMU who contribute respectful, interesting comments, and they’re always welcome.
Kristine, I was not being even a bit sarcastic. It DOES make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And I’m really not worried about being banned. I know not to pee in the pool.
Your Bloggernacle name is like a brand, and needs to be treated as such. MikeInWeHo, like Honda, strives to provide a consistent, high-quality product at a reasonable price. In their case, cars. In mine….. :)
Am I one of the well-behaved but disaffected?? (#14) Yikes.
Mikey, you’re sui generis, baby.
I’d consider Mike as unbannable, on limerick-writing skills alone. :)
It is a party organ’s duty to publicize the party’s policies and viewpoints because they are closely related to people’s life. Propaganda published through the organ is the means by which the people are brought to a better understanding of the party’s goals. In addition such publications can correct misimpressions that may have sprung up among the people while demonstrating the all within the party are equal. The organ does not promote a cult of personality but recognizes the heroic achievements of those taking the people into the bright future.
#91:
I will now go back to watching my R-rated, homosexually-themed film about the evolution of the idea that the virgin birth didn’t happen. While reading my scriptures.
Hmmm…may I suggest the story of David and Jonathan, JNS? ;-)
It would be ironically hilarious for someone to get banned for their comments on this thread.
#117 – That just might be the most correct of any comment ever written and the keystone of all banning examples.
As far as I see it, there are only two questions to ask.
First, what would God have us do? Is it really Christian to ban others? Will this kind of thing really be going on in the eternities?
And second, if this activity of banning will indeed be happening through the eternities, then what exactly will we call the person who gets to pull the trigger on any banning?
Would we call that person, perhaps . . .
.
.
.
. . . the Banner of Heaven?
Brad (#34),
As the sole heir and living representative of the Butlertron, let me say there is a reason why he doesn’t exist anymore. Too much work trying to systematize an unsystematizable theology from the standpoint that the scriptural canon is a coherent body of work. Unsupportable intellectual extremism, views far out of the mainstream. No agreement on the merits of anything – waste of time more or less. Humbled on all counts.
No, that would just be proof that my bishop was right when he said in a recommend interview that BCC is a self-absorbed clique policed by “goderators” who glory in unrighteous dominion.
What’s really ironic is that you “goderators” be damned in the next life by the same judgment you mete out against others–hewn down and cast into the fire–and that the only reason you are allowed to continue your unmended ways is so that the testimony of the banned cand stand as a witness against you.
8)
On the recent Helmuth Hubener post, I left a comment mentioning Diana Mosley and Marlene Dietrich which didn’t appear for some number of hours. Does anyone remember why it was held up?
danithew #106 — that comment at T&S was damn funny.
It does seem that T&S is more trigger happy when it comes to banning. I’ve not been banned there either, but Mr. Greenwood has put me in time-out. I suppose I have a lot of company in that respect though.
Ann and MikeInWeHo, I’ll let the two of you decide just how disaffected you are. For my part, I love you both — BCC wouldn’t be right without you. The day either of you is banned is the day I randomly ban 100 other commenters!
Do you ban people for asking stupid questions?
kevinf (#74),
Its actually very easy to get yourself banned at the big sites, you just need to know what buttons to push. At T&S, just point out that the blog is old and busted and relies on canibalizing the Nacle for fresh meat to be an endless round of posts from the archive. At FMH, point out their quality isnt up to par with the other “Big” blogs because of pandering. At M* point out one of the permas has lost their mind or one of their patron saints of apologetics isnt. At BCC, directly contradict the original premise of the post-maker and then defend yourself when attacked by lunatics and then tell Steve off for not moderating fairly. How is any of this not intuitively obvious? Contradict whatever it is these people take pride in, and you are toast.
ooops, the “to be an endless round” should say “to avoid being an endless round”
pls fix, Steve, thx.
For the record, I’m not conflating them, nor have I ever. I did assume Steve was using code when he said “faithful,” based on prior interactions he and I have had. I’m glad to hear I was incorrect in my assumptions.
That said, if it makes anyone feel better, I’m willing to be held personally responsible for any aspect of Mormon culture you’re unhappy with. That would include funeral potatoes, the pronunciation of American Fark, and multi-level marketing schemes.
I have been on this site for some months now, after discovering this site in my search for the meaning of “petting.” You guys have been very accepting of me. I have had no issues with my treatment here and have enjoyed this site.
We don’t ban people at Mormon Mentality. People ban us.
StillConfused, heavy or regular?
…and is that what you’re Still Confused about??
meems #126, that is hilarious.
annegb #131, that Helen person should have been banned. She even annoyed to the point of sarcasm the ever-patient Margaret Young.
We certainly did try to get along with her. The most outrageous thing I’ve done on this line is delete some comments on a thread that digressed into a discussion on homosexuality and then I closed comments on my recent post because I didn’t want the conversation to get ugly.
Re: ED,
BAN HIM! BAN HIM!
Um, John C., I already am. Hence the pseudonym.
ED, # 127,
I’m working on a way to embed some packet filtering process in our firewall here at work that will, depending on the IP address of the blog I’m visiting, automatically rewrite any comment so that it matches the criteria for getting banned, regardless of what I write. We’ll then make the code available to the BCC admins to randomly upload unwittingly to peoples computers, thereby making it possible to randomly ban anyone and everyone, and have appropriate evidence to back up the decision.
I’d still love to read the black helicopters novel length post. That’s got to be a classic.
Just out of curiosity, what happened to the blog called “snitches …” something, which was posted a few hours ago. It had like 3 comments and was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
?
jimbob 129–Whew! I’ve been wondering who would finally take responsibility. I’m not sure where you’re pulling your authority from, but since you’ve offered I’ll be happy to hold you personally accountable for a few things have really been getting on my nerves.
The “mother’s room” in our building is a way too small for the number of mothers who use it. Would you mind getting us a bigger room? Btw, the upholstery in there really needs a good cleaning.
And could you please take care of the tootsie rolls in the lighting fixtures in the foyer and chapel. (The deacons who put them there are on missions now!)
Thanks for getting right on that. What a relief!
I think Norbert’s post got banned.
Jami,
Just because I’m responsible doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything about it. I’m a lawyer, for heaven’s sake. I never actually do anything–I just blame other people.
No one is allowed to point out the irony of my irrational banning screeds!
BAN HIM! BAN HIM!
Extreme Doritos, #127 you said: “At BCC, directly contradict the original premise of the post-maker and then defend yourself when attacked by lunatics,,, How is any of this not intuitively obvious? Contradict whatever it is these people take pride in, and you are toast.”
Amen, that comment is so true.
Good point, CW. Look how banned you currently are, for example.
Who would Jesus Ban?
Could we discuss “shunning?” I think I’m being shunned by a blog whose name can’t be mentioned. Shunning is more hurtful than banning. I’d rather be slapped than shunned. And now they know that I’ve noticed that I’m not being spoken to.
(Wouldn’t it be funny if several are shunning me and they all think I’m talking about them?)
NCK,
Easy — Jesus would ban CW.
SHUN HIM! SHUN HIM!
Shun! Shun the non-believer! Shun! Sssshhhuuuunnn!!!
Come to candy mountain instead.
#139, 141:
My ‘Snitches’ post was self-censored. I had posted because I was pissed off about something, and then decided it wasn’t very nice and I should actually deal with the person who pissed me off instead of blaming the mormons.
Or Steve and Ronan ganged up on me. Take your pick.
ncw,
I like your thinking! We could use more of you around here.
Norbert,
Don’t look at me. At least 50% of my posts are removed by powers without. I have been faithfully posting Monday polls every week only to have them disappear wearing concrete boots in Puget sound. Which is odd, because Puget sleeps when I post them. Is it you?
I wondered where the Polls went…
You know what? I’ve been thoroughly depressed because there haven’t been Monday Morning Polls the last couple of weeks. I thought maybe Ronan was bored of them.
I think we should have a poll where we can vote on how long the marriage between ED and CW will last.
#132… Yep. That is what I am StillConfused about. Never did get a full clear concise answer. But I still love you guys anyway.
146 & 153 combine so nicely when reversed. Ask not ‘who would Jesus ban,’ but ‘who would ban Jesus.’ Yea, verily ask not ‘is it you’ but rather ask ‘is it I.’
8)
Mark, I think Erectile Dysfuction and Country and Western have always gone together, and will always go together.
Ha! Good one, Ann. But then how do we account for all the cheating songs?
Are we still on for next Friday?
157. Still confused. I’ll get deleted, but I’ll give a shot at a concise answer regarding petting, as I understand the terms:
A kiss: Mmm plus smacking smooch sound. One.
Kissing: Mmmm…mmm. (no smacking smooch sound)
Necking: Lots of kissing, shoulders and above, (knees and below, while more rare would still be categorized in necking.)
Petting: Necking plus touching (female) waist and above.
Heavy Petting:Petting plus touching between waist and knees.
Making out: Implies necking to heavy petting.
Regarding the repentance process, in most instances, a kiss to necking doesn’t need to be confessed to the Bishop and petting and beyond does.
Not advocating any pre-marital activities, mind you. Still confused?
Jami, I wasn’t confused, but now am. You did fine with the first two items, but the rest I think you’re off.
Steve, you want more accurate terminology? I was trying to keep it clean.
#156 & #159 – I’m speechless, and that’s really saying something.
Frankly, I hope this hits 500 comments; it’s the funniest thing I’ve read since Adventures in Arizona on MMW.
Yes! Will your wife be in for the weekend? A couple of other friends are coming over, too. When can you get here? 6:30? 7:00?
Tosh, we hardly knew thee.
Testing. . . testing. . . 1..2..3.. Just seeing if I’m still banned here.