I get frustrated here because...

[_Buffalo]

You would like to think that I'm widely disliked, to imagine that large numbers of others share your passionate antipathy toward me.

But, sadly for you, that's simply not the case.

I don't dislike you.

[_Rambo]

Has scratch ever done anything to affect you in real life?

Scratch is anonymous. I am not. Publicly associating me -- on line and by name, in the permanent international medium of the Internet -- with racism, anti-Semitism, dishonesty, the deliberate destruction of people's careers, malicious slander, threats of violence, voyeurism, and etc., affects me in real life.

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
[Othello III.iii.155–161]

I get amussed by it.

That's too bad.

Dan, you didn't quote the part where I said if it affects you sleeping at night then I am truly sorry. By sleeping I meant you really get upset over it.

Really I honestly didn't think you took this to seriously and that is why I was amussed. I'm trying to put myself in your shoes and I am not sure if I would get to upset. Then again I don't know all the history so I am not really well informed.

[_stemelbow]

Lol. You *are* widely disliked. Don't you remember all those little quotes you kept from RfM, where people were voicing their dislike for you? Have you looked at Infymus's "Mormon Curtain" section on you? Or what about Kurt Van Gorden and James White? They big fans of yours? How about Loftes Tryk, Suzie Q, Tal Bachman, Steve Benson, or Bob McCue?

I always thought that was kind of a badge of pride for you--the notion that the "antis" and critics disliked you.

So 7 or 8 people means widely? I would think such an amount would really be the opposite of widely.

[_Simon Belmont]

Lol stem! I'll bet I can find 7 or 8 people who dislike Scratch. By his own definition, Scratch is "widely disliked."

[_Doctor Scratch]

Lol. You *are* widely disliked. Don't you remember all those little quotes you kept from RfM, where people were voicing their dislike for you? Have you looked at Infymus's "Mormon Curtain" section on you? Or what about Kurt Van Gorden and James White? They big fans of yours? How about Loftes Tryk, Suzie Q, Tal Bachman, Steve Benson, or Bob McCue?

I always thought that was kind of a badge of pride for you--the notion that the "antis" and critics disliked you.

So 7 or 8 people means widely? I would think such an amount would really be the opposite of widely.

Stem,

Dr. P. used to maintain a little "archive" of quotes that he'd harvested from RfM. These were little snippets from posts where people were saying things critical of him. He used to use them for his signature line back on the old FAIR and MADboards---sort of like what he's doing with those two quotes of mine right now. People used to ask him why he had these RfM quotes, and his reply tended to be something along the lines of, "I find it psychologically fascinating that these people would be so angry," etc. He found it amusing that he'd pissed these people off, and that they apparently disliked him. If I recall correctly, this archive had some 30 or so entries.

But it's *way* more than "7 or 8," my friend. It's got to be in the hundreds. Take a look at this:

http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_dani ... tion1.html

There are 3 sections on DCP at The Mormon Curtain, with over 60 entries. I suppose you could debate whether or not these items are indicative of people "disliking" him--either personally or on the level of apologetics/debate, but the fact remains, there is a ton of critical commentary out there on him.

And besides, my main point was simply that there is a gigantic discrepancy in terms of the way he is viewed/treated in comparison with David Bokovoy.

[_Simon Belmont]

Yeah because Infymus is trustworthy, right? lol

[_Daniel Peterson]

Rambo:

I don't lose sleep over it. I simply see it as wrong. It's unjust, unfair, and uncalled for.

Anonymous public defamation of character, carried on month after month, week after week, and, to a remarkably large degree, even day after day, is not right.

Lol. You *are* widely disliked.

I'm intensely disliked, by you and perhaps one or two others. That's not precisely the same thing.

Don't you remember all those little quotes you kept from RfM, where people were voicing their dislike for you?

I do. They represented perhaps a dozen or two dozen different individuals over at the so-called "Recovery" board.

The "Recovery" board, on any given day, will have really harsh words for Donny Osmond, Thomas Monson, Scott Card, and/or Neal Maxwell. Since yesterday's Mormon Times article about him, it has featured a fair number of extremely nasty and profane insults aimed at the very mild-mannered Richard Bushman -- whose eightieth-birthday symposium, dinner, and reception last Saturday, at the Springville Art Museum, was attended by many hundreds of people, and who is almost universally well-liked and respected among believing Latter-day Saints, inactive Latter-day Saints, and non-Mormons.

Have you looked at Infymus's "Mormon Curtain" section on you?

Ah, Infymus. Another representative figure.

He doesn't even like my wife -- though he's never met her nor even heard from her. He wrote a really nasty, obscene post about her a while ago.

Or what about Kurt Van Gorden and James White? They big fans of yours?

The litigious Rev. Kurt Van Gorden? Warrior against "the cults"? Mr. Sweetness and Light? The super-combative Rev. James White, in a permanent state of war with Mormons and Catholics and Muslims and every other dissenter from five-point Calvinism?

If I weren't among the many, many people that those two dislike, I would be quite concerned.

How about Loftes Tryk, Suzie Q, Tal Bachman, Steve Benson, or Bob McCue?

Again, hardly a representative bunch. (Steve Benson stands out, of course, for his loving on-line persona, charitable and respectful to any and all who disagree with him.)

But I'm happy that you've mentioned Loftes Tryk. His name brings back pleasant memories.

I always thought that was kind of a badge of pride for you--the notion that the "antis" and critics disliked you.

No, not particularly.

You've never understood me at all.

But no, I'm not especially bothered that people who hate and despise my faith don't like me, either.

Finally: David Bokovoy isn't nearly as visible as I am, and hasn't been visible for nearly as long as I have.

[_Doctor Scratch]

Finally: David Bokovoy isn't nearly as visible as I am, and hasn't been visible for nearly as long as I have.

Oh, so you think that's the explanation for the discrepancy? That it's a mere matter of "visibility" and duration thereof?

You also mentioned Richard Bushman, who, similarly, doesn't have nearly as many enemies, nor the type of enemies you've managed to collect, and yet he's at least as "visible" as you, though he hasn't been engaged in the same kinds of online activities as you.

So, what's your explanation? Is it this?:

I'm not especially bothered that people who hate and despise my faith don't like me, either.

If so, I'm sure you see the problem, since Bushman and Bokovoy (and Terryl Givens, and Kathleen Flake, and Blake Ostler, and Jeff Lindsay, and Kevin Barney, and Brant Gardner) are LDS, too. It's not a matter of prejudice against Mormonism. There must be some other explanation.

So what might it be?

[_Daniel Peterson]

Oh, so you think that's the explanation for the discrepancy? That it's a mere matter of "visibility" and duration thereof?

I think that's a very real part of it.

Do you seriously think that the denizens of the "Recovery" board would show him any particular honor? That Infymus would treat him with respect? That Rev. James White and Rev. Kurt Van Gorden would consider him a friend? That Steve Benson would do him reverence?

You also mentioned Richard Bushman, who, similarly, doesn't have nearly as many enemies, nor the type of enemies you've managed to collect, and yet he's at least as "visible" as you, though he hasn't been engaged in the same kinds of online activities as you.

You're not paying attention, as usual. Richard Bushman has been subjected to precisely the same kind of vituperation for the past forty-eight hours over on the so-called "Recovery" board as I am.

[_asbestosman]

There must be some other explanation.

So what might it be?

They don't critici . . . I mean smear Quinn?