Did Anyone Bother to Notice.....???

[_moksha]

When I made that comment, I wasn't sure whether or not Scratch was Echols. I figured two things:

1. If Scratch IS Echols, this obscure comment will piss him off, and give him a small taste of what Pahoran likely felt when he read Scratch's comment about his divorce.

2. If Scratch IS NOT Echols, then the comment will likely cause Scratch to simply say WTF is she talking about, and the whole situation is no harm, no foul.

Either way, I never came out and said, "Scratch, you are Echols."

Wish there was some oft quoted internet board rule similar to the Godwin axiom, but much more closely followed. This wished for rule would be something simple like, "All personal information is sacrosanct". The benefit of following this rule would be the same sense of accomplishment which physicians get when they do no harm.

[_Uther]

I have one other question for Scratch...and for anyone else here to contemplate.

Since you and everyone else has claimed vehemently that you and Chino Blanco are not the same person, which made my comment basically worthless, why did you feel the need to make such a vile retort as this?

It may have something to do with his acrimonious divorce from his first wife, and the subsequent fallout from all of that.

Yes, there are many reasons why anonymity would be important to a poster. Working on political campaigns, such as Democrats Abroad Taiwan, for example.

Or because they don't want their DH with massive heart troubles to learn that they were engaged in cyber-adultery with The Nehor.

And ladies and gentlemen, this is the reason I think it is best for me to step down as a Moderator.

My skin is just not thick enough for this.

It is obvious to me that Scratch's attitudes and actions are the ones that are predominantly revered here.

Do I think that DCP has been an angel in the world of apologetics? No. I honestly do not.

But what Scratch has done is, in my opinion, way over the top. And, he is so intent in his campaign against DCP, that he will take a viperous tongue to anyone who dares to attempt to get in his way.

I want no part of an administrative staff of a board which stands firmly behind this type of behavior.

I have made a lot of friends here, and I wish you all the best.

I will check in from time to time, mainly to correspond with folks privately.

To those of you who worship God, God bless. For those of you who are atheist or agnostic, best wishes.

A lurkers opinion:
This is THE most interesting forum discussing Mormon thought, and I have lurked here happily since 2008.
I agree that what you did Liz was on the outskirts of appropriate moderator behavior, but also I believe that your contributions outweigh the mistake. Im an agnostic, but I think we need colour and diversity on this board.

I disagree with you in regards to judging Scratch and Peterson with the same scale.

My opinion of Peterson is that he has taken upon himself the public light. He has chosen to represent and defend what he holds dear in a way that offends and hurts a lot of people that used to believe.
I think that Peterson is operating in the realm of "religious zealot fencing for his faith".
It appears to me that Peterson lacks the gift of empathy and understanding. He seems to be perfectly happy in the rple of inquisitor. The last 1.5 years I have observed him crumble under the taste of his own medicine, and I feel really sorry for the way things are now.

Dr. Scratch appears to be a personage or group with sources within the LDS ranks. This personage has a body of flesh and bones(couldn't help it), and is conducting personal assaults against a few of the top brass apologists. Harsh and mean spirited attacks. And mostly factually correct too according to my observations.
To me Dr. Scratch represents a kind of Robin Hood, where the victim(s) fight back vs the exploiter..

don't you understand that while Dr. Peterson meditates peacefully in the temple, knowing in his counscience that he is backed by God, a powerful cooporation, and most importantly his own self assured TBM mind, I, the former believer, am in a much less secure state of mind. As a victim I can be vulnerable, and insecure, and open to get hurt by the selfappointed inquisition of Peterson. It is not a fair and equal game. I believed Peterson had little to lose, but to my suprise he was able to loose more than I had thought, mostly through his way of reacting to events.

I would hope you stayed Liz, and also, I wish Peterson could take his fights back here, to this forum.

[_Drifting]

And let me repeat...the information I revealed was information obtained through a public Facebook page of someone who is not currently registered on MDB.

Liz, I still don't understand what it was that prompted you to post the potentially snide (you believed it was an in real life piece of information about Scratch when you posted it) comment about Taiwan and search through DCP's Facebook friends?
(Please don't say "because Pahoran said so because we are beyond that.)

[Guest]

Unless Pahoran discussed his this aspect of his marital history here, then Scratch broke Universal Rule #7. It is as simple as that.

Which would make it odd that Liz, as a moderator, didn't act to remove it and warn Scratch about his future behaviour, as happens with other posters.

It may also be worth noting that when Pahoran posted what he thought was in real life information, Liz was aware (probably in advance) that he was doing so. As moderator Liz should have acted to delete Pahoran's post and warn him about his future conduct. That Liz didn't sadly makes her knowingly complicit in an intended breach of board rules (wether or not a breach actually took place is irrelevant, Liz thought she was allowing a breach in board rules in order to get at Scratch).

Trust gone.

[_Drifting]

@Pahoran

And it takes someone as foul as you to have entangled liz in the web of your lies. She trusted you; look where that got her. You're an [sock puppet].

You see, I keep coming back to this question: if indeed my information about the worthless Scratch is so far out in left field, then why is he, and why are all his most loyal enablers, so mad about it?

Regards,
Pahoran

Have you asked DCP why, if it was accurate, he pulled his blog post about it?

[_beastie]

You see, I keep coming back to this question: if indeed my information about the worthless Scratch is so far out in left field, then why is he, and why are all his most loyal enablers, so mad about it?

Regards,
Pahoran

This is what is so freakin' entertaining about this whole debacle. On one hand, we have A.I. assuring us that the calm and cool, offhand reaction of the person named is some sort of validation of the suspicion that he is, indeed, Scratch. On the other hand, we have Pah reading anger into the responses here (whereas I read snickers and laughter), and this is also some sort of validation of the suspicion.

LOL!

The truth is, Pah, you look like a danged fool, and we're just enjoying it because of your malicious history. It's a humliation well deserved.

[_beastie]

Liz -

You're a good egg in general, and have been kind and generous to donate so much of your time and energy towards the thankless task of moderating. I would never do it again, personally, but am grateful for the (maybe masochists) among us who are willing to do so. Whether or not this episode means you shouldn't be a moderator is totally up to Shades and you.

I will say, however, that if another poster on this board tried to discover my real identity, for whatever reason, and then dropped hints about that identity on the board, I would be furious and expect consequences - even if they got it wrong.

I am not justifying what Scratch said to you in return. It was cruel. Scratch can be cruel, no doubt. But it was qualitatively different than what you did because of the "real life" aspect.

I suspect that you just don't want your reputation tarnished by this episode, like Jersey Girl did not want her reputation tarnished. But the hard reality is that you both did something that was just wrong, in my opinion, and had consequences. But hopefully other posters will weigh this against your overall history, and Jersey Girl's overall history, and conclude that, hey, we all goof up sometimes. The good outweighs the bad. I still like you both and find much to admire in both of you.

[_RockSlider]

@Pahoran

And it takes someone as foul as you to have entangled liz in the web of your lies. She trusted you; look where that got her. You're an asshole.

slow to this thread, but x2

[_LDSToronto]

It is easy to forget the real victim of Pahoran's stunt - Mr. E-----. Sure, liz fell for Pahoran's charms, and DCP is plainly a well-credentialed dimwit, but let's never forget that because of Pahoran's lust for blood and horror, he smeared a completely innocent man.

Being confused with Dr. Scratch is not an insult. However, building a caricature of Dr. Scratch and then accusing an innocent person in a public venue of being the man behind the caricature is libelous. If I were Mr. E-----, I'd retain a lawyer and punish Dan, and anyone else, involved in smearing my good name.

H.

[_RockSlider]

You see, I keep coming back to this question: if indeed my information about the worthless Scratch is so far out in left field, then why is he, and why are all his most loyal enablers, so mad about it?

Because your worthless information was used to help turn a long standing bad relationship between liz and you into a very recent and rapid new friendship.

Liz, being Liz is always the bridge builder, the forgiver, the trusting one, the go a extra mile, is sucked in and trys to help cement her new friendship with you.

All over a damn witch hunt, of which she had no clue (trusting in someones lies of smoking gun evidence).

Now let's take the war on the wolf in sheep's clothing. Both Dan and Pahoran have clearly made known their colors in this war.

Sorry Liz, I've never understood your desire to want to maintain friendships with those that support a groupthink that has gone after the likes of LOAP and David B among their own ranks, let-a-lone their declared war on the large number of everyday people, going to their wards and trying to work out their Mormonism.

I could not help to wonder over time, what motivated them to want to maintain friendships with their declared enemy. I could not help wonder if your being a mod here and on your own boards had something to do with it.

I think, that in this situation, one or more of your friends screwed you.