Plea to support DCPs blog

[Marcus]

I think this will probably make Dr. Scratch’s Top Ten list.

What an epic embarrassment. DCP publicly rallies his troops to give 5 star ratings so his articles will be more visible on internet searches. It then turns out that ratings have no bearing on internet searches. But, that doesn’t stop DCP who has gone back through years of articles just to give himself a 5 star rating on each one.

What an epic troll.

I know someone who 'Likes' every Facebook post they make.
Well, I guess that's OK, but it seems a bit strange to me.

But 5 stars? Does anyone really believe that they always produce only top-quality work? Never an 'off' day?

Take this comment, for example - probably worth only 2 or fewer stars, but I still went ahead and made it.

There was a time If I recall correctly, when commenters on SEN made fun of people who upvoted comments. If they upvoted their own, the mockery was superlative. But now, DCP is going back and 5-starring his own entries? How quickly the worm turns.

[Gadianton]

But 5 stars? Does anyone really believe that they always produce only top-quality work? Never an 'off' day?

Can anybody believe just based on common sense that a search engine will reward them handsomely for tooting their own horn as loudly as possible?

I realize this could actually be the case, given Church doctrines, but maybe there's another theory.

Maybe the governing powers at SeN know full well that their interlocutors aren't crushing their chances with Google?

Maybe this is just a pretext to justify the badly desired horn tooting. We see stuff like this all the time with Midgley, and even here with some of the less well-accepted participants who barge in and preach. "Somebody asked me the other day about..." -- no, nobody asked you about that thing that forces you to answer with a boastful response.

So now, this far-fetched external consequence that threatens the existence of the venue everyone enjoys can only be countered by loudly patting ones-self on the back with a perfect 5 star rating. I don't know. Sounds like an opportunity.

[IHAQ]

But 5 stars? Does anyone really believe that they always produce only top-quality work? Never an 'off' day?

Can anybody believe just based on common sense that a search engine will reward them handsomely for tooting their own horn as loudly as possible?

I realize this could actually be the case, given Church doctrines, but maybe there's another theory.

Maybe the governing powers at SeN know full well that their interlocutors aren't crushing their chances with Google?

Maybe this is just a pretext to justify the badly desired horn tooting. We see stuff like this all the time with Midgley, and even here with some of the less well-accepted participants who barge in and preach. "Somebody asked me the other day about..." -- no, nobody asked you about that thing that forces you to answer with a boastful response.

So now, this far-fetched external consequence that threatens the existence of the venue everyone enjoys can only be countered by loudly patting ones-self on the back with a perfect 5 star rating. I don't know. Sounds like an opportunity.

As you observe Dean, it could simply be an attention seekers need to have people “like” him. I wonder if the novel concept of putting more time and effort into writing better blog pieces crossed his mind?

[Doctor Scratch]

But 5 stars? Does anyone really believe that they always produce only top-quality work? Never an 'off' day?

Can anybody believe just based on common sense that a search engine will reward them handsomely for tooting their own horn as loudly as possible?

I realize this could actually be the case, given Church doctrines, but maybe there's another theory.

Maybe the governing powers at SeN know full well that their interlocutors aren't crushing their chances with Google?

Maybe this is just a pretext to justify the badly desired horn tooting. We see stuff like this all the time with Midgley, and even here with some of the less well-accepted participants who barge in and preach. "Somebody asked me the other day about..." -- no, nobody asked you about that thing that forces you to answer with a boastful response.

So now, this far-fetched external consequence that threatens the existence of the venue everyone enjoys can only be countered by loudly patting ones-self on the back with a perfect 5 star rating. I don't know. Sounds like an opportunity.

Very well said, Dr. Robbers. Frankly, the slavish praise and gleeful pats on the back--the self-aggrandizement--are all to be expected. It would be far more surprising to see humility or authentic self-deprecation from the Mopologists. Instead, you get this:

I regret that I feel obliged to do this, but, since a certain malicious individual with time on his hands and multiple online identities has taken it upon himself to rate me at the lowest possible score, over and over and over and over again, I'm going to rate this one myself. At the highest possible score. That will give him a little bit more work, at least.

I doubt there are any "regrets" whatsoever.

And I notice that the Proprietor has been trying mightily to do "original" blogging these last couple of days! Well done! Does it add up to 1000+ words per day? And can this be sustained for a month or more??? We will see! It will give him a little bit more work, at least!

[Marcus]

Can anybody believe just based on common sense that a search engine will reward them handsomely for tooting their own horn as loudly as possible?

I realize this could actually be the case, given Church doctrines, but maybe there's another theory.

Maybe the governing powers at SeN know full well that their interlocutors aren't crushing their chances with Google?

Maybe this is just a pretext to justify the badly desired horn tooting. We see stuff like this all the time with Midgley, and even here with some of the less well-accepted participants who barge in and preach. "Somebody asked me the other day about..." -- no, nobody asked you about that thing that forces you to answer with a boastful response.

So now, this far-fetched external consequence that threatens the existence of the venue everyone enjoys can only be countered by loudly patting ones-self on the back with a perfect 5 star rating. I don't know. Sounds like an opportunity.

Very well said, Dr. Robbers. Frankly, the slavish praise and gleeful pats on the back--the self-aggrandizement--are all to be expected. It would be far more surprising to see humility or authentic self-deprecation from the Mopologists. Instead, you get this:

I regret that I feel obliged to do this, but, since a certain malicious individual with time on his hands and multiple online identities has taken it upon himself to rate me at the lowest possible score, over and over and over and over again, I'm going to rate this one myself. At the highest possible score. That will give him a little bit more work, at least.

I doubt there are any "regrets" whatsoever.

And I notice that the Proprietor has been trying mightily to do "original" blogging these last couple of days! Well done! Does it add up to 1000+ words per day? And can this be sustained for a month or more??? We will see! It will give him a little bit more work, at least!

Like this?

I came across a little piece online yesterday in which a rabbi declared that Christianized Passover meals or seders are anti-Semitic.

It got me to thinking, and I’m afraid that I’m going to disagree with him. Full disclosure: I myself have led perhaps half a dozen such Christianized seders,

You know, he has a point. I think I will lead a Mormon sacrament meeting, out of respect, to teach my children about my history. I will have my oldest daughter break the bread and then pour out small cups of water. She will read the sacrament prayers, and I will make sure not one word or syllable is out of place. Then we will all partake of the bread and water, passed around by my youngest. One of his sisters might have to help as he’s so little. It will be very respectful, and I will explain what is means to Mormons.

On the other hand, our catholic Parish will not host a Seder, but like most in our parish but we have been invited by a Jewish family to participate in theirs. They will conduct the Seder, as it would be inappropriate for me to enact their sacred rituals.

DCP is also offended by those who wear crosses as jewelry when they haven’t advertised their Christian commitment, pharisaical style.

[drumdude]

It’s kind of cute, Dan leading the ceremony. It’s like when toddlers play kitchen. I remember learning to think about other religions in this way from a famous recent Mormon fireside…

[Doctor Scratch]

I came across a little piece online yesterday in which a rabbi declared that Christianized Passover meals or seders are anti-Semitic.

It got me to thinking, and I’m afraid that I’m going to disagree with him. Full disclosure: I myself have led perhaps half a dozen such Christianized seders,

You know, he has a point. I think I will lead a Mormon sacrament meeting, out of respect, to teach my children about my history. I will have my oldest daughter break the bread and then pour out small cups of water. She will read the sacrament prayers, and I will make sure not one word or syllable is out of place. Then we will all partake of the bread and water, passed around by my youngest. One of his sisters might have to help as he’s so little. It will be very respectful, and I will explain what is means to Mormons.

On the other hand, our catholic Parish will not host a Seder, but like most in our parish but we have been invited by a Jewish family to participate in theirs. They will conduct the Seder, as it would be inappropriate for me to enact their sacred rituals.

DCP is also offended by those who wear crosses as jewelry when they haven’t advertised their Christian commitment, pharisaical style.

You make a good point, Marcus. I remember when the Mopologists shouted down Juliann and Calm--who at the time was still going by Calmoriah--over on the old FAIRboard because they were rhapsodizing about the prospect of having an LDS service where women served the sacrament. DCP claims he's opposed to "cancel culture." So, would he be okay with a female-led sacrament meeting?

Meanwhile, the entertainment value of "SeN" continues to rise:

When, a couple of days ago, I invited other readers to contribute their own ratings, it wasn’t because I crave validation or adulation. It was simply to compensate for the unchallenged negative ratings that “Professor Sham Wow”/”Chewbarker”/”Bark Chewer”/”DoctorScratchOwnsYou”/”Dr. Demento”/”Posts During Work Hours”/ “Chapstick”/”Defund the Police”/”Cobra Kai 4 Life”/”Gollum” has been giving my blog. Some have told me that low ratings can damage its reach. Others have denied that. I don’t know one way or the other, but uniform one-star ratings of even funeral eulogies and criticisms of Vladimir Putin seem to me . . . well, unjust, to say the least of it. And I dislike injustice.

Getting a low star rating is *injust*? My goodness--talk about a lack of perspective. Sheesh. If getting a bad review is so terrible, then how does he justify all the "hit-piece" type reviews that he oversaw as editor of the FARMS Review? He used to justify those articles by saying, "Movies, books, and concerts all get reviewed." Well, so do blogs, evidently! And yet he won't stand for that.

He wraps things up with this:

But it’s important to take a stand for civility, and against tribalism and what’s come to be called “cancel culture.” Yet again, thank you! You’re all very kind.

Uh, summoning as many of your pals as you can to come and blindly give you 5-star ratings purely on the basis of ideological alignment is pretty much the definition of "tribalism." Meanwhile, isn't he lobbying to get Jonathan Neville excommunicated from the Church? If he has such a problem with his star ratings, maybe he should re-think his support for things like "Neville Neville Land."

[Physics Guy]

When I was at college there was an interdenominational Christian women's group that had been meeting for some months. As a conclusion to their program they held a worship service at which men were welcome and I attended. Some of the group members were Catholic. Catholic teaching only allows ordained priests to consecrate the Sacrament, and only men can be ordained Catholic priests.

So these women had the choice between breaking up their group, bringing in a male priest, or not having a Eucharist. Their solution was indeed to skip the Sacrament but to invent their own ceremony with wafers and honey, something similar enough to the Eucharist to seem sufficient for the occasion while different enough not to seem as though it was trying to pretend to be anything.

I don't recall feeling that the wafer-honey ceremony had any overt cues to declare whether it was submissive or subversive. In my memory it was simple and didn't include much explanation.

[IHAQ]

It’s interesting that DCP is against ‘cancel culture’ but is for hosting a Seder…

There is a trend among Christians — mostly but not exclusively Protestants — towards observing Jewish ritual in general and the seder in particular. There are books on Judaism aimed at Christians, and there is a whole movement, the “Hebrew Roots” movement, dedicated to understanding the Jewish influence on Christianity. They include both more respectful practitioners, who consult detailed books on accurate Jewish practice, as well as ones who adopt a pastiche of (often incorrect) Hebrew.

One manifestation of this movement is the “Christian seder, ” a seder held by non-Jews, often inserting references to Jesus or Christian doctrine into the Haggadah.

I used to dismiss Christian seders as a curiosity, a funny thing some gentiles did out of an ahistorical belief that the Last Supper was a Passover seder (The seder, as we know it now, is a late-Antiquity or Medieval invention). I figured that mimicking the seder was, on balance, better than how non-Jews historically acted around Passover.

Now, however, they have become too common to ignore. With the Hebrew Roots practices in general and Christian seders in particular, a closer look past the veneer of appreciation for Judaism reveals something much more troubling: a superficial philo-Semitism that is inherently anti-Semitic, relying on pernicious ideas about Jews, whether its adherents admit it (or even realize it) or not. Those who engage in these practices don’t really care what Jews have to say; at the very least, are unaware that they should care what Jews have to say. There is no interest in our complaints that it can be very painful to watch Christians appropriate our holidays, because of the long history of pogroms tied to Jewish observance and the even longer history of Christian mockery of our customs. There is even less interest in the history of violence against Jews around Passover specifically, because of the blood libel, or the violence traditionally directed at Jews around Easter and Holy Week (and thus Passover) because of the accusation of Jewish deicide.

Jews themselves are totally erased from the purportedly “Jewish” holiday observance. Instead of attempts at interfaith dialogue, these groups instead simply take what they want from Jewish customs.

I’m not saying that I don’t get anything done. I’m just saying that I’m getting less done than before. by the Forward

This approach to Jewish ritual treats Judaism, and by extension Jews, as just a footnote to Christian history. The idea that turning to Judaism represents a return to the roots of Christianity is based on the false premise that Judaism is wholly antecedent to Christianity, and not a separate group of beliefs that developed in parallel.

Jews, in their way of thinking, are spiritual cavemen. They represent an incomplete and primitive version of Christianity; Jewish ritual is reduced from the manifestation of its own cosmology to a cute and adorable relic. At best, it’s the equivalent of maintaining some superstition you keep because your grandma believed it, even though you tell yourself you know better (mine wasn’t fond of images of birds).

Jerry Seinfeld once asked “If I like their race, how can that be racist?” It was a joke, because the answer was obvious: Fetishizing groups is dehumanizing, even if one’s view of the group is positive.

Play-acting in Jewish ritual space, in aid of a different religion, is a totemic fetishization of Jews. Even with the best of intentions, it is dehumanizing; basic decency, to say nothing of manners, means they should knock it off.

I encourage Christians to learn about Judaism and to learn from Jews. In general, it’s admirable to learn as much as you can about other faiths. Make comparisons to your own faith and learn how and why traditions differ. But engage in true, sincere education. Don’t erase Jews by simply co-opting our traditions.

https://forward.com/opinion/443606/plea ... ian-seder/

Daniel, I hope you reconsider your actions in regards to the Seder and consider publicly apologising for them.

[drumdude]

Oh my gosh. Daniel now thinks he was a victim of cancel culture:

“But it’s important to take a stand for civility, and against tribalism and what’s come to be called “cancel culture.” Yet again, thank you! You’re all very kind.”


He also reasserted that there are no more than two individuals on the planet who dislike him. The individual who supposedly sends him 4 emails a day, and the malevolent stalker who runs this forum.


I’d like to thank both of you for making this forum such an achievement, it must be hard playing literally dozens and dozens of individual people who dislike and disagree with DP.