If you’re coming in blind, read this post then this post first
Alright, well the post I thought would never come actually did. They made sure to wait until outrage was gone so that they could re-ignite the drama. Whatever. Let’s get this over with so we can all just move on.
We’ve learned from previous incidents that Facebook profile pictures can be enough to identify people, which is why we have included that.
yet, again, the post where it happened to a much greater degree last year STILL remains uncensored. I even specifically called out several mods, (including /u/subversiveasset who made the stickied post) for not having censored it yet in the comments. I talk about that post a length here..
This makes me believe that this wasn’t about doxxing, it was rather personal or political.
/u/gileriodekel posted on r/exmormon about contact with the FB poster’s employer. This was his second post on the subject, the first being a reposting of /u/danizadaGirl‘s original image shortly after we removed hers
I knew this post was coming, so let’s talk about it. I wont link to it because that would be against the rules here. A little sleuthing should be able to turn it up if you’re that interested.
I posted on his employer’s FB. Business and names all blocked out. /u/VH65 commented, not in an official capacity as a mod but as a fellow redditor, and said it was doxxing and witchhunting. At first, I told her that for it to be doxxing I had to post his name. After thinking about it for a little while, I knew she was right and willingly removed all most post and comments.
The next day, I was banned. I assumed it was for this post that I deleted. However, /u/subversiveasset clarified that it was for the other post. The one with the blurry 31×31 pixel picture, which looks like literally every Mormon male ever. The one that /u/Danizada posted and I reposted.
/u/Danizada and I were both given identical messages from /u/subversiveasset, the mod that seems to be running this crusade, explaining that we were banned for the same reason: the post with the 31×31 pixel picture, which looks like literally every Mormon male ever.
This is the mods, in real time, re-writing history of why I was banned. I was even told I wasn’t going to be given the courtesy of a discussion by /u/VH65 here.
EDIT: /u/VH65 is now trying to “doxx” me by directing people to the FB post that got Ryan banned and saying I commented on it.
Our subreddit is not the place to seek or share information to reveal nonfamous identities to provide information to the media or to make an example of a person.
Again, this is literally what the mods allowed last year. More on this in a minute though.
before posting please consider if your purpose is healing or hate.
r/Exmormon mods are literally tone policing now.
Our community purpose and goals
I think the community should be the one determining that. However, the mods seem intent on guiding this community and running it like they’re the neo-Q15.
We wish our subreddit to be a place of support, news, commentary, and comedy for exmormons. In light of this, “Random Mormon says bad thing on Facebook; let’s express outrage” seems inconsistent with that goal.
I can’t tell you how many people wouldn’t believe that a member of the church would actually say something like that. Showing proof that someone is that awful is newsworthy. So news worthy that Ryan McKnight tried to authenticate it, and gave the authenticated story to the Friendly Atheist and posted it.
Many may want to call out bad actions by the church or its members, but our subreddit is more about what we can do internally to help each other process and deal with the actions of the church and its members, rather than to serve as home base for externally-facing campaigns at low level members.
This is a serious warning. If you get into a discussion with your friend on facebook, post it on reddit, and forget to block out your friend’s name, you could be facing a 6 month ban.
Additionally, reddit wasn’t “home base” for this incident.
We don’t disregard their contributions, but their contributions do not give them immunity from the rules. Ignorance of the rules is not a defense, but in the future, we plan to warn regular community members before taking heavier actions.
The mods caused a major fuck up as explained here with the doxxing incident last year. The guy’s name was revealed, his personal blog was given out, his email was found and published, his Facebook posts were published, and his personal identity was compromised so bad that /u/NewNameNoah pointed out his phone number and was able to call him, interview the guy, and then publish the interview online. (Mike wasn’t the only one who called him either) and his business’s name was published. His business was bombarded so much that his business ended up closing.
/u/VH65 (an r/Exmormon mod) justified all of this by saying that he was a political candidate here This guy is a perennial candidate, and people used that fact to justify all of this. I’d respond to that line of thinking by asking anyone to look up his name on Google and have the search settings only show results before r/Exmormon got ahold of him, say August 2016, and then search for his name today. The differences in his notoriety are pretty apparent. Before r/Exmormon, any mention of him was created by him. After r/Exmormon, most results are him being called out for what r/Exmormon brought to the public’s attention. He was not a genuinely public figure until the witch hunt happened.
This is 100% due to the mods not censoring a single post. They fucked up BIG. Bigger than I could ever single-handedly fuck up. Rather the mods that were mods from that time should step down and I remain banned, or they remain as mods and I am unbanned. I’m totally willing to give them that mercy and understanding, but its hypocritical that they wont give it to me when I fuck up in a much smaller way.
Again, I’ve pointed out the thread I’m referring to a couple mods a couple times and are very aware that it exists, and it remains uncensored still.
We plan to work harder to discuss before acting on major posts and comments we find problematic.
I like this policy. It was the policy I thought they had to begin with. I’m highly skeptical that this will genuinely be the case moving forward though.
Maintain /u/FearlessFixxer‘s and /u/Gileriodekel‘s bans at 6 months
Just a reminder, /u/danizada was banned for the exact same reason I was. The r/Exmormon mods are whitewashing and changing history. They’re holding me to a different standard because of who I am.
EDIT: I forgot to mention this part.
Again, I have chosen to stay here at r/Mormon. The mods have handled r/Exmormon‘s meltdown very well. Its a place that I think could cause better healing than r/Exmormon. It allows for believing and unbelieving Mormons to create understanding and eliminate ignorance, which is the root cause of the suffering in almost all cases.
I would encourage you to start contributing here at r/Mormon as well