MikeWaters thinks I'm the AntiChrist (and my response)
 

As the resident expert on getting banned, you should know that vBulletin uses that term whenever someone receives a suspension.

I confess. I am particularly stupid in this way..

This is all true, and very regrettable. I got pissed and acted in a childish way. In an attempt to repent and make amends, I have not tried to mitigate or justify that behavior in any way. I have apologized a number of times, and I have called the behavior what it was – A social experiment to make a point.

On the other hand, Archaea says that 1.) He doesn’t think very much about what he says. 2.) He engages in name calling and taunting for the purpose of breaking people out of their juvenile views. And 3.) He sometimes abuses his role as moderator to ‘piss people off.’

Though our purposes may be different, what Archaea describes is a ‘social experiment,’ in which he behaves badly to make a point and manipulate people’s views and feelings. Moreover, Archaea is principally responsible for the tone around here, which has led to a number of decent people choosing to leave. I can’t claim that distinction.

It seems like my chief crime was public confession and apology. Do you think you will ever get that out of Archaea?

The idea to do this came to me after reading a MikeWaters post in which he resigned from CougarBoard, and said that he had contemplated deleting all of his posts from the archive. The desire to maintain control over one’s own words is natural, and can be witnesses most recently in Archaea’s deleting an entire thread because he blew a fuse and said a bunch of stuff he regretted. Childish or not, it is an impulse you claim to understand.

I am a Mormon apostate with a sense of humor that ranges from wit to things a bit blue. I like the Daily Show, Colbert Report, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Woody Allen, the Coen Brothers, Beavis and Butthead, and South Park. If I make a joke, or link to something I think is funny, it going to exist somewhere on the continuum of humor just described. If someone pushes me, I will push back. As an apostate, I am going to take a few light-hearted jabs at the church and its culture. The real question Mike should ask is this, “When Robin is being Robin, is his behavior still calculated to ‘harm and destroy’ the community here?” If the answer is yes, then Mike should do what he needs to do. But I will swear on a holy stack of Book of Mormons that I have never harmful intentions ever since I came back and publicly apologized to the people of CG.

I sure hope there are people who disagree.

There is a public record that shows this point to be entirely inaccurate. It is a false claim that offers an interesting view into Mikes thinking about all of this. I joined CB in 2003, at Mike’s invitation. He thought I would find it to be an interesting way to learn more about sports, and to see some different sorts of Mormon points of view. I have enjoyed CB for nearly three years now for those reasons. It was my first foray into a chat board, and at first my posting was sparse. As I became comfortable, my posting ramped up. I developed a reputation as an instigator and a political gadfly. I have spent hours in chat. Mike seems to think that all of this was done with the intention of harming THIS community?? Maybe he also thinks the Jews are responsible for 9/11. I made a few comments about Mike and CG on Cougarboard. I stopped being critical of CG and Mike when I decided that it was actually an interesting place with a lot of merit.

Mike doesn’t trust me because I know about some things about him that he would never want his wife, children, or anyone else to ever find out. He is worried that I will talk. Don’t worry Mike! I will NEVER tell anyone about THOSE things.

I can see now Mike that what I saw as good natured ribbing, you were taking as personal attacks. I’m sorry. When I first came here, I pointed out what I felt was Mike’s original ‘hypocrisy,’ – calling this a ‘moderator-lite’ board when his first act as moderator was to put my account on suspension. Since I had spoken about this fact on CB, I thought I should address it here. I stopped talking about that here when it became clear that there was no longer anything to be said about the subject. The point of that was not to attack Mike, but simply to put participation here into context. I don’t consider that to be an attack. I understand that Mike has a different opinion.

Outside of a very regrettable period, which had a distinct beginning and end, I don’t recall ever attacking Mike. Ribbing, yes. Attacking, no.

Not true. Robin does not know enough about sports to be able to comment on them or argue about them the way others do. Invite Robin to a pickup game, and he will gladly come… and suck.

If by ‘care’ you mean have any desire to ‘build the kingdom,’ then you are right on. My interest in Mormonism is an ongoing interest and curiosity with the culture that has defined my own life. More importantly, I care very much about the ‘spiritual life’ and the ‘good life,’ and the ‘abundant life.’ How those issues intersect with Mormonism and sports and POVs outside of Mormonism are all issues that I care about very much.

Was that for calling Archaea a ‘misogynist?’ Why are others not banned for calling Grape a racist? I would think that both points should go unpunished for the same reason – past behavior shows that they are true.

You present a false dichotomy. I had hoped to earn the same ‘leash’ as Archaea (sans mod status) or Rocky. Those people get away with murder around here.

I never attributed homosexual acts to you, graphically or otherwise. I attributed those acts to ME as a TIC commentary on several people’s inference that I have ‘special feelings’ for Mike. I commented on your genitalia after you compared yourself to Michelangelo’s David, and then suggested that the David was well endowed. If that isn’t the equivalent of hanging a ‘kick me’ sign on your own back, then I’m a monkey. Both examples were TIC jokes which you took as attacks.

And deserved it was.


From Mike’s posts it has become very clear to me that I don’t think I can ever expect a fair shake from him. This faces me with a simple question:

Is it wise to continue to try to build relationships and friendships with people in an environment where Mike holds the keys to my participation and where he undermines my attempts to contribute?

For some time now, I had looked forward to the day when I would earn a minimum level of Mike’s trust, so that I could simply enjoy the same freedom to post enjoyed by Rocky and Archaea (low standards indeed).

But Mike’s comments quoted here suggest to me that the day will never come. A mind that will condense years of participation on CB into a conspiracy to destroy CougarGuard is not a mind that will be convinced of anything.

So I plan to wrap things up here. There are three things I want to do before I call it a day.

1) I wanted to say something nice about Faith, my sweetheart. Did it.
2) I wanted to reply to Mikes comments about me. Did it.
3) Something else… still needs to be done.

Cheers,

R.

do I need to read this? I don't have the energy to read it. Someone post a summary.

Is it:

1. I've been wrongly judged
2. I've been slandered
3. I've done my best to be a good citizen, but MW sabotaged it.

Or something different?

Basically it's Robin's "woe is me and I know dirty secrets about Mike Waters" diatribe.

In other words, it's just Robin being his usual dickhead self.

He does offer to swear on a stack of Book of Mormons that his intentions are not harmful, which I think says a lot.

Honestly I thought the more telling part was his confession to the JonBenet murder.

Something about a grassy knoll in Dallas. I dunno, I couldn't quite wade through it.

Mike, is Robin the only person to ever be suspended from this site?

No, I think Grapevine was suspended once also.

Don't forget about his mentioning that the Apollo 11 landing was actually staged in his backyard.

I'm suprised nobody else has discerned the obvious subtext here: we don't know half the story about what happened on Y Mountain that night.