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Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Angel Moroni Told The Conservative Union to Ban The Mahound

Moderators of The Conservative Union pose at a Never Trump rally 

So, last time it was the largest Google+ Catholic group. This time it was the largest Google+ Conservative group.

Yeah, I know it looks like a pattern. So feel free to laugh. I'll laugh too after I finish my gin.

I think the official reason given was that I insulted Mormons:
Our community was created to promote conservatism. Your bigoted post attacks the religious beliefs of Mormons who are predominantly conservative. It does not promote conservative values. This divides us. We need to unite with all conservatives.
Well, I thought it was funny.

I was also accused of using the group to drive traffic to my blog, composing click-bait headlines that I freely admitted contained lies, not interacting enough with other members on other posts, dissing the moderators of the group (by using a rude term) outside of the group in the "Public" portion of my Google feed, and not being sufficiently grateful to the moderators in the past for heroically rescuing my bigoted click-baiting, self-promotional posts from the group's spam filter.

With great fanfare, one of the moderators, Delbert Warner also told me he was also removing me from his "Spiritual circle." That explains the tremor I felt in The Force.   

Now I get the fact that my blog is quirky and often has silly headlines that some may find offensive. So I probably should have known that my Moroni joke would stir things up among the humorless white breads of The Conservative Union.

But please. Every moderator (and the three or four other members) who participated in the anti-Mahound mob fest is a virulent anti-Trumpster. 

Probably the majority of posts in The Conservative Union are virulently anti-Trump, with anti-Obama and anti-Hillary posts running a distant second. When some brave Trumpster does put something up, the anti-Trumpsters (including some of the moderators) swoop into the comments and shout "fascism!" or whatever.

I think that's a bit fascist.

What was that about "division" and "uniting all conservatives"?

It's utter bull, of course.

As readers of my blog might know, I've been hard on all the candidates. I've probably been more "pro" Cruz than anyone else, though recently I've written some neutral or quasi-pro pieces on Trump. The offending post in question wasn't even pro-Trump. It was anti-Romney, if that makes sense.

But in the largest Google+ conservative group you have to tow the anti-Trump line completely or else they'll look for a reason to screw with you. You can't even write anything neutral about the man. To say again, I find that, yes, fascist, especially considering the stated goals of the group.

And the "self-promotion" thing is silly. I get very little traffic from the group and have posted in it once every two weeks on average. I should say that there is a fellow who links to his conservative blog almost every day in the group. Unlike Mahound's Paradise, his blog is filled with moneymaking doodads. But he's an anti-Trumpster and always gets the expected "amens" in the comments. I'm not criticizing him or his blog. For all I know, he and it are wonderful. I'm just pointing out the disparity.

As readers of this blog know, I'm a traditionalist Catholic who is anti-Islam and pro-Israel. To the extent that I have a more religiously or politically neutral schtick, I like making fun of people who I find pretentious and disingenuous, primarily when I see them maliciously putting down others in a serial fashion (as the mods in the Conservative Union have oh so nastily done to Trump supporters).

That schtick just got ten feet higher.

There is a much larger issue. I fully expect that at some point in the future, Mahound's Paradise will be banned from social media due to its anti-Islam stance. Or rather, I think there is a more than 50/50 chance. No doubt, Delbert would approve. But until then, I want to continue the small-time truth to power thing as energetically as I can, hopefully without getting so angry that I use an excessive number of rude words. See that Public Google+ thread if you want to learn a few. 

As a Catholic, one should be charitable, especially publicly. But one should also challenge lies and defend those who are unjustly attacked. Sometimes it seems that there may be a conflict or at least a tension between the two (though there can never of course be a real conflict). Please pray for me that I find the right balance.

Or if you see me not finding it, you can just give me a kick.

7 comments:

  1. You shouldn't regret the article. The Bear loves it, especially as one, who, in his own quirky blog St. Corbinian's Bear, has headlines like "Pope Francis to Swedish Women Raped by Refugees: 'Put Some Ice On It,'" and who, for some reason, arguably gets the most Google hits in the world for "John Corapi naked."

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  2. Yeah. I "liked," if that is the right word, your "put some ice on it" title. What post does "John Corapi naked" come from (not that I really want to know)?

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  3. Place your bets, take your kicks, pray for guidance.

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  4. The schism grows ever wider.

    I'm a Conservative and a Republican, with a forty yer voting record to prove it. I am not a Trump fan and I do not personally know any conservatives who are. In my circle, we support Ted Cruz.

    But I've never found your articles offensive, nor even divisive, though I often find them humorous. rest assured you shall stay within my "circle" of reading material.

    I don't know if we're "Friends" on G+, I'll have to look . . . but I'd have no problem with that either.

    I lived in western Colorado for years and always ignored the Mormons, for the most past. You should do the same.

    Keep 'em coming, Oakes!

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  5. Just checked! Yes, we're "Friends" and I'm "Following," so there you go!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I really appreciate it. Who knows, you may also be in Delbert's Spiritual circle. :)

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  6. Being British, I have no say in the American political system. Yet the USA is so decisive in world influence, for good or bad, that no intelligent inhabitant of the planet should be indifferent. You pointed out the disgust of many US conservative voters with the negligent non-performance of Republican Congressmen in the two Obama presidential terms. You raised my spirits enormously in revealing that there is widespread life - apparent in disgust - among Republican voters of the USA. It seems those in control of the Parties want this revival of the electorate smothered, and have turned against you through proxies. Ignore them if you can and carry on. God bless you.

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