Yes, I did, and unless I see evidence to the contrary, I still do.
Duck Duck Goose, we’ll never know if it was a put up job now, do we? It’s gone.
As for repulsive; There are many threads which can so be described. Particulary in the pit. [racism, bigotry and dead children on TV comes to mind] We read them, even answer to them. I don’t see how a thread, by someone who didn’t do anything wrong, can be considered a no-no.
Yes, this smells of censorship.
Worse: It robbed us of the opportunity to understand these people better. Understanding is knowledge, no?
If the same OP had been posted by someone who had ponied up the $14.95, I’d feel a bit differently. I’d be more likely to view him as a sick person just looking for guidance…
But a Guest who comes in and starts posting on one of the few truly verboten subjects on this MB? I’ve been burned too many times by sock puppets to be interested in devoting much nurturing psychic energy to that.
And, remember, the thread wasn’t titled, “OMG, I’m a pedophile and I need help”, it was titled, “Ask the pedophile.” People don’t post “Ask the…” threads because they’re ashamed–they post them because they’re proud, of their expertise, of their special knowledge.
This message board has never been a “no censorship” board. There has always been “censorship” of some kind, whether it’s locking “Where can I buy drugs?” GQ threads, or forbidding “wishing death on people” in the Pit, or banning–or threatening to ban–posters because, basically, the admins didn’t like something they said (is what it all boils down to, if you think about it.)
Bottom line: This is their website. They run it how they like. If you don’t like it, there’s the door.
And I’ll tell ya, this is still one of the best places on the Web. I hang at two other MBs where there is, literally, no censorship at all, where it’s “anything goes”, 24/7/365, and lemme tell ya, they’re a mess.
And I was at JREF during the whole of last year’s “censorship” meltdown, with yammering right and left about Hal’s locking and/or deleting threads, should he, shouldn’t he, and I’ll tell ya, since he left and Darat’s started actually “censoring” without caring whether it puts some anti-censorship lobby’s nose out of joint, it’s become a lot quieter, and more useful, and more fun, place.
Well what do those on the Forum who seriously want help and guidance on such an issue do if any thread started would be closed down?
We are not doctors, lawyers, or judges.
We are not ministers.
We are not therapists.
This is not a hot line for help.
We are not set up for nor equipped to handle social ills. That’s not the purpose of this board and we’re not about to make it so.
Got a real-life problem? See a qualified professional.
Anyone whose first stop for advice on a sensitive and potentially life-altering subject would be to ask absolute strangers about it on a message board is an idiot.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
I vote put-up job. Probably either:
- A nut looking to be provocative,
- A perv bottom feeding for like minded deviants to trade illegal porn with, or
- An abuse survivor who was projecting their pain by reverse role playing.
That’s just a gut feeling based mainly on the reasons Duck Duck Goose already enumerated (and the fact the ‘Ritzbitz’ Yahoo email address had a phony and temporary ring to it).
What good could have come from that thread? It was morbid and rooted in evil – not necessarilly in its tone, but in its premise.
For some people,absolute strangers would be the best people.Take the Samaritans-they don’t know who you are or anyone else involved.You can share with them,make yourself feel better and then put the phone down knowing that they haven’t got a clue who you are so there’s no repercussions or worrying about what you’ve said or haven’t said.And some things are easier to talk about with someone who you’ve never met.There’s no emotional link
Fine. Take them. Call their 800 number. IP addresses for message boards aren’t helpline switchboard phone numbers…stop confusing the two of them (and start putting spaces after punctuation marks 
).
Great, that could be applicable to virtually every topic on this board.
While I agree with the general sentiment, there have been a great many threads in the past asking for advice on sensitive topics (granted, maybe not quite as sensitive, but pretty darn close). Unfortunately “please” and “help” are too common to search for. We’ve had members out of money, members in abusive relationships, members in trouble with the law, members with recently deceased family members and close friends, members with marital difficulties, and members with friends who have been in all these problems. I don’t remember off the top of my head if we’ve had any threads with members who had just been sexually assaulted or not, but I know we’ve had ones where friends or family of a member have been.
In other words, while I agree that while the purpose of the board isn’t and shouldn’t be healing “social ills,” it’s certainly not as if threads about social problems have been deleted in the past.
Big difference between asking friends for help or soliciting general advice about a situation and looking to us as your first-line solution for a serious real-life problem.
It’s even right there in the agreement that everyone agrees to . . . and apparently no one reads.
**Considering the real-time nature of this bulletin board and the volume of messages received, it is impossible for us to verify the information posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. Users should be particularly wary of medical, legal or other professional advice posted on the message boards and recognize that it is no substitute for in-person consultation with a competent professional.
[snip]
You agree not to post material that in our opinion fosters or promotes activity that is illegal in the U.S.
[snip]
We reserve the right to delete any message for any or no reason whatsoever. **
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
I don’t think anyone’s debating the SDMB’s right to delete whatever post they want, seeing as the board is owned by a private corporation.
What people are taking issue with, however, is the inconsistent enforcement of the policy, especially in this case when clearly no opinions were expressed that would “promote activity that is illegal in the U.S.” There wasn’t anything illegal about any part of the original post in that thread, unless something surfaced after my last check.
This is the kind of shit up with which we need not put!
Or something like that. 
I’m not even objecting to the closing of the thread. I am objecting to the hysterical, “burn the witch!” way in which the thread was deleted without explanation and the poster was banned without being given the opportunity to defend himself.
What should have been done? Close and lock the thread, with a well-reasoned, non-hysterical explanation and an invitation to the poster, should he not be a troll, to join our community and chat on other subjects so we could get to know him. If he really were a troll, he would have vanished, and we wouldn’t look like such a bunch of self-righteous prats.
Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. While there may be some people with autism who are also coincidentally interested in paedophilia, there is no clear link between paedophilia and autism and it is distressing to see the links made. I see the struggle that my kids and auliya’s kid has with life – why the hell should we stand aside and let people say that people with Aspergers also likely to be paedophiles? It’s not so. If it is so and people with Aspergers are more likely to be paedophiles, then the starting point needs to be providing cites. I’m not aware of any body of research which shows this to be the case so it’s not oversensitive of me or auliya to defend the overwhelming majority of people with ASD who are not interested in paedophilia.
And for the record I’d be just as irked if someone tried to link bipolar or any other form of mental illness to paedophilia in the absence of good research.
This is samclem. I’m not an Administrator, just a lowly moderator. But I have the power to close this one, and I did.
You’ve been had, as many astute posters have suggested.
We have a returning guest, who posed as a pedophile.
These sumbitches have all the time in the world to find ways to get back in here. We do our best, but, just like spammers, they have more time than we do.
If any of you have a specific complaint about the actions of Administrators or Moderators on this board, take it to the Pit.
Long-time posters–I’m disappointed that you didn’t see this one for what it was.