Hoaxing Social Justice Warrior - Gay Austin Pastor Jordan Brown

[Shodan]

@Miller

Yeah, maybe this guy is some deluded soul with good intentions and really poor follow through. It’s vastly more likely that he thought he’d figured out a way to scam some money from a major corporation, and then it blew up in his face.

You don’t think he reads the papers?

Regards,
Shodan

[Lemur866]

What does that story have to do with anything?

So there was a bakery that didn’t wanna sell a wedding cake to fags. What does that have to do with this case? So he was protesting against bakeries that don’t wanna sell wedding cakes to fags by…faking a mean message written on a cake made by a company that would be happy to sell wedding cakes to any number of fags.

Where’s the connection, if he’s a true-blue social justice cleric that created a little lie in the service of a greater truth?

What’s the greater truth here? That some people don’t like fags, and don’t wanna make them wedding cakes? OK, that’s true. What does this case have to do with that case, other than they both involved cakes? Cause cakes are a red herring as far as I can see. Or is cake-related homophobia a particularly pernicious problem in the LBGTQ community?

I mean I get that we were meant to remember the wedding cake case when he faked up this cake, because it’s cake, and cake reminds us of cake. Other than that?

[Measure_for_Measure]

@Bricker

But surely you acknowledge that at some level, he was trying to help – that is, he saw himself on the side of the angels, even though objectively, his tactics removed him from that side decisively.

@Miller

Yeah, maybe this guy is some deluded soul with good intentions and really poor follow through. It’s vastly more likely that he thought he’d figured out a way to scam some money from a major corporation, and then it blew up in his face.

I think that there is insufficient evidence to speculate in favor of either of these plausible scenarios.

@Bricker

But my opinion was not derived by rolling dice or spinning a carnival wheel. In my experience dealing with human beings, very few of them see themselves as villains of their own story. So my speculation is indeed … speculative … but it’s grounded in a generally-applicable observation about people.

That’s a little different. Few have the courage to self-identify as villains, though there is no shortage of villainy. But a fair number of wrongdoers see their behavior as not virtuous (“I’m no angel!”) but not especially unusual or out of bounds either. That’s different from seeing yourself as a hero.

Incidentally, “Telling a higher truth”, was a wicked piece of rhetoric in the other thread, though here it didn’t jibe as well. I can’t blame Bricker for overplaying it though. Personally, I’m holding it in reserve for an appropriate moment - this meme should have legs. Because Hollywood uses that phrase to cover up all manner of bullshit.

Hijack on a hijack!
While we’re on the topic of human psychology, recreational outrage is driven by preening. Those most concerned with denouncing others are trying to underline their own virtue. But the truly virtuous have no need for that - bright lines are irrelevant to those who dwell far from them.

[Miller]

@Shodan

You don’t think he reads the papers?

Regards,
Shodan

It looks like you’re trying to make a point here, but I’m not sure what it is.

[Knowed_Out]

This article has some more insights on the Church of Open Doors.

It’s actually one door, for an apartment. There’s no list of church officials. The pastor was sued for defaulting on college loans, so this might have been a desperate attempt to get money from a shakedown. I doubt there was any “higher truth” motivation at the time he redecorated the cake.

[andros]

Good to know, thanks!

[Nava]

@Measure_for_Measure

I think that there is insufficient evidence to speculate in favor of either of these plausible scenarios. That’s a little different. Few have the courage to self-identify as villains, though there is no shortage of villainy. But a fair number of wrongdoers see their behavior as not virtuous (“I’m no angel!”) but not especially unusual or out of bounds either. That’s different from seeing yourself as a hero.

Some of the nastiest people I’ve known did not see themselves as heroes, but were convinced that everybody else was a bunch of cowards who wanted to do the same things they did and did not dare. The notion that there is actually a majority of people who have no interest in doing those things was completely incomprehensible.

Those for whom I have accurate information about it behaved courageously and correctly while under fire or in emergency situations.

Courage and an accurate perception of the world are two completely different things.

[Stringbean]

Dude picked a hot-button topic and tried to pull a fast one.

Social justice warriors are too lazy to leave their mom’s basement trolling Facebook for new stories about how terrible and oppressive the outside world is.

By their terms, this guy was a “go-getter.”

[andros]

Don’t ever stop being you, Stringbean. A charmer, you are.

[clairobscur]

@Bricker

But surely you acknowledge that at some level, he was trying to help – that is, he saw himself on the side of the angels, even though objectively, his tactics removed him from that side decisively.

You can’t know that. And being a bit cynical, I would more readily bet on self-interest (getting money and/or attention) than on misguided idealism.
Can damages awarded by a court be actually discharged in bankruptcy, as a previous poster stated, by the way?

[Bricker]

@clairobscur

Can damages awarded by a court be actually discharged in bankruptcy, as a previous poster stated, by the way?

In general, yes.

There are some exceptions. I seem to recall that willful, malicious injuries might be exempted from bankruptcy discharge, but I don’t believe the evidence here supports “malice,” as the word is used in this context. But this is a technical enough area of the law that I’d readily defer to someone who has more experience than I.

[magellan01]

@Johnny_Bravo

Whole Foods already gets everything they want. The whole world knows they didn’t do the thing, the preacher is loudly and widely discredited, and they get lots of positive publicity. They could sue, sure, but they’re still out court costs since there’s no way the guy can actually pay them back.

Nothing to gain by going through with the suit. The guy’s a nobody and his fifteen minutes of fame are already over.

But taking a hard line against hosers makes it less likely that the next one will pop up. That’s good for everyone. The cost of doing this should be higher, especially on college campuses, where it’s virtually zero.