There was once a question asked in YA, “How did Schneb get so many points?” One of the answers, from a psychologist, suggested I had a messiah complex. Well, having been falsely accused, put to death via suspension, then resurrected on the third day doesn’t help me get over this supposed complex.
The Real Story
There were several people that claimed that I must have done something wrong for being suspended. Well, for the record, Yahoo has admitted that they jumped the gun in my case. They received several abuse reports in a period of 3 hours. They do have actual people who review the myriad of abuse reports (which surprised me) and that all they saw in the reported links were... Source(s):
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/se..To Yahoo, this looked like a sig leading back to my home site and not a reference to a study used as a source for the question. Amy T. suggested I put the link within my text so on first glance it looks like a deliberate referal link. I agreed with this and thought it good advice. I noted to Amy T that I understood how the error in judgment happened, however, I did not appreciate having my entire account crippled. I could not access my calendar, myYahoo information, or my shopping merchant account. The irony is that while I was suspended, I also was granted “Best Answerer for Society and Culture” with 330 Best Answers!
Though Answers reinstated my account, I was still offline for another day. What they should have done was just disable my ability to answer, ask or comment—that is it. If I have proven to be in violation, they should just disallow login to Yahoo Answers and not disrupt an entire account that you have come to depend on.
Winners
So who are the real winners here?
Yahoo is a winner because they have found a hole in their system regarding abuse and suspension. If they do something about it, they win.
I am the winner because I was feeling a bit “ganged up on”, now I feel a great camaraderie with many of you for your support—despite whether you agree with me or not.
The big winners are all of you who came to my aid. I expected this from those who I have helped, but I was heartened by many of you who do not agree with me yet saw this as an injustice, a vendetta and an assault on our ability to speak without being censored via false accusation.
Losers
So who are the losers?
Well, the one who submitted all the false charges for one. The plan to have me suspended backfired by all the support and immediate protest for my reinstatement. By trying to eliminate me because of sour grapes, the individual made me a martyr and brought more attention to my answers to find out “what I must have done”.
There are more losers. Those who assumed I must have done something terrible to have been suspended have proven themselves prejudicial, not at all impartial or fair-minded, and have put more weight on their opinion over that of the truth—<>your agenda clear.
Those who say they were glad I was gone and should not come back have proven themselves to be against freedom of speech and intelligent debate. On that subject, do not paint all Jehovah Witnesses as being intolerant because of the remarks of one lone individual such as “Wink”. After all, “Bill” is a Jehovah Witness, and though we went head-to-head regarding doctrine, he rushed to my side against the injustice of my suspension.
Thank you!
I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who sent in support emails to Yahoo, started petitions, made me the subject of blog-rants, and especially Amy T who was my “real person” to get things right.
When I shared this story with my head manager, he suggested I sell t-shirts. He thought "Got Schneb?" would be a good one. I thought that "Schneb got suspended and all I got was this stupid shirt". My wife suggeste a light t-shirt with cheap iron-on letters "Vote for Schneb" ala Napoleon Dynamite.
No Conspiracies
To quell any conspiracy theories, I was not silenced because I am a Christian, or because I was talking about who goes to hell or heaven. The simple truth is someone had an ax to grind. Yes, it caused problems with my account. However, the good that has sprung from this—the actions of all my supporters—made this an incredible exercise in the liberty that so many of our former family fought and died to preserve. I thank you all from my heart.
