Our old friend Derek finally had enough. He is against an even field. He owns the ball and if you don't play by his rules he will take the ball and go home. See here:
http://www.derekleman.com/musings/2012/02/16/cute-poodles-a-parable/#comments
You see, it is a lot more comfortable to live in a world of Poodles. You can cuddle them, you can yell at them, you can whine at them, but they don't answer, they just stare at you and sometime lick you. Wow...Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that real utopia? Can life be better than that? You present yourself as someone you ain't, and no one can expose you for the fraud you are. because the truth, Derek is, that you and your ilk spend most of your time trying to prove who you are, because you still are not sure yourself.
Derek decided he wants to become a Messianic Rabbi. But how can one become one without being a Jew? so he decided to ignore Scripture (1 Cor. 7:18) and become one. He found a small obscure organization that will convert him, and walla, he is Jewish now....Never mind that none of the Jewish organizations accepts his phony conversion, not even the group that he claim to represent, the UMJC.
Derek, among other things sees himself as a pioneer, so he mastered enough chutzpah to have his own blog and present himself as a Jew among Jews. As long that he can find some gullible poodle lovers, he is in business. So what if we have a little deceit here and there.....
So, when someone comes to his blog to remind him of the fraud that he is, Derek takes the ball and goes home....Some scholar...
Wow, some critique this is. I hope you will not delete my comment.
ReplyDeleteWait, I just posted a comment and I got a message reading: "Your comment will be visible after approval".
ReplyDeleteDan, I think you're just jealous of Derek. You certainly obsess about him a lot more than he does about you. You've dedicated more than one post on your blog (and you don't have that many posts) solely to him. It's just not healthy and I hope you'll realize this one day (soon).
ReplyDeleteTo be fair Dan, as the blog owner, Derek has the right to restrict or edit comments in any way he sees fit. I might not have chosen to respond in exactly the same way, but as you recall, I did finally have to close comments on one of my posts when things got completely out of hand.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the truth will set you free, but as we've seen on numerous occasions, truth is also in the eye of the beholder. It's unreasonable to expect every one else to see things in exactly the same way we do. You and Derek will always butt heads as will you and I (at least on occasion), but that doesn't have to be a disaster. We can even disagree and still be friends.
One problem with selectively deleting a persons comments is that readers are left with an incomplete and sometimes false view of what was said and meant by the edited.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, if someone deletes your comment and leaves in its place a note "I deleted your comment because (this is what you meant) and (this is what you believe)" but you did not mean or believe those things, it is deceptive.
IMO to delete someones comment because it was "negative" seems unfair. If we each took out all the "negative" comments from the bible we personally did not approve, what would be left? Something different for each of us.
Better not to comment at all, at least for people like me. When I start getting edited I move on. Maybe I didn't have anything worthy to say after all.
Steven
Harsh, Dan!
ReplyDeleteGentiles converting to Judaism for the sake of Messiah runs against the the apostles' warnings, certainly.
And yeah, banning comments or heavily moderating them is not the answer. I know FFOZ has a longstanding policy of heavy comment moderation, as well as censoring comments or changing their contents. So maybe it's not a surprise to see Derek do the same.
Several years ago, when I first ran into Derek's blog, he banned comments altogether. You literally could not comment on his blog posts. I told him it wasn't a real blog without comments. A soapbox, a dissertation, maybe, but not a blog. He soon opened comments, and now I see he's clamping down again.
Oh well. Let Derek do what he wishes with his blog.
Have a good shabbat, my friend, and go easy on Derek. I love the guy, despite all the frustrations and fights over the years.
Did you decide to not approve my previous message, Dan? If so, then you can't really complain about Derek's methods. I'm a little surprised since nothing in my prior comment was inflammatory.
ReplyDeleteDan, I don't know you very well, but my hope is that you are a decent man who has inadvertently fallen into the trap of commenting on the internet in a way you would never do in person.
ReplyDeleteI've known Derek for years. He's a friend of mine. And your description of him is nothing but a crude caricature. You may disagree with some of his choices, but he is a dedicated man of God. Couldn't you find a way to be more generous or gracious when you criticize something a brother has done?
Thank you everyone for your comments.
ReplyDeleteYou all have a good Shabbat.
Dan,
ReplyDeleteI'll miss the occasional interaction with you over on Derek's blog. Lehitraot!
-Peter
Another fake Jew? Gosh, are there any more other real Jews around anymore? I had a weird experience with him a while back. I questioned something rather mildly, and got an attacking response. Since I am a logical person, I presented my argument, and asked him to provide evidence of his claims. He replied that he didn't need to provide any evidence, and insisted that I must have bitterness and bad experiences that were my motivations (which they were not.) After a few rounds of ad hominen attack, I gave up. Someone like this leads a congregation and has 7 kids? I wonder if he treats his kids like this? So, did he convert through UMJC or the same phony rabbi that did Boaz Michael and Messer, or someone else?
ReplyDelete