Newegg Bans Christian

[Seekermeister]

I am a Christian that has long felt a calling to use internet forums for the purpose of representing Christian values to the people most in need of them. Thus, I tend to focus on nonbelievers of all catagories. Obviously, this tends to cause conflicts at times, but I always try to handle them in a Christian fashion.

With this in mind, I joined the EggXpert Forum, which is an offshoot of newegg.com, which I have found to be one of the better sources to purchase computer related items online. In fact, I am a founding member of the forum, and had no problems there until recently, when a couple of persons in the debate forum took their dislike for me, which was simply based on my faith, and started trolling me throughout the forums boards.

As a device to annoy me, they made formal complaints to the forum adminstration about my signaturebar (which contained the same biblical quote as my signature does here), and said that it was offensive, and wanted it removed. I have been a member of many different forums, most of which were not Christian, and never has anyone suggested that this verse is offensive. Even at this forum, most of the members thought that it was acceptable. But the forum admin was obviously only interested in appeasing these two people, who had post many, many lies, and statements that were without question, offensive to any reasonable person, Christian or not. I know that most anyone reading this has seen similar things themselves.

Despite support from the membership of the forum, the admin demanded that I remove the signaturebar, which I refused, because that would be saying that the verse or any quote from the Bible was offensive, and that I shall never do.

Without going into long details about the sequence of PMs in this regards (which made no progress), I was banned from the forum entirely. This was after a separate PM with another member, in which I advised him that if the issue were forced any further, that I would contact every Christian forum on the web, and advise them of the situation. I told him that he could advise the admin about this if he saw fit, but didn't really care, because I had ceased discussion with the admin after many hours of discussion.

Why am I posting this here? Because I believe that Christians deserve to know how any businesss will treat them, before doing business with them.

I did not post this to start any debate or to obtain any advice, But this does seem like an appropriate place for this, since the readers may consider dealing with this company and I wouldn't mind hearing how others feel, and perhaps Newegg might be interested also.

 

[pgp_protector]

...long story short snip....
the admin demanded that I remove the signaturebar, which I refused, because that would be saying that the verse or any quote from the Bible was offensive, and that I shall never do.

So in other words you got baned for not following the admins rules.

You took a stand (Good job) and are now paying the price for that stand.

 

[peanutbutter12]

I agree with pgp.

You didn't listen, so they removed you. The only thing you can really do is contact the head admin and see if he will resolve the issue, though something tells me this goes way beyond just you posting a bible verse in your siggy.

 

[Seekermeister]

Draw any conclusions that you see fit, but
the only thing that goes beyond the verse involved, is the discussions with the admin afterward, and that was entirely based on this issue, and nothing else. The admin simply did not want to deal with the issue in any rational fashion. Therefore, I shall repeat, the subject of this has nothing to do with my behavior on that forum, it only had to do with displaying this verse, and how other Christians feel about having the Bible labeled as offensive.

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

I don't see any reason to believe Newegg as a company harbors any bias against Christians, though I can well believe some members of their forum may. That could possibly affect whether I participate in their forum, but it wouldn't have any bearing on whether I'll continue to buy parts from them.

 

[Seekermeister]

No one has to believe anything that I say, after all, I'm only a Christian, what does that matter? I regret that I ever posted this here, because all that it has accomplished is to garner implied accusations, rhetorical questions, and outright dismissal.

Google returns 89,300,000 returns for Christian forums, surely I can find one of them where a Christian is taken for his word as a brother in Christ. I found greater trust and support from the secular members of the forum in question than I have found here, so it is no wonder that I tend to prefer nonChristian forums. Therefore, forget everything that I have said, and I pray that God blesses you all.

 

[JDDCH]

I'm a member of that forum and I tend not to participate much because of the swarming effect, but I do read quite a bit there. I've been part of the forums since the beginning and have the "eggxpert " rank as well and from what I've followed from reading and searching, there was definitely more to it than just the sig line.

Seekermeister speaks passionately and and from his view I'm sure he feels he's been slighted, but I'm afraid the outside perspective is that he simply violated forum policy. He took something highly controversial ( specifically against their forums policy ) and flaunted it like a flag saying "Come attack me so I can be a martyr".

I love ya Seekermeister as a Brother in Christ. Truly I do. But my personal opinion is that you where in the wrong in this instance. Citing newegg.com's forum as Anti-Christian is unfair to them. ... The only reason I take note here today is because this is a business and rumors in industry can be damaging. If it's fitting then I'd say they earned it, but regardless to what was exchanged via pm's, no matter how much Christianity you dragged into the argument, the bottom line is that you violated forum policy - a complaint was filed - you refused to comply - and were banned as a result.

I'm sorry.

JD - Brothers In Christ

 

[peanutbutter12]

No one has to believe anything that I say, after all, I'm only a Christian, what does that matter? I regret that I ever posted this here, because all that it has accomplished is to garner implied accusations, rhetorical questions, and outright dismissal.

Google returns 89,300,000 returns for Christian forums, surely I can find one of them where a Christian is taken for his word as a brother in Christ. I found greater trust and support from the secular members of the forum in question than I have found here, so it is no wonder that I tend to prefer nonChristian forums. Therefore, forget everything that I have said, and I pray that God blesses you all.

So basically you posted this simply because you wanted to feel better about yourself by having a bunch of Christians agree with you on what you did? Or maybe you were trying to get all the Christians roweled up to boycott newegg?

Seriously, what was the purpose behind "informing us of a Christian being ban from newegg's forums" other than to bash the company or the decision the admin made by removing you from the site? Do you think that because you're a Christian, that you are above the rules or should be looked at differently by every other person in the world?

Here's a helmet, pal. Welcome to reality.

 

[Sketcher]

The problem I have here is only one side of the story is being presented.

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

No one has to believe anything that I say, after all, I'm only a Christian, what does that matter? I regret that I ever posted this here, because all that it has accomplished is to garner implied accusations, rhetorical questions, and outright dismissal.

Google returns 89,300,000 returns for Christian forums, surely I can find one of them where a Christian is taken for his word as a brother in Christ. I found greater trust and support from the secular members of the forum in question than I have found here, so it is no wonder that I tend to prefer nonChristian forums. Therefore, forget everything that I have said, and I pray that God blesses you all.

You misunderstand. I believe what you say. I disagree with the conclusions you draw from what you've experienced.

 

[Concetta]

*Confuzzled about something... * Are you saying that you got banned from a forum that you cofounded?

 

[JDDCH]

heheh, No. The first X number of persons invited to join within a certain time period that did so were given "eggxpert" ranks. It doesn't mean anything more than the fact that you were one of the first 100 persons ( I'm pretty sure it was capped at the first 100 people to register) to join the forum. It actually turned out to be some petty little competition thing because some people registered more than one username just to get more than one account with the "eggxpert" rank on it ... and then bragged about having done so. .. I just don't understand people sometimes.

But to answer your question, Concetta, no. he isn't a "founder" of the forum. He was just one of the first 100 members to join.

Twistedsketch, I gave a 2nd perspective of his plight. The newegg forums are open to anyone and the threads are still there. It doesn't take much to see that he brought his soapbox with him and then tried to rally the troups when he got forum policy tossed up to him.

I've seen it happen before. It's nothing new. I'm sure many folks have seen it before. It's the sort of thing that gives level-headed people of faith a bad name.

JD

 

[jream]

The problem is the people there are lovers of money and co-workers of the devil.

 

[JDDCH]

That's a bit harsh don't you think? It's a business. They put a "no controversial topics" clause in the forums policy for this very reason. People grab soap boxes and go nuts. They troll, provoke, and run. A business is there to make money. That's not anti-Christian in nature. Christians make money too ya know.

I'm not trying to be an adversary for NewEgg here. I'm just pointing out that the reason this fella had problems at newegg wasn't religious in nature, it was merely policy. He provoked them by violating policy and then cried wolf.

jd

 

[Seekermeister]

heheh, No. The first X number of persons invited to join within a certain time period that did so were given "eggxpert" ranks. It doesn't mean anything more than the fact that you were one of the first 100 persons ( I'm pretty sure it was capped at the first 100 people to register) to join the forum. It actually turned out to be some petty little competition thing because some people registered more than one username just to get more than one account with the "eggxpert" rank on it ... and then bragged about having done so. .. I just don't understand people sometimes.

But to answer your question, Concetta, no. he isn't a "founder" of the forum. He was just one of the first 100 members to join.

Twistedsketch, I gave a 2nd perspective of his plight. The newegg forums are open to anyone and the threads are still there. It doesn't take much to see that he brought his soapbox with him and then tried to rally the troups when he got forum policy tossed up to him.

I've seen it happen before. It's nothing new. I'm sure many folks have seen it before. It's the sort of thing that gives level-headed people of faith a bad name.

JD

JDDCH,

I would have expected a Christian to ask me what I meant by being a co-founder, instead of making that decision for himself. What you are referring to is the "EggXecutive" status, and that was given to the first 20,000 members, not the first 100. There is no particular distinction set for that number. When I speak of a co-founder, I am not even speaking of a title bequeathed by the forum to anyone. I'm speaking of a very small number of people who actively participated to shape the forum from being nothing more than a series of spam boards into something of use to the members.

As far as the rest of your accusations, you can say what you will, because it is apparent that you shall regardless of what I might say. I shall not call you or anyone on this forum a name, or describe you in a fashion that would be less than favorable...your words speak for themselves.

 

[Maynard Keenan]

One of their rules:

Please Don't:• Get into Religion/Politics or controversial topics unless you are a "Selectee". Anyone with over 30 posts can request to be added to this group. Once you are a Selectee, you will be able to see a Controversial Discussions forum that nobody else can see. In this forum, it is okay to post about religion and politics (this includes Bible verses and the like).



You aren't a martyr. They want to keep anything that could lead to heated disagreement (religion and politics included) out of the main forums. They have a right to make their rules and if you don't follow them, then yes you'll be banned.

 

[Seekermeister]

Maynard Keenan,

I will say one thing for this forum, it is unique among the Christian forums where I have posted about this, and have been discussing the issue.

Do you consider this verse in a signature to be a discussion? Do you consider it to be controversial? Do you consider it to be provocative? Do you consider it to be offensive? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then I would suggest that you pray and reconsider you thoughts.

 

[JDDCH]

It wasn't just the verse in your signature line. You picked a fight with them. Rather than return childish fire, they chose forum policy and addressed your sig-line to rebuke you. You had your soap box in-hand and lost. Now you're upset about it.
Had you not violated forum policy, I would feel differently about what happened in this situation. But such is not the case.
I'll pray for you brother. I'll pray for a calm in your heart and understanding.
JD

 

[Seekermeister]

It wasn't just the verse in your signature line. You picked a fight with them. Rather than return childish fire, they chose forum policy and addressed your sig-line to rebuke you. You had your soap box in-hand and lost. Now you're upset about it.
Had you not violated forum policy, I would feel differently about what happened in this situation. But such is not the case.
I'll pray for you brother. I'll pray for a calm in your heart and understanding.
JD

JDDCH,

Pray however you choose, but if you wish to get the Lord's ear, you should first know what you are praying about. You make alot of assumptions about my thoughts, actions and behavior on that forum. How did you come to these conclusions? Are you a member of the forum? If so, how long have you been a member? What is your username there? The reason that I ask these questions is that I never ran into any Christians there that would agree with you, and in fact, I haven't ran into any nonChristians there that would agree with you either...except possibly two.

At the moment, I assuming that you may have perused a few threads there, so perhaps you might quote something that I said that is so unChristian? I simply want to have a true perspective on the basis of your claims.

 

[JDDCH]

I'm not going to get caught up into your crusade or play along with your brouhaha if that's what you're planning. Go read the forum policy.
You might want to be careful about what you're tossing around the web. If you push them around too much they could always toss a slander suit at you. Read their forum policy my friend and calm down, wont you?