Posted on 07/28/2008 5:49:39 PM PDT by Terriergal
Blog Shut Down by 'Christian' Apologist's Threat Contact: Pastor Dustin Segers, Coalition of Concerned Bloggers, ChristianResearchNetwork.com, 336-848-7197
MEDIA ADVISORY, July 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pastor Dustin Segers submits the following and is available for comment:
How safe are our blogs? That question was raised again when on the evening of July 26, 2008, a popular religious blog was shut down by an Internet service provider. A complaint filed by Christian author and apologist, Richard Abanes, claiming that one article on the religious opinion site, Apprising.org, had slandered him, caused the web host, IPower, to send its publisher, Ken Silva, a 48-hour warning to remove the offending piece or be taken down. In that the piece was not believed to be slander at all, but rather religious and theological opinion, he refused to be forced into censoring his site by Richard Abanes. The site went down.
There are serious implications here for all bloggers, regardless of what sort of blog they publish. Anyone who has a complaint about your views can claim that you have engaged in slander and the ISP Terms of Service usually allow for the companies to remove your website if you don't take the material in question down. The First Amendment means nothing in these cases. ISP's cannot and will not explore the claims of slander and simply notify bloggers to remove whatever is causing the problem. This opens the door for anyone to censor what a blogger writes online.
Everyone who values the right to read and publish blogs on the Internet has a vested interested in the issue. There is growing concern in the blog world over this, and a number of servers are popping up that offer "First Amendment" hosting. These are web hosts which require a court order before they will remove someone's website. Their day has clearly come.
bump
ah I see. I guess it didn’t strike me as funny because I’ve heard the phrase so often and it is SO TRUE.
LOL careful or Abanes will try to sue Freeepublic!
I do believe Abanes is married btw. Thought I heard that somewhere.
the website is now back up on a new host, a CHRISTIAN isp, including the three year old article which suddenly Richard has taken issue with.
A PASTOR’S ASSESSMENT OF RICHARD ABANES
http://www.apprising.org/archives/2005/09/a_pastors_asses.html
Silva moved the whole site and archives to a new host. The original article is back up at the original URL (see my post above to xzins).
So far I am reading nothing but opinion, I don’t see anything that constitutes libel and defamation, certainly nothing different than what Richard himself engages in (argumentation, either good or faulty).
Well through the Magical method of Scripture twisting taught in PDL and in Rick Warren's sermons each week, Richard can ignore that passage.
I think R Abanes has his work cut out for him if he wants to sue everyone who disagrees with him! lol
OH he does it once in a while -- Jesus died for you for some reason or other, so you can have a purpose driven life.
Careful or you'll get JimRob in trouble with Abanes.
Bada bing!
Ken has the site back up on a new host (same URL). I guess the old host (-Power) didn’t want that monthly $$ anymore.
EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THAT IF YOU WANT FREE SPEECH DO NOT USE I-POWER
I have withstood attacks by $cientologists and the “purpose driven” people... all I did was ask the question. I didn’t say it was fact.
Oh, I don’t doubt that he is married. Although none of the “biographies” I’ve read about him mention a family, I assume he has a wife and kids. It’s either that or he’s seriously presumptuous, having written a book on parenting and video games.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t pandering.
BTW, I should maybe let the Mod know, if Abanes does sue I take full responsibility for my statement.
you have evidentally not been forced to leave a purpose driven church
Wow. That’s certainly a new definition of free speech.
Anyone who actually practices discernment (as Paul directed the Bereans to do) should be silenced. And anyone who brings attention to false teachings the Bible warns about not allowed to speak.
Yup, I’m speechless at your analysis of the situation.
heh heh. Well OK.
I know that... :-)
Thanks, terrier, but I don’t see the article.
BTW, good “About” page. I like the “Just War” article at the beginning. Nice buck you bagged in the picture on you home page. Kudos.
God Bless.
I, of course, support free speech. But when it crosses into slander/libel, of course I’m against it. This person may have crossed over into libel with his website.
I’ve looked at instances of other Christians that he’s attacked, and he’s got a track record of being, to put it frank, a pompous jerk. I think he just may have just gone too far.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is sometimes true. In this case, it’s two off-track individuals fighting against each other. The founder of this website is not my “friend,” though I distain the doctrines of **some** of those he attacks.
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