I’m guessing some/most of you visited this blog yesterday, saw the “closed” message and wondered what had happened, right?
I don’t want to make a huge issue out of this and say too much, but basically, the *the group* I visited in the weekend Googled themselves, found this site, didn’t like what they saw, and contacted my lecturer to request that I remove it.
Obviously I’ve done so, it was never my intention to offend anybody, and I was not aware that *the group* would even care that I had written about them, let along object to the extent to tell me to get rid of it, but I suppose stranger things have happened! Apparently they don’t like media attention, which they consider this to be. *shrug*
Although I THINK the only site they visited (and objected to) was mine, I was also aware that some visitors have made comments on those posts too, and this was why I took the site offline for a day, to prevent other people whose links appeared here from getting dragged in too.
ANYWAY! Hopefully this is the end of the incident. 
That’s a bit…over the top. :S
I don’t think you should have removed it however – it is your personal site, and your lecturer had no right to ask you to take it down. They can’t sue you for blogging about your own personal experiences,, and from what I remember of the entry, it wasn’t particularly incendiary either.
Is personal freedom worth nothing?
That was my response at first too, but then I realised that I have to weigh my right to free speech against the fact that this group has been allowing students to visit (as guests) for several years now, and I would feel responsible, if, because of what I did, they then turned around and said they were no longer going to allow visitors, for fear of what they might say on the internet.
I don’t know, the whole situation strikes me as rather bizarre, but I suppose future students have more to lose than I do, so sometimes it’s not worth making a fuss.
Oh well, life goes on.
Well that’s fair enough…it’s lovely of you to think of future students.
awwww, that sucks! That was one of the best blog posts I ever read! I’m very disappointed
I agree with Amanda, they really had no right to tell you to take it down. Though if you didn’t, I guess they’d be mad and the next class wouldn’t get to visit and more people would miss out :-/ What party poopers. You were just being honest. It’s not like you were making crap up about them or anything.
That’s absurd that they had you remove it, my gosh. That’s quite immature of them really.
Well I didn’t HAVE to remove it, I could have replied and said “NO!” and made a real fuss, but I realised it’s not worth arguing over, and making life more difficult for other people, so I chose to cooperate. Oh well, I suppose you get all sorts of people who believe all sorts of things!
Hi Holly! How are you doing?! Wow! Your blog is so cool and very interesting indeed. I think that you should keep your blog ‘cos it’s very well written! Also, it’s very personal to you…
I have added you on my links, care for exchange links?
Take care,
Kyutie
Wow. That has to be the most pathetic thing I’ve heard in ages. Nothing you said about the community was terribly bad. You just told the story of what happened. It was the comments in which “bad” things were being said.
That’s hardly your fault.
I feel like writing an entry about this, but as you said in your reply to Amanda, it would suck if other students missed out on the opportunity. Especially because of some random busy-body who hasn’t actually had the experience first hand.
WOW! I’m truly astounded. They know how to use Google?!?!?!?! How very clever of them! =O!!!
Thanks! Curious though; how’d you come across my blog?
Lol, you’re welcome. I can’t remember exactly how I found your blog, probably through a link on someone elses site.
awe… i wish i’d read the post! it sounds so good.
my first thought was: if they don’t like media attn, then why were the googling themselves?
Ahhh… that must really suck!! I know how you feel though!! I once had that happened to me, but that was with a client who read about my in-office troubles. But now that’s long gone. I went so far as to close down that site, and reopened ones that I currently have now. It really sucks to have given up my site the way I did, but it was unforseen. Perhaps it is “media” to them. At least you took it down, or else you could have fought it with the “freedom of speech” thing. The internet does protect freedom of speech still in case it comes out wrong. I’m definitely surprised that google is something that is known.. even to the group.
That’s… crazy. I dunno why they’d do that. I didn’t read the blog but seriously, that’s taking it a little too far. =/
I don’t believe I read that blog… However, I do find it intriguing that they wanted you to remove whatever you said. I can’t imagine you saying anything so horrible or offensive about anyone.
Who is this group?
I don’t think I read the blog… but however
They sound like a pain in the ass!
On your footer
WP theme made by Holly L. for *link removed because it is offensive*
That link leads to a porn site ^^
Oh! So it does!
That URL used to be my old blog, before it expired and I had to move here. APPARENTLY whoever repurchased it has decided to use it for…things I certainly do not endorse!
Thanks so much for letting me know – I had no idea about it until just now!
Moral of the story = When you move your website, UPDATE your footer straight away!
It sucks that you had to remove those entries, but I guess I would have done the same if I were you. It would be worse if other people couldn’t visit them anymore because of this. I wonder why they dislike media attention so much though…
That’s so weird that they would demand you remove it if they frequently let people visit it – then it’s not exactly something so secret. Some people can be weird about the internet :mallard:
I didn’t see what post you were referring too but what about Freedom of Speech? Don’t you have that in NZ? *shrugs* oh well.
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Yeah we do have, there was no way they could have FORCED me to take down that I said, since this is my own personal website, which made it fairly obvious that the content of the post was my personal, individual opinion, but apparently they still didn’t like it, so I figured that although I personally wouldn’t have had anything to lose by ignoring their request, students who take this class in the future certainly would, in that the group would have been quite within their rights to stop students from visiting due to what I did (they’re invited as guests at the moment), so I kind of had to weigh up what was more important.
Oh no! Tagged again! *hides* I think I’ve done this one…*searches for it* :shiftyeyes:
For kicks, I’m tempted to post a blog entry about ~that group~, putting them in a negative light. LOL, they can’t really do anything about ~me~, right?
I want to as well! This is ridiculous! It’s wrong that they’re making Holly feel responsible if they ever closed their doors to visitors. You can’t hide what people feel just because of the chance of ruining a reputation. Not everyone is going to like something and this group needs to open to the possibility of that. If they can’t HANDLE it, then yeah maybe they shouldn’t allow visitors. Or students. OR CLOSE IT!
As amusing as that would be, as although Jenny and Brooke have also said they’d be willing to do that too, I suggest you don’t. I think the issues has been resolved, and I don’t think it ought to be opened up again.
Although, that said, if you want to blog about free speech and censorship in general terms, please do. It could be really interesting, and food for thought!
Wait was it the entry about a particular religious college? Gimme a break dude. My motto online has always been, “If you don’t like what I say, go away.” Holly if this ever happens again, don’t do it. This is YOUR SITE. If they don’t like you expressing an opinion, that’s not your problem. :soapbox:
No, it wasn’t about Pensacola Christian College at all. I haven’t had any complaints from them, and even if I had, I would have ignored them, because they don’t have anything to do with me personally.
This situation however, is slightly different, and requires a more sensitive approach.
I think you might have missed the posts that were originally up, but just to give you (and anyone else who’s confused) a bit of background, I’m taking a sociology course on collective behaviour this semester, and part of the course involved a field trip to a fundamentalist Christian “community”.
We went on May 3rd and the day after I posted a blog, explaining what I had experienced, and posting the answers to a couple of questions I had asked that I though readers might be interested in.
A few days later (Thus Tuesday just passed), I got an email from my lecturer telling me that the leaders of the community would like me to remove what I had posted about them. Presumably they Googled themselves and were displeased by what they read.
Ordinarily my attitude would be the same as yours, that this is my site and I am entitled to hold my own opinion, but in this case I felt like the best thing to do was just comply, take it off and not make a fuss, because although I personally wouldn’t have anything to lose from ignoring it, future students taking the class might. The community could then turn around and say “Sorry, no more uni students are allowed to visit, in case they post something opinionated on the internet”.
Yeah, so that’s what happened, and why I responded the way I did. I appreciate your support though, it’s good to know I’m not the only one who found their reaction somewhat odd.
Also, just in case anyone is wonder, no, this incident will not stop me being opinionated and blogging about issues I think are interesting and controversial, but it will make me slightly more wary about blogging about issues with which I have personal connections.
Kinda makes you feel weird now, doesn’t it? Like your blog is being watched a bit more closely now? I think this camp is a little self-conscious, and like I said they need to be a bit more open about difference in opinion. Goes hand-in-hand with Jesus teaching acceptance, LOL!
:fryingpan:
It does! That’s why I installed the WP-Ban plugin and banned some NZ IP addresses which I didn’t recognise, simply because it feels weird that they (and my lecturer) might be accessing this site! o.O
Oh absolutely! I know there were some Christians in our group who were pretty mortified by what was happening there, and wondered how on earth someone could have such a different interpretation of the Bible.
But oh well, I suppose everybody has slightly different opinions. *shrug*
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I just wanted to say that I think you’ve handled the situation very admirably. I think it’s a shame that the group could not handle an alternative view being written, especially as I thought you were quite respectful in simply retelling events. I think it was very good of you to think of the future students etc.