Moderators and admins:
I take responsibility for starting the mess in the "JTF Meeting At Queens College" thread by calling out Tzvi Ben Roshel, but I do not apologize. That member and his friend Dominater96 have gone about saying some pretty vile things for many months and have received very little reprimand for any of it. They both frequently threaten forum members with "hell" for criticizing rabbis or religious leaders (especially in Shas), disparage Chaim, refer to Gentile members as "goys" (which, even if not always an insult, is used by THEM as a racial slur), and generally troll about. I just couldn't stomach it when Tzvi started that thread about organizing a JTF meeting, as if to present himself as a leader and uniter within our movement, when in actuality he behaves quite viciously to members who disagree with his notions of rabbinical infallibility. The hypocrisy and cynical two-facedness he displayed by starting that thread just burned me up to an extent that I had to respond. I do not believe my original post challenging him was at all inappropriate, and I completely stand by it.
Actually, the ideology of both those members is completely hypocritical. They rip to pieces anybody who criticizes any Jewish religious leader (be they Shas, Satmar/NK, Chasidic, or some other movement), but don't seem to mind that their heroes are the most hateful and savage of practically anybody on the planet when it comes to attacking fellow Jews. Satmar and NK rabbis in particular are well-known for joyously telling religious Zionists that they should "burn in hell", but yet Dominater believes that they are renowned "Torah Scholars" and do a lot of good in the world.
Of course, Chaim ben Pesach is an actual Torah scholar who is an extremely devout religious Jew and a prominent social leader in the religious Jewish community. If Dominater and Tzvi truly abided by their alleged philosophical compass, they would kiss the ground he walks on.
DownwithIslam has also gotten some heat for referring to Chasidim as evil and phony and anti-Zionist. I am not Jewish, and do not know much about these particular sects/denominations of Judaism, and do not know if all of them are as he describes, but IF his comments do apply to any of them, then no harm and no foul have occurred. I am willing to bet that there are righteous Chasidim, but if only the anti-Zionist, NK ones are who he is acquainted with, I can't attack DWI for speaking the truth from his experiences.
Finally, if member Steveak was banned for promoting atheism and ridiculing the idea of a creator (which I do not disagree with), surely forum members who promote idolatry should face SOME sort of rebuke. Dominater and to a lesser extent his sycophant Tzvi are constantly going on and on and on about how incontrovertible and perfect Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and others like him are. By ascribing divine characteristics to human beings, they are practicing, and promoting on this forum, the abominable sin of polytheism, which is a grave sin within Judaism no matter how you look at it.
I do not want to see rabbis and leaders flamed willy-nilly, but there should be AT LEAST equal consequences for those who attack them and those who attack righteous Jews.
Chaimfan