From my live cam Monday night:
guest81: hi
guest81: I’m a reporter from the…
YourMoralLeader: hi
YourMoralLeader: all are welcome
YourMoralLeader: even journos
guest80: even? lol
guest81: I’m writing a story on how bloggers impacted the Tropper scandal in the ultra-orthodox Jewish world
YourMoralLeader: cool
guest81: would you mind answering a couple of questions for my article?
YourMoralLeader: my pleasure
guest81: I know that Judaism has laws against the discussions of improprieties. How do ultra-orthodox people react to reading about scandals on your blog?
YourMoralLeader: On the one hand, they try to ignore what they read.
YourMoralLeader: On the other hand, no man is an island, not even a black-hatted ultra-Orthodox man.
YourMoralLeader: When I break big stories, I feel the vibrations travel around the world.
YourMoralLeader: If I broke a story big enough, I could see the Pope or the U.S. president having to respond to what I wrote. It all depends on the power of the information, even when it is transmitted by a humble and unassuming blogger such as myself.
guest81: Did Rabbi Tropper reply directly to you?
YourMoralLeader: Reality impinges on even the most Orthodox.
YourMoralLeader: I’m not sure. Not under his name.
YourMoralLeader: I find a lot of ultra-Orthodox responding to me under pseudonyms, but the content of what they write and how they write often gives them away.
guest81: I apologize for not researching this before asking – but what is your personal religious affiliation?
YourMoralLeader: Orthodox
YourMoralLeader: my wikipedia profile accurate in that regard
guest81: ah
guest81: I came across a number of blogs during research for this article
guest81: I didn’t check the backgrounds of the authors on wikipedia. My apologies.
YourMoralLeader: NP
YourMoralLeader: If we had but world enough and time…
guest81: Last question regarding the Tropper story – do you think blogs keep people honest by preventing them from hiding the truth? Are there any negative implications of that (i.e. should the story be an error)?
YourMoralLeader: Blogs, like many means of communication, can help keep people honest. They can also do vast amounts of needless damage, destroying lives, marriages, synagogues, and communities.
guest81: What’s your take on this particular story? Are future victims protected? Were lives ruined?
YourMoralLeader: I’m just surfing the wave. I have no idea what will happen when it falls. I did this story on autopilot. I didn’t do much thinking on it. It seems obvious to me that R. Tropper was set up. It seemed obvious to me before the story that R. Tropper was self-destructive and a danger to himself and others.
