Scientology ad on DU? WTF?

[bos1]

Where does DU draw the line on who gets to advertise on this site? Or is money the main factor?

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Which ad are you talking about? The Beck one? n/t

[bos1]

2. No it was for the new "Scientology Channel" on Youtube

And it was front and center on one of these pages but I will have to figure out which one now

[ColbertWatcher]

5. LOL! They have a channel on YouTube!?

LOL, that's too funny.

After they pulled that Tom Cruise video! They have some nerve.

Do they know they can't charge people for viewing their clips?

[TexasObserver]

3. I'm sure there is some sum of money you could offer the site ...

... to economically induce them to eliminate such advertising. Make them an offer.

Advertisements don't bother me. I never look at them. I could not name one advertiser for this site. My mind doesn't even register them. I'm blessed to have such a blind spot.

[trumad]

6. Hey---if the scientologists want to support a progressive website

all the power to them.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. That's just too filthy. It's almost the same as having a freeper advertise. n/t

[trumad]

9. So what...

If you're a DUer and see the ad and then all of a sudden want to be a Scientologist..... uh--- who cares.

[ColbertWatcher]

13. LOL! DU doesn't need that kind of stuff on our site. n/t

[trumad]

35. Why not?

It helps pay the bills?

[bos1]

11. I agree but it's worse because it's a cult, no matter what Clinton WH said

and declaring it a religion in the US after much of Europe banned them is something I will never forgive Clinton admin for.

PS don't worry I am progressive

[MonkeyFunk]

16. Presidents don't declare what is or isn't a church

what a silly thing to hate Clinton for.

[bos1]

21. You're wrong, the State Dept went to bat for Scientology

and the IRS overturned years of rulings to give them tax exempt status, and the IRS official who did that became a Clinton appointee.

[MonkeyFunk]

30. It was a nearly 30-year long battle with the IRS

the President doesn't decide it. The IRS decided it on the law. If you don't like the law, blame Congress.

But under the law, it's hard to make a good case that they are not, in fact, a church. To blame Clinton is just absurd.

[bos1]

33. The Clinton State Dept totally supported Scientology in its German case

and PROMOTED the IRS official who overturned the years of rulings.

Yes, there were other factors but the Clinton admin is dirty on this one. To see no blame at all is adsurd. And giving tax-exempt religion status to a large, dangerous cult is a big one in my book

[MonkeyFunk]

46. They're not "dirty"

Germany's laws are ridiculous and counter to American ideals. Any administration would oppose them.

The thing about freedom of religion is that the government doesn't get to decide who's a real religion and who's not.

[bos1]

47. The US doesn't give tax-exempt status to fake religions and cults

but it did under the Clinton admin with its cooperation. And no, US admins don't usually weigh in on these kinds of internal probs of Germany. It was a weird and strange chapter in the Clinton admin and definitely a negative legacy we are still living with today. No comparison to the damage done to the US by Bush of course.

[MonkeyFunk]

49. I think all religions are fake

so yes, the government DOES give tax-exempt status to fake religions.

And this was an IRS decision that came about after decades of litigation. Do you have any evidence that Clinton was involved in the decision?

[bos1]

51. Promotions and pro-Scientology policy

You keep ignoring my points & in your first post you accused me of "hate". I think maybe you are irrationally attached to the Clintons and/or just want to argue. I am not interested.

Again, the IRS official who reversed the years of IRS denials of Scientology was then rewarded with a Clinton appointment. Then the Clinton State Dept totally supported Scientology in its conflict with the German government. These are two examples. I (or you) could brush up on the case and get more evidence. Essentially this is not a proud chapter in Clinton's presidency and we are still living with this today.

[awoke_in_2003]

48. "government doesn't get to decide"

That is why we need to stop coddling ALL religions. They should pay their fair share of taxes, too. Why any religion in this country get special privileges is beyond me.

[TexasObserver]

27. Scientology, Catholicism, LDS, Pentecostals, the NRA

As advertisers, I don't find any of the above offensive, even though I don't have any use for any of them.

[Dorian Gray]

28. I'm the same way

I can totally and completely ignore the advertisers on websites. It's a good superpower to have! LOL.

[bos1]

34. Personally I can ignore it but a cult is a dangerous and unethical thing to advertise. nt

[TexasObserver]

38. All those hundreds of cases of their priests sexually abusing kids, then they hid it!

Oh, wait, that was the Catholic church!!

Never mind.

[LaurenG]

4. You just have to let the mods know and they can block it.

The ads work by appearing above whatever is being discussed on that page.

[bos1]

7. It is here right now

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=greatest_threads
I don't know if you have to refresh the page a couple times or whatever.

And it even appears inside the box next to some comments. Weird.

[bos1]

10. That's a trip. I see. But I don't know how to contact the mods.

I think you are right, it seems like automatic content being supplied from somewhere. But I don't know how to contact the mods.

[annabanana]

14. go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/contact.html

[EV_Ares]

22. If you don't like it just contact Skinner, go to the page and read the rules and

complain about it.

[annabanana]

12. Actually I don't think they can... The ads are google generated by

the discussions on that page. If we had a big discussion on drain pipes, pipefitters ads might pop up. The only way to avoid ads is to donate.

[ColbertWatcher]

15. Oh, so that's what's going on!

Over on the wiki we have that google-generated ad stuff and some of the ads that pop up are hilarious!

[bos1]

17. Now it's turned into RUSSIAN BRIDE ad!

Looks like some real sleaze advertiser has an account on DU.

[leveymg]

19. At least she's pretty :-)

[EV_Ares]

23. Yeah, thats right, life in the internet age. You have to pay to play, eom.

[Thor_MN]

29. Interesting that the first thread is currently "Disinformation, deception, and outright lies "

I seem to recall that any overt bad fits could be blocked by the admins, otherwise it's just based off whatever keywords Google finds on the page.

[leveymg]

18. GoogleAds just brought up an advert for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

THAT'S over the line. Admin REALLY needs to work out something with Google to stop the display of GOP campaign ads on this site. Please, get rid of the messages pushing "Clean Coal" and food into ethanol, while you're at it.

[ColbertWatcher]

20. I think the clean coal ads are the most offensive. n/t

[bos1]

24. to be honest the cult ads bother me more than Repub ads

Because out of thousands who see the Scientology ads, there will be one or two who end up getting sucked in. For the politics it is more of a freedom of choice thing, and I think it is funny for Republicans to be paying DU for ad space

[ColbertWatcher]

31. True.

I just laugh every time I see something about the cult.

I know I shouldn't because they are dangerous, but they just seem so desperate these days. You know they have ads on cable TV now too.

You'd think they wouldn't have to advertise, the Catholic church doesn't advertise.

Buddhists don't advertise.

[bos1]

32. Are they desperate?

I remember seeing hopeful accounts of how the Internet was going to be the death of cults like Scientology because it was going to be so easy to see their ridiculous secrets (like watching the South Park episode on youtube).

But they seem to be going strong

[ColbertWatcher]

36. Who knows?

I read something somewhere about how their membership is down.

Hard to tell though since they're so secretive about everything.

[MiniMe]

25. If you become a DU donor, you can block those ads

Give a little, get your star, get rid of the ads.

[bos1]

26. It's not having to see them that bothers me but the principle. nt

[MiniMe]

37. The principle is that it takes money to run a website like this

They have hardware, software, and hosting costs. They use google ads to offset those costs, and they don't have control over the ads that show up. If you donate, you have done your part to keep the website going, so you don't have to see the ads. If you don't, seeing the google ads is how you donate to keeping the site going.

[bos1]

43. No, the principle is that DU wouldn't accept ads for certain things

that are hazardous or immoral or whatever. I don't know what that list would be. But advertising dangerous cults would likely be one of them.

[MiniMe]

53. Have you missed all the posts about google ads?

When you use google ads, you have no control over what ads pop up. Its not like DU accepts money from Scientology to run the ads. As I understand it, google bases the ad placement based on content of the website. So by posting this thread with Scientology in the title you have probably increased the number of scientology ads that will pop up. You don't donate to the maintenance and upkeep of this website, but you expect them to basically get rid of google ads and bow to your demand that ads like that not show up on DU. Life doesn't work that way, nothing is free in life.

I can't afford much, but I try to donate when I can to keep this website going because I think it is important that sites such as DU are available. It runs along the same lines as the old saying "If you don't vote, you have no stading to complain about the election results". DU doesn't ask for much, they don't even put a minimum contribution amount in their donation requirements. They go strictly by the number of users who have donated in their donation drives. So either donate or just put up with the possibility you will see ads that you don't like.

[TexasObserver]

39. Isn't getting a "cult" to financially support a progressive site a good idea?

If they did so much business here they could influence policy, I'd worry. But that ain't happening.

[BlooInBloo]

40. NTSA....

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

41. DITTO!!!!

What ads? I don't have any ads on my computers, logged into D.U. or not.

[bos1]

42. WTF IS NTSA N/T

[TornadoTN]

44. Nice. Luckily, my boycott of all things Scientology related won't extend to this site

I wouldn't know what to do without it!

[dkofos]

45. Money is the main factor.

If you don't like the ads, turn off Javascript in your browser.
No more ads.

[ZombieHorde]

50. Donate five bucks. Problem solved.

[bos1]

52. scroll up, read same points and replies. redundancy solved.

[ZombieHorde]

54. Bwahahaha