-Jack here, copying this post of Larry’s over from the Book of Faces so they can’t bury it as easily. Given the nature of things, I’m going to copy the relevant part of the code of conduct here before they memory hole it. Until they do, you can read it HERE. Pay special attention to section 1.5
Code of Conduct
The CRIT Awards is committed to fostering a positive and inclusive environment that celebrates creativity and recognizes outstanding achievements in all aspects of the TTRPG industry.
To ensure a safe and respectful experience for all participants, we have established this Code of Conduct, which outlines the standards of behavior expected from all nominees, attendees, organizers, and partners involved in the CRIT Awards.1. Inclusivity and Respect
1.1. No Racism: We do not tolerate any form of racism, racial discrimination, or xenophobia. Treat all individuals with respect and fairness, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or cultural background.
1.2. No Homophobia: We embrace diversity and do not condone any homophobic behavior or discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
1.3. No Ableism: We are committed to being accessible and accommodating to all individuals. Avoid ableist attitudes or behaviors and strive to make the CRIT Awards inclusive for people of all abilities.
1.4. No Sexism: Gender-based discrimination, stereotypes, or harassment will not be tolerated. We promote gender equality and a supportive environment for all genders.
1.5. Individuals who identify as Zionists, promote Zionist material, or engage in activities that without a doubt support Zionism are not eligible for nomination.”
This new anti-Semitic crap from GenCon reminds me of a story. This is a story about cowardice and hypocrisy. Names redacted to protect those without the moral fortitude to do the right thing, the kind of people who all this weak social shaming and peer pressure nonsense one side of the political divide uses as a club actually works on.
Many years ago there was another writer who I considered a very close friend. We did lots of stuff together. I’m conservative or libertarian depending on the issue. This dude was moderate to liberal, but we were still friends.
As you guys know how I roll, I like to promote other writers. My career was doing great. His was struggling. So he asked me for a promotion. (this was back when Book Bombs were still a thing, before the algorithm strangled them). I had it scheduled.
But then something happened in the news that week in politics. I wrote a blog post about it. The topic was gun related. It was actually a very funny blog post, obviously tongue in cheek, silly, but still filled with good pragmatic advice. It went viral.
The next day I get a message from my friend, begging me to cancel that week’s Book Bomb for him. I was confused. Back in those days BBs would sell between 200-1000 books over the week, mostly to new readers, which is a fantastic promotion.
Why?
Because “he can’t be seen associating with someone like me”.
Huh?
Well it turns out that my viral blog post was deemed SUPER OFFENSIVE by some of his liberal “friends”. In fact, one of them declared it to be ANTI-SEMITIC. And he couldn’t be seen associating with such a horrible racist who hates Jews.
Now this baffled the shit out of me, because there was literally nothing in there about Jews. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Zip. Plus, when it comes to the Arab world vs. Israel, I’ve been openly Go Team IDF the whole time. (There was literally a Merkava with an MHI logo on it!) And I’m genetically part Jewish! (on my maternal side which makes it even funnier!)
So I was confused, because all it took was some leftist asshole to declare something I wrote to be anti-Semitic and boom. There it was. I was an awful bad horrible evil person who needed to be shunned and thrown under the bus by all proper liberal goodthinkers.
I gave him the response you guys would expect, which I won’t repeat because the bots are already going to be throttling this post anyway because of all the politically charged words, and that would totally kill it. But half the words started with the letter F.
Ironically a few days later, one of the most respected leftist publications in America, the grand old lady herself, the New York Times, made me an offer to buy that blog post to run as an OpEd, because even though it poked fun at libs and their silly beliefs, the advice in it was actually super solid. I told them no of course, because I don’t want to be associated with that dishonest rag. (which is saying something, because it turns out their OpEds pay pretty good!) But I share this part just to illustrate how profoundly NOT racist this blog post of mine was.
Didn’t matter. Some libs declared a post that had absolutely nothing negative about Jews in it, no matter how hard you squint at it, to be bad, and boom, I was a bad guy. Cancel. Do not associate.
That insult, and the fact he was too stupid to grasp why it was an insult, pretty much ended our friendship. I even helped his dumb ass out behind the scenes a few years later, promoting him as a writer, and he never even knew I was involved.
But the reason I’m reminded of this now, fast forward like 8 years, the EXACT SAME PEOPLE who were condemning people as anti-Semitic even though they clearly weren’t, and shaming the spineless into compliance, have gone all in on the Jew hate. They’re out there supporting terrorist murderers. They’re cheering the beating of Jews at synagogues in LA. They cheering as Jews are having to hide from protestors in universities. They lie their asses off without shame and repeat propaganda so ham fisted and illogical that it falls apart with like two seconds of scrutiny, but they just don’t give a shit. They’re chanting river to the sea slogans about literal genocide. They’re the evil mirror version of what they claimed to hate just a few years ago.
These people have no honor, dignity, or shame. They’ve got no spine, no chest, and no soul. They’re miserable assholes and their only goal is to make everybody else as miserable as they are. They’re Wormwood and Screwtape without the brains.
Ten years ago I defended the normal attendees at GenCon from goofy (and super vague) accusations of racism from a race hustling grifter (son of a billionaire ironically) who weaseled himself into some social justice “advisory” position. Four years after that my “attack on this PoC” got me booted from another gaming convention.
And today? GenCon is hosting a event that explicitly bans people who think Israel has a right to exist… yet I guarantee the same kind of invertebrate squishes who condemn people like me for nothing, won’t say crap about that.
None of these grifter scumbags actually give a crap about racism. It’s always a political weapon, nothing more. I can at least respect them for their hustle. It’s their willing dupes, the cowards, the quislings, the useless one-way virtue signalers who can only speak up when their masters say it’s okay, who are too scared to go against the rigid group think of their deranged cult, who’ll let evil shit slide because they’re scared their team will get upset at them… Those people I despise.
