Charles Merrill says the Hendersonville (N.C.) Times-News yanked his posting privileges after two weeks of writing under his pseudonym of choice – Anti-Christ – offering up as a reason that the nom de plume is “offensive.”
Being a devilish sort who not only questions authority but defies it, Merrill, 72, is kicking up a fuss over the newspaper’s stance, going so far as to issue a press release that highlights the fact that the seemingly conservative Hendersonville newspaper is owned by the notoriously liberal New York Times. (It also gets into his beef with the IRS.)
“I was originally posting as Charles 6,” Merrill tells me in an e-mail interview. “The other bloggers started referring to me as Charles666. I decided since they saw me as the Anti-Christ, with the number of the ‘beast,’ I might as well hand them the whole enchilada and take the username Anti-Christ.”
That didn’t last long.
My inquiries to the Hendersonville paper have yet to produce a reply.
Merrill describes himself as an artist and “self-made millionaire,” cousin to the Merrill Lynch founder of the same name, and husband to the late Evangeline (Johnson), “the only daughter of Johnson & Johnson founder, Robert Wood Johnson.” He’s also a member and financial backer of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“Ironically, the New York Times, in a Feb. 28 editorial this year argued on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s position and against the Bush Administration stand on mixing up religion with the government,” Merrill says in his press release. “Yet, on the other hand, the Times-controlled newspaper says I can’t have a username such as Anti-Christ. Frankly, I am very surprised at the Times bigoted position and being suspended because of my username. It is taking away my First Amendment rights as a U.S. citizen to express myself as an atheist.”
A few points of interest before getting to my take on the matter:
While the Hendersonville paper would not let Merrill go on using Anti-Christ, it has allowed writers of letters to the editor to invoke the name, as in here by a local clergyman, here, and, as a predicate adjective (according to a friend/former English teacher), here and here.
Network World has used it at least once, according to my search of our archives.
And the files of the New York Times show 73 instances since 1981.
As for my view, I’m with Merrill on a few points, not so much on others:
The Hendersonville Times-News has every right and responsibility to set its own standards, as does every publication whether online or on dead trees. Personally, I wouldn’t prohibit a writer from using “Anti-Christ” as a pseudonym or in an appropriate reference within text (nor would I nix “Devil Duck,” which seems OK down in N.C, too.). But I don’t work for the Hendersonville Times-News and do not live there. It’s not discrimination or censorship on the part of the newspaper; it’s a subjective business call. Newspapers are allowed to make such calls … even when they err, as appears to be the case here.
Merrill’s been wronged, but it’s the garden-variety, somebody-made-a-mistake kind, not a federal case.
As for the inconsistency of allowing “Anti-Christ” on one part of the site but not another, I’d clean that up if it were my job.
On the role of the New York Times, Merrill’s just off base. No newspaper chain dictates policy to its subsidiaries at that level of granularity – or, at least no newspaper chain should do so.
Finally, you should know that Merrill is gay – and I know that fact comes out of left field and appears irrelevant – however, it’s important here in understanding his position that the paper’s decision amounts to foisting religious conventions upon him: “It was much harder to come out as an atheist in America,” he tells me, “than it was for me to come out as a gay man.”
(Update: I finally have a response to the inquiries I directed to the Hendersonville paper, and it comes from the public relations department of the mother ship, The New York Times. It reads:
The user (Merrill) occasionally posted on hendersonvillenews.com forums, first under another username and then under the username Anti-Christ. When he changed his username to Anti-Christ, the online director received content alerts from other users and the account was suspended as it violated a portion of the site’s posting policy, as follows:
“Users agree not to … engage in antisocial, disruptive, or destructive acts, including “flaming,” “flooding,” “trolling,” and “griefing” as those terms are commonly understood and used on the Internet.”
Specifically, the username “Anti-Christ” is considered a form of trolling; that is, intentionally constructed to disrupt, offend and illicit angry responses from other users, as opposed to fostering civil discourse.
The guidelines can be viewed in their entirety here.
As far as Mr. Merrill, there is no IP ban in place, and he can certainly register again to participate in our forums, as long as he adheres to our posting policy.
By no means to I want to speak for Merrill, but here’s my reaction to the “trolling” accusation: piffle.)
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