John Edward Using the STOP Cyberbullying Shield

I was called a Cyberbully on facebook by John Edward or one of his representatives.  After making a couple of comments on a John Edward event page this was posted at the top of the page.  The comments made by some people on John's cyberbully name and shame post were really quite interesting and the fact that there was no context around the Cyberbully claim just goes to show that people will mindlessly follow anyone and judge you based on a simple comment like this.

So, first of all, for those of you who are reading this, you would probably like some context. I responded to a post from a friend on Mr. Edward's event page for my city.  My comment simply suggested that my wife, who passed away in January, would not be pleased if I ever attended such an event.  My friend made a comment that he would do readings outside for half the price John was charging and I said I would get him to do my reading since he already seemed to be channeling my deceased wife (she was very much opposed to these psychic frauds).  Someone else had made a comment about a charity event that was taking place the same day and maybe people should consider supporting their community rather than a billionaire scam artist.  I asked for details about this event.  So, fair enough, I could have kept the comments to myself but I didn't and I did not direct anything at John directly, simply stated an opinion that my wife had and one that I share.  So if this is cyberbullying I guess I'm guilty.  I think it might have been considered rude at best but bullying?  I think there is a problem here.

We can talk about how this man is a con artist and  and how he is preying on the grief and loss of millions of people and making a fortune from the pain of other people.  But that's not what I want to talk about.  What is really bothering me about John is that he is using the stop cyberbullying campaign as a shield on his facebook event pages to hide from skeptics and he's using the anger that people feel today about bullying to turn his mass of fans against anyone who disagrees with him or is even remotely associated with anyone who disagrees with him.

And why should this surprise anyone.  It's not like he hasn't been manipulating and using people for years.  It's one thing to use and manipulate people who willingly come to you and agree to be part of the farce that is John Edward but now he is manipulating a legitimate movement and he is marginalizing all of those people who have truly been the victim of bullying.

So the scam that John pulls with using the stop cyberbullying shield is that he first removes any posts that are associated with comments that criticize his "performance".  The next step is to name and shame.  He pulls out the big stop cyberbullying logo and names all the people from the now deleted posts and turns his fans on named individuals like an army of mindless zombies.  So there is no evidence to support his claim and there is no trail of words that, as an accused person, you can use to defend yourself.  For those John Edward fans late to the party and want to take a crack at me, the mob forms to the left.

The comments that come from these people are hateful and angry and they don't even know what they are angry about.  These people have no idea what I said or who I am yet they are calling me names.  Yeah, I get it that's how the Internet is.  It really doesn't bother me but this is coming from a group of people who extoll the virtues of love and giving and are primarily Christians (by the way, seeing psychics is a no-no for Christians... read your bible folks).  One person that John named did nothing more that like a couple of comments.  Really, John?  That's cyberbullying?  Really?

So not only does John Edward scam the bereaved out of huge sums of money but he takes the people who are truly being tortured and harmed by any kind of bullying and pisses all over them by abusing the campaign that could actually save lives and actually help people who are true vicitms.

If you are a supporter of the Stop Cyberbullying campaign, I encourage you to let John Edward know that you are displeased with his mis-appropriation of a symbol and movement that was formed to protect people who can't protect themselves and not for abuse by a billionaire scam artist.