Poll of the Day > FNAF creator Scott Cawthon retires following backlash over donations to Trump

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.businessinsider.com/five-nights-at-freddys-scott-cawthon-retires-backlash-gop-donations-2021-6?op=1

I'm no fan of Trump, or FNAF for that matter, but I don't understand the outrage here.

As far as I know, he's never spoken out against LGBTQ but his support of candidates who have is enough to sink him? Is there any record of Cawthon being against the LGBTQ movement, aside from these donations? It seems conceivable that he's simply a conservative who backs conservatives. Doesn't mean he agrees with their whole platform. I haven't bothered to look into this more so maybe there's something out there that is more egregious?

Doug TenNapel is a racist homophobe who is on record being a racist homophobe. He can go straight to hell, fuck that guy.

But ending someone's career over political donations? I don't get it.

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"Rich guy that doesn't need any more money and that cares too much about the opinions of others finally has an excuse to not work anymore without whiny crybabies calling him lazy"

ReggieTheReckless posted...

"Rich guy that doesn't need any more money and that cares too much about the opinions of others finally has an excuse to not work anymore without whiny crybabies calling him lazy"

That's a good point. Maybe it's just that, opportunity. He saw an exit from a lifestyle he was burnt out on and took it.

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Basically, financially supporting lawmakers that make it illegal for trans people to use bathrooms safely is a personal contribution to making it illegal for trans people to use bathrooms safely. Even if he doesn't personally have anything against LGBTQ folks, supporting politicians who are actively working to restrict their rights means he is actively working to restrict their rights.

It really, really sucks that it's impossible to making campaign donations to facilitate something like reducing small business taxes without also facilitating the erosion of gay rights, but that's the current state of the GOP.

Now, saying that, doxxing and threatening him and his family over it is not okay, and that's happened. Disagree? Sure. Stop supporting him because you don't like where your money's going? Absolutely. But not violence.

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Zangulus posted...

Hes donated to people whove actively worked against LGBTQ+ rights. Hes utterly apologetic in regards to any of it.

That's what I'm asking, was he donating to them because of the LGBTQ thing or was it just that he was donating to these candidates because they're conservative-leaning candidates?

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Zangulus posted...

Hes also whining about cancel culture except hes not being cancelled. Hes quitting of his own accord.

Youre FIRED!

You cant fire me! I got cancelled by the libs.

*throws apron on the floor*

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Scott has always been a highly religious person so it makes sense he'd fall along religious lines and donate accordingly. Plus he's, like, 40 and has 6 kids... he's gunna vote republican

However, there isn't any record of him being against the LGBTQ community that I am aware of

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Far-Queue posted...

That's what I'm asking, was he donating to them because of the LGBTQ thing or was it just that he was donating to these candidates because they're conservative-leaning candidates?

Far as I can tell, the latter. It's not a deliberate attack on the LGBTQ community, just a careless one.

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Far-Queue posted...

That's what I'm asking, was he donating to them because of the LGBTQ thing or was it just that he was donating to these candidates because they're conservative-leaning candidates?

You must do Olympic-level mental gymnastics to think you can financially support someone like Donald Trump and not be at least a little bit of a bigot.

Zangulus posted...

Which does not make it any better to the people who're told by these candidates they're less than people who don't deserve rights.

It does, however, make it harder to convince the donor that they're doing something wrong. Especially so where he seems to have bought into the vague GOP fearmongering about the horrible things the Democrats would do if given power, such that he's explicitly said that things would be worse for LGBTQ people under Democratic rule (without citing examples or acknowledging that Dems have had power many times in recent history and not made things worse for LGBTQ people).

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JTekashiro posted...

You must do Olympic-level mental gymnastics to think you can financially support someone like Donald Trump and not be at least a little bit of a bigot.

That's not what I'm saying at all. He may be a bigot for all I know, but as far as I can tell he's made no public comment to that effect. You can assume all you want, but the question I'm asking is couched in the motivation behind his donations.

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Zangulus posted...

Which does not make it any better to the people who're told by these candidates they're less than people who don't deserve rights.

Understood, but I still think it's a bit much to be being bringing out the pitchforks and torches, unless there's more to this that I'm not seeing. Does anyone have any clear link to some anti-LGBTQ bias on this dude's part? From what I can tell it's all speculation based on his donations.

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Zangulus posted...

That has nothing to do with what I'm saying. Whether they believe it's wrong isn't the topic at hand.

It kind of is. We can agree that he did something wrong by donating to the GOP (and in particularly, to high-profile GOP members that have made explicit moves against LGBTQ rights). The broader question of whether or not he did so maliciously is still relevant and worth discussing, though.

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Far-Queue posted...

Does anyone have any clear link to some anti-LGBTQ bias on this dude's part? From what I can tell it's all speculation based on his donations.

If I like playing with gasoline and matches, and I accidentally burn down your house in the process of playing with gasoline, are you going to be any less homeless than you would be if I deliberately burned down your house? Whether or not you can call him homophobic doesn't change the end result of his actions, nor does it change whether or not he should be held accountable for the result. It just changes whether or not you can call him homophobic.

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Zangulus posted...

So, people who actively contribute to the oppression of people should just be let doing so because it wasn't their main focus?

No. But if the motivation behind his donations is that he's simply backing conservatives who support policies that align witn his politics - outside of the candidates opposition to LGBTQ - then that is more passive support of ANTI-LGBTQ, and I'm not even sure I'd call it "passive". More of a side effect.

His failure to apologize is less an indictment than it is an assumption of guilt.

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Far-Queue posted...

His failure to apologize is less an indictment than it is an assumption of guilt.

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adjl posted...

If I like playing with gasoline and matches, and I accidentally burn down your house in the process of playing with gasoline, are you going to be any less homeless than you would be if I deliberately burned down your house? Whether or not you can call him homophobic doesn't change the end result of his actions, nor does it change whether or not he should be held accountable for the result. It just changes whether or not you can call him homophobic.

Good analogy but I think there's more nuance/grey area with the Cawthon situation, due to the variable of not knowing exactly what policies or positions he was looking to support through his donations, and the fact that just because a politician works toward a certain agenda does not mean they'll find success.

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Maybe he doesn't feel he should apologize. If his support was centered on something like small business tax, as adjl postulated, and he was largely ignorant of the candidates' social stances, then why should he apologize?

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Found this quote. It's not an apology, but it is something of an explanation.

Even if there were candidates who had better things to say to the LGBT community directly, and bigger promises to make, I believed that their stances on other issues would have ended up doing much greater harm to those communities than good, Cawthon wrote on Reddit after listing candidates he supported and why. Further in, Scott says, I've always been supportive of creators, and have tried to treat everyone fairly, and treat everyone with dignity and respect. I've never cared about anyone's race, religion, gender, or orientation. I just treat people as people, everyone the same, and because of that, I've ended up with a very diverse group of people that I've worked with over the years.

https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2021/06/17/five-nights-at-freddys-creator-scott-cawthon-announces-retirement-after-political

I want to reiterate that I have no dog in this fight. Just trying to understand the situation better.

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I'll look for that Reddit post later. Might have more info. I'm at work.

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Zangulus posted...

Again, irrelevant. The core tenants of those he donated to, the call out after the fact, and then the abject refusal to apologize.

Because he's giving money to people who actively take rights from those who are already marginalized in society. Without even the modicum response of "Oh, I didn't realize..."

We're going in circles and nothing you're arguing is convincing me that he has anything to apologize for or quit the industry over.

Also, it tenets, not "tenants". Not trying to be grammar police but you posted it twice

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Zangulus posted...

That's my belief.

Correct. That's your assumption.

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I'm not defending anyone, I'm asking questions. I'm leaving the door open to the possibility that Cawthon is a total scumbag, but I'm not seeing evidence of it beyond campaign donations, and I'm not willing to make that leap based on what I've seen so far.

You're not defending anyone's rights by posing a flawed argument. You're speculating and jumping to conclusions.

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Far-Queue posted...

Maybe he doesn't feel he should apologize. If his support was centered on something like small business tax, as adjl postulated, and he was largely ignorant of the candidates' social stances, then why should he apologize?

Did Trump do any of things or stand for them?

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Why do people even care about someone that's only famous because he created 5 "Jump Scares the Game"? Jump scares are to horror what fart jokes are to comedy.
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Zangulus posted...

More speculation.

Show me something concrete and I'd be more inclined to jump on board your position


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I have no evidence but based on the interview he's just taking a "I'm not touching this subject with a 10 foot pole" position.

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lihlih posted...

Why do people even care about someone that's only famous because he created 5 "Jump Scares the Game"? Jump scares are to horror what fart jokes are to comedy.

Apparently there's like 12 or 13 games in the series now

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Far-Queue posted...

"Even if there were candidates who had better things to say to the LGBT community directly, and bigger promises to make, I believed that their stances on other issues would have ended up doing much greater harm to those communities than good"

I think this is damning enough, TBH

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Zangulus posted...

He's actively against LGBTQA having rights.

Can you actually prove that?
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SilentSeph posted...

Apparently there's like 12 or 13 games in the series now

Wow, the fact that people buy them reliably for him to make that many is just baffling. But then again, Pewdiepie was the most subscribed to YTer ever(not sure if he still is), and his whole career was based on screaming at these kinds of games, so I guess I should lower my expectations of humanity.
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Metalsonic66 posted...

I think this is damning enough, TBH

That's fine. You do you. Let me say this: I see the potential for there to be outrage. Just not quite there myself.

I'm not condemning Zang for feeling how he feels, and I'm not dismissing his argument wholesale. Merely saying I'm unwilling to make that same leap from "Where there's smoke, there's fire" to "That dude is guilty, dead to rights"

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I'm okay with people judging anyone who donated to Trump for any reason. Support is support.

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I'm not outraged myself lol I've never played these games.

That quote definitely seems like an admission to me, though. He's not anti-gay, but he thinks the gays would be better off with Republicans in charge anyway.

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https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-10-interplay-silent-on-earthworm-jim-developers-racist-homophobic-remarks

In episode #54 at 6:05, TenNapel said, "The Black culture and Black communities are not doing well. They, too, are still the fallout victim of their own ignorance -- and maybe their own willful ignorance, or fatherlessness, or whatever -- so it's not all whitey's problem."

And in episode #55, beginning around 68:55, TenNapel said this of those affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent protests over the killing of George Floyd:

"All these people rioting and the people against it and the people pro-Black Lives Matter and the people voting for Trump -- no one changed their values in the last year. They've been set. So why are we rioting now? They were given cultural cover to unleash their revenge fantasy. The riots were in their hearts already, and they were given the cultural excuse. They were practically praying that a Black man would have a cop kneel on him so he'd die. Antifa did, Antifa loves exploiting. They were thrilled that happened. 'Thank goodness, now I can take my hammer and bash out car windows along this block.'"

@Revelation34 ^ in regards to your PM.

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Far-Queue posted...

But ending someone's career over political donations? I don't get it.

How can you not get it? Trump was objectively awful and giving him money says something about you and your beliefs. People have every right to be upset with him.

Farq would hate to hear about the people I've gotten fired for their fb posts

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