Your Thoughts Please: Chocolate Cult on Best of the Web

A while back we here on The Chocolate Cult were approached by the folks who do this series called "Best of the Web" -- they said their homesite gets up to 2000 unique visitor a day so I thought it might be good publicity.

I gave them a short summary of our site as they asked for: "The Chocolate Cult is dedicated to the exploration and ecstasy of chocolate in all of its forms throughout all of society.  Our weekly highlight are our "Saturday Sacraments" that lead readers through a full sensory description of a product or through the use of a product in as objective fashion as our group of seven volunteers can manage.  Other posts look at various aspects of society as they relate to chocolate including books, politics, science, recipes, television and movies, and all forms of food or drink.  Our goal is to help our Sisters and Brothers make wise decisions about what to put in their bodies and where to spend their money.  We hope you take the time to slowly appreciate what the Divine and human ingenuity have offered you in chocolate."

I sent them some photos -- they didn't use those at all.

I answered a question about why I started this site -- they used that along with a claim that The Chocolate Cult is "where fellow chocolate fanatics collect;" I don't ever know exactly what that means but the word "fanatics" worries me.  I reported that worry and was told it was removed but I still see it on this link that they gave me.  Let me know if you see that wording there please.

So now I'm wondering if I've betrayed you all by letting this site promote us this way. I think the quote is very me centered -- I really thought they'd be doing an article, you know, mentioning my reasons for starting this but certainly using the summary to describe us.  This blog isn't just about me. I have a group of volunteers who help me a lot from sampling chocolate and writing reviews to helping me try recipes to traveling with me. This leaves all those folks out as well as you who read and comment here.

But I also dislike the word "fanatics" because I cover him some harshness from you all.  I know, I'm supposed to be honest with you, tell you the truth, about chocolate I do.  We've received comments here and I've received them personally in my email and on Facebook that basically accuse us all of being pagans, of being anti-God/dess, and telling me that we are all going to hell.  Some people apparently do not understand why we use pseudo religious language.  That actually hurts me a lot personally because I am a Christian and I have been attacked before by others who think I'm "less than them" or that their Jesus is better than mine or some other crap.

I happen to know that several of our Acolytes and readers are Jewish or Christian or pagan or nothing or something else entirely.  I don't care any more than I care if they prefer White, Milk, Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate.  I write this blog to help us, all of us, learn about chocolate and evaluate how we spend our money on chocolate related products.

I could really use your feedback here because I may just be way over-reacting to all of this and if so I need to know that.

Comments

Treat and Trick said…
Went through the link, the word "fanatic" is still there. Hope you will get more unique visitors by linking them..
Thank you for looking at it and commenting, Treat and Trick.
Tammyjo, it's always a bit unnerving when something appears to be one way by how it was presented, and then turns out to disappointing when all said and done. When I took the link to see the word "fanatic" my first impression was the site was inferring a group of chocolate enthusiasts. However, I could also see where there's room for interpreting a negative connotation. If this is what troubles you, perhaps you could place another request for an edit. Best wishes to you and try not to let it get the best of you - we need you focused on...chocolate!
Thank you, Brooks, for commenting and making me feel better. I've been super stressed this month so far and I think it probably made me more touchy on the subject.
Hi! Please don't let it get you down. Best wishes.
Thanks, Christine. You and the folks there who have talked with me again have made me feel better.

They removed the "fanatic" wording as well.