Moderator deleting upvoted answer because it misses (quote) "superfluous information"

Question

Moderator Peter Turner just deleted my answer, with the following comment:

Even though it's rather superfluous this question does ask for a Catholic answer. So you could at least address that

Note that he himself points out that this detail is, quote, "superfluous." I agree with that, because the question was based on a false premise, and answered by clarifying that false premise which had nothing to do with denominations (even though I would have been happy to address that). The deletion preceded the comment.

The question is here

This behavior of a moderator is rather shocking. I can't comment, neither vote to undelete the answer.

Suggestions for improvements should be left as comments or edited in. The delete button is not meant to eliminate answers that miss superfluous details.

The deletion should be reversed. Following this, the answer can be improved according to the usual community-driven workflow.

In my option such abuse of moderator rights is detrimental to any online-community.

Answer 1

Sorry, I should have said " it's superflous that this question asks for a Catholic answer". But it's in the question, it's not hard to get something undeleted here, I should have left a message to that effect.

Also, that question hit the Hot Network Queue, so it got extra attention by people who don't necessarily know or care that answers need to address the denominations in question.

However, I won't undelete the question unless you source it. I probably should delete Nigel J's answer too, but at least he addresses the fact that the question is asking for a Catholic answer.

The real problem is probably that that question (and that questioner) consistently tack on "What does the Catholic Church say" as if the Catholic Church is going to have a different understanding of 1st century Judaism than others.

Double However, she might, so there it stands.

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The fact is, this site's rather generous with letting people post pretty much whatever you want until a moderator sees it, possibly finds it needs improvement, and then removes it from view. I should have put the longer version of the "please edit the answer and flag for undeletion"

read this

Is there any plan in place to remedy the dearth of Moderators on this site?

and this

Always be ready to give a reason for your hope (with citations)

for more information on the current state of this website

Answer 2

Believe that the right call was made. Catholic questions require a Catholic based response.

• Biblical quotes from appropriately approved translations of Sacred Scripture can be used.
• Catholic sources which include Canon Law, traditions, teachings and other sources may be used, but should be accompanied with appropriate sources and links.
• If no magisterial teaching can be found on a particular subject, the teachings of canonized saints or prominent Catholic theologians must be invoked.
• As a general rule, do not just quote Scriptures since interpretation can vary.

I think the above makes for a good response that requires a Catholic answer!

Answer 3

I think Ken's answer is exactly right, and I especially want to highlight that Peter's comment calls the question superfluous, not anything else. In other words, the answer seems obvious to him, and to you as well, merely by reading the story. However, the question is hoping for Catholic answers. Answering "catholic" appropriately on this site is, again, covered by Ken perfectly.

At this point, it's pretty simple what you have to do. Just gather some catholic sources and add them in, then flag for undeletion. Peter's reasonable and I'm sure he'll undelete it then. Maybe he was fast to delete and could have commented then waited for your response, but if your response was inaction, deletion would still have resulted. And since deletion is not permanent, we're really not in that different of a situation by taking this particular route to post improvement. Either way, the post must be improved.