tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006149227755828619.post8515073772851973339..comments2024-02-28T07:39:18.803+00:00Comments on Clay Testament: Atheism, Utopianism, Tyranny, Creation: A Damaged DebateEric Maderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10612913626447216776noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006149227755828619.post-53939774212518073262017-10-08T11:42:55.984+01:002017-10-08T11:42:55.984+01:00nnnnn:
First let me say that I appreciate your co...nnnnn:<br /><br />First let me say that I appreciate your comments, as you do make a few good points, and one of them regarding my "knee-jerk" reactions now and then. But everyone is susceptible to this, nnnnns included, as demonstrated in part by the over-the-top aspects of your very comments here. <br /><br />For one thing, I myself eventually realized that Allan's disappearance from this thread was likely a result of his deleting his account. I indicated that possibility in the "Update" at the top of the post, but probably didn't do so clearly or definitively enough. Anyhow, that realization is why I even posted the Update, admitting that maybe I shouldn't have gotten so angry. I've reworded the Update a bit to make it clearer. In any case, I think my comments on dialogue are still valid. <br /><br />There are elements in the context of all this you don't have access to. Such as months of Allan's constant bitter posts and memes against anything and everything Christian. With this background, and with all the experiences of censorship I've had over the years, I think I'm well within my rights to speak of "atheist values" here. I've been subjected countless times to the "Just delete whatever the Christians say" tactic online. It's an integral part of recent thinking in some quarters on free speech--namely that open debate isn't as important as trumpeting the Progress that "We" know is needed. <br /><br />Second, you cite my criticisms of Allan as an example of me grabbing for my "LEFTISTS ARE AWFUL!" axe. Here it's you making an assumption. Because Allan isn't really a leftist. In fact a lot of my dialogue with Allan in the recent year had been on just how dangerous our left has become. I think this agreement on key political points accounted for his relative cordiality when discussing religion with me directly in debate. <br /><br />Anyhow, nnnnn, always good to hear from you. I also suspect I'd get on well with you. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I do think are leftists are almost uniformly awful, and <br /><br />Eric Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10612913626447216776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006149227755828619.post-51321348378087082312017-10-06T18:02:09.789+01:002017-10-06T18:02:09.789+01:00You do understand that all of the evidence you'...You do understand that all of the evidence you're describing is COMPLETELY explained by the fact that Allan deleted his Facebook account... right?<br /><br />Scenario 1: Allan goes through your thread, meticulously deleting each and every one of his comments (presumably while cackling evilly at his successful undermining of the very concept of dialogue), then unfriends you, then, later, deletes his Facebook account.<br /><br />(Last I checked, it takes two clicks to delete each comment, so that would have been quite a time commitment to scrub his existence from such a lengthy thread....)<br /><br />Scenario 2: Allan simply deletes his Facebook account. Per the expected behavior of Facebook, all comments he's ever written, anywhere in Facebook, vanish.<br /><br />Ockham's Razor, along with Hanlon's Razor (and probably many other razors), and/or just a simple assumption of good faith in your opponents, all point to Scenario 2.<br /><br />Eric, you have this habit of lunging for the " 'leftists' are awful" explanation for anything that distresses you. ("Atheist values", really?) <br /> The first thing of yours I ever read involved your bemoaning the fact that your erstwhile liberal friends were distancing themselves from you or cutting contact. Hint: This may be why. You're really failing the 'good faith' test here. Your knee jerks, and you don't pause to think about other, boring, quotidian, innocent explanations for things that upset you.<br /><br />You seem like a decent person, smart and witty, thoughtful when you're not in one of your blind spots. In other words: I'm inclined to believe we'd hit it off in real life. But your online persona is kind of miserable, and I don't think you're doing "the concept of dialogue" any favors with the way you react in these instances.<br /><br />As ever, I'm just a random internet commenter. You don't know me from Allan. :-) So do with this what you will.nnnnnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13165630940754231315noreply@blogger.com