The Rape of Reason

First, readers, please indulge me in one little thing.  I am allowing anonymous comments on these posts because that makes it easier for readers to comment.

But I'd like anonymous commenters to sign their names, or at least use a consistent alias, for their comments.

If you don't, it crowds the comboxes with as many as ten or twelves different "anonymouses", making it tough for others to respond - not knowing which anonymous is saying what.

And for another thing, it prevents what happened in the combox of my most recent post.

For in that case, the First Anonymous made some intelligent observations, which went like this ...

To describe Obama as left-wing is pushing the truth. He may be personally, but his policies have been anything but liberal. To refer to Mitt Romney as left-wing is so delusional as to not merit a response. He wants to cut taxes on the rich, cut earned benefits from government, continue the conservative health care plan known as "Obamacare", switch our socialized and most popular health care plan (medicare) to a private voucher system, has chosen an Ayn Rand disciple as his VP, is using some of the most vile racism I've ever seen from a candidate (repeatedly lying and saying that Obama got rid of the work requirement for welfare and bringing up the birther issue), and vows to run government "like a business", which any respected economist will tell you is insanity.
 

Now I'd be happy to address these reasonable objections, except for one little thing.

Anonymous #1 could not help himself or herself, and went on to add the next paragraph ...

 I can't comprehend how badly educated you have to be to think Romney is a liberal. He is a libertarian on abortion, but that's about it. I guess you have to be delusional enough to believe that god watched humans suffering miserably for 98,000 years without doing anything before finally deciding to intervene in the most illiterate part of the world via human sacrifice of himself to redeem the human race. He didn't appear to the Chinese, who can read and record history properly. No, he raped a Jewish virgin and then nailed himself to a cross and that means that we're saved. Yeah, you'd have to be about that stupid.
 

And so I respond ...

Anonymous # 1, I was with you until "He raped a Jewish virgin". For one thing, she consented. For another, there was no sex act. For a third, you've revealed yourself to be a hateful bigot.

I'd ban you from future comments if I knew who you were, but you're too much of a coward to sign your own name to your vile hate speech.

I'm more than happy to engage atheists in discussion. I was an atheist myself for many years. I'm even more than happy to point out how Romney is taking "conservatism" more and more to the left, which you can't see - though the other political things you say ring true.

But intelligent and valuable as your comment is, when you cross the line by claiming Mary was raped, you crossed the line.

So either man up, tell us who you are and apologize, or acknowledge by your cowering anonymity that you're just a bigot with enough common sense to make your bigotry all the more despicable.

You see, A1 may be confusing the New Testament with his high school course on Greek Mythology.  For the Greek gods raped.  They raped physically and frequently.  And the human victims of their rapes suffered for it.

A1 is hoping to point out distinctions between liberals and conservatives, and he can't see distinctions between Greek gods who rape and the Christian God who condemns rape.  The fact that he gets his antipathy for rape from Christian teaching and tradition does not occur to him. 

So my suggestion is this ... tell us who you are, Anonymous # 1, and I'll be happy to address how Romney and Obama are both wrong and how they're both working to destroy freedom in this country and how politics has become an exercise in insanity.

Meanwhile, please sign your comments, people, even with made-up names.  Hiding behind an alias is at least more brave than hiding behind your own ignorance and anger.

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Meanwhile, Anonymous #1, I have one question for you  (other than what's your name) - are you a racist?  You seem upset that God became a Jew and not a China man.  It may be politically correct to knock the Virgin Mary, but it's not really a good idea to knock the Jews.  So how anti-Semitic are you, then?