So in this thread, we were discussing comments made by avowed atheist and children’s author Phillip Pullman about The Chronicles of Narnia, which he was basically savaging.
And just about every single person who responded disagreed with Pullman, most quite strongly.*
Now, this being the liberal-leaning God-hating SDMB, it seems quite likely that a reasonable portion of those posts, which disagreed with and criticized Pullman, were from atheists or agnostics of some sort. So, what do we learn from that thread? Well, I’d say we’d learn that Pullman, at least in the context of that specific attack, is a bit of an asshole, and that most people on the SDMB recognize that assholitude and do not support it.
Our good friend Psycho Pirate, however, never one to miss a chance to smear an entire group based on the actions of an individual, dropped this stinking, unsupported, drive-by turd into the thread. I mean, come ON, man, have you even READ the thread? Point out just ONE atheist in the thread who is supporting Pullman.
I mean, if Pullman is an asshole, he’s an asshole, and you’re free to point it out (and believe me, in this context at least, he is). And if there’s a thread full of atheists being assholes, feel free to point THAT out too. But when Pullman is an asshole, and a thread full of people (presumably many of them atheists) CALL him on it, HOW IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY DOES THAT GIVE YOU THE BALLS TO ATTACK ATHEISTS IN GENERAL?
*True, a few said “some of his points have some validity” or words to that effect, but there was universal disagreement with his tone, and with his most vitriolic points.
Shit.
I read the post. Didn’t seem particularly Pitworthy to me. Kind of like saying that Al Gore shouldn’t critique a book by George Bush because he’s not an impartial observer.
Looks like I hit a nerve. And it only took me 5+ years of lurking/posting!
Any reason why furt, who basically said the same thing I did, isn’t being pitted?
And I miss plenty of chances to smear a group based on an individual. You should have seen the post I deleted. That was the “nice” version. Heck, you should see half the posts I draft and never post.
But, I was in the moment, and I posted when I was angry. Mea culpa, and I apologize for painting all atheists with such a large brush. Not all atheists are hand-stabbing atheists. Some, like Pullman, are, but not all.
I disagree. I think that his post definitely did come across as saying that all atheists are incapable of being open-minded (or choose not to be open-minded) when reviewing material with Christian themes.
Because furt was talking specifically about Pullman, you were talking about atheists in general. Or at least, that’s the way you came across. Regardless, thanks for the apology.
Atheist douchebag Madelyn Murray O’Hare is alleged to have stabbed someone in the hand with a pen when they said, “God bless you,” after she sneezed. So far as I know, there’s no evidence that this ever happened. Liberal seems to be the only source for both the phrase and the associated anecdote.
Oh, no. That phrase is old. I’ve heard it used with some regularity from as far back as I can remember. It is apocryphally attributed to Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and from what I’ve read about her it wouldn’t surprise me if it was true, but regardless of that, it is an old saying.
I’ve never liked Psycho Pirate, but the apology does make him look better in my eyes. Psycho, maybe I’ll try and show you why you’re annoying so you can stop doing it. The post in the CS Lewis thread is a good example. You didn’t actually participate in what the thread was about, instead posting a short frustrated knee-jerk response. STOP DOING THAT. Maybe you’re not such a bad guy, but you don’t come off that way. Why not discuss the topic at hand, and if you don’t like what someone says, bring it up in a better way than making generalizations about them.
Finally, my advice may not be worth much. I’m sure there are people on the SDMB that don’t like me, or wouldn’t if they felt strongly enough about me to care.
But it might be worth considering anyway.
Jeez, Talon, the guy has 400 posts in 6 years, yet Psycho Pirate is someone you’ve “never liked”? Must not take much to get on your shit list, and you must have a memory like an elephant.
