Archive for June, 2011

It may seem pointless dealing with the contemptible behavior of trolls, an activity annoying enough for any hundred people. Especially when the troll in question takes this pitifully dishonest tack of assailing us with the most repugnant insults he can come up with (and if you ask me, Matt could hardly be blamed if he knocked Gavin Chandler’s teeth down his throat over the things he wrote about Beth, though of course Matt won’t, because he’s a bigger man than that, and both Matt and Beth have already dismissed Gavin as beneath their notice, let alone their contempt) only to shift gears, apologize profusely, and try to claim that all he was doing was trying to teach us a lesson about how horrible it feels to be abused so awfully, which he seems to think we do to all our callers, and to which he also seems to think his disgracefully juvenile behavior is somehow analogous. In short, Gavin’s a despicable creep whose failure to make his point effectively — if in fact that’s what he was all about — is so epic it’s hard to wrap your mind around it fully. I didn’t think it was possible, but he’s actually been worse than the lamentable Yomin, whom I did almost sue for libel (and whose life has since spectacularly fallen apart, as he’s currently facing misdemeanor domestic violence charges). Gavin’s like someone who notices that his neighbors have allowed their trash cans to spill over onto his yard, and responds by burning their house down, then saying, “There! You see what it’s like having your property line violated? Be more respectful next time!” Gavin wrote what he calls his “final” email to us — though there have been several after that, which I won’t read, even though the subject line on one of them is “I am deeply ashamed of myself.” (He should be, but a burnt bridge is a burnt bridge.) Still, with this one, he promised that if we posted it, he’d...
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So, we’ve had a series of e-mails from some little troll (who may be a Poe or genuinely in need of psychiatric treatment) who clearly hates me. The brief summary (of what must be closing in on many dozens of printed pages of nastiness) is this: 1. Guy writes to explain how much I suck and how great everyone else on the show is. 2. Jeff and a few others rip into him, a bit, for some of his comments. 3. Guy writes in to explain why he hates me so much. It turns out he thought I was too nice to Ray Comfort and that I’m disgusting for letting this vile individual who protests soldiers’ funerals get off without a rant. 4. I explain that he’s a supreme idiot, because he stupidly confused Ray Comfort and the Phelps family and that he should try to know what he’s talking about before he opens his mouth 5. He writes back, falling all over himself to apologize for the mistake and notes that he’s especially embarrassed that he’d already contacted a lawyer to try to get me off the air or force the ACA to fire me. (Seriously. He was trying to legally limit my free speech because I wasn’t enough of an asshole to someone whose free speech he found offensive.) 6. I send back a quick note explaining that given his complete misunderstanding of 1st Amendment rights, I’d rather have Shirley Phelps on the show than continue talking to him. This puts him over the edge and the lawyer threats are followed by threats of making YouTube videos to expose us… And now, we got this. I’m posting it, unaltered and my only comment (other than LOL) is: aren’t you glad you don’t have to deal with this? (Apologies to some of my friends who probably do have to deal with stuff like this.) The irony that this was spawned by an accusation that he didn’t understand free speech is particularly amusing. He reminds me a bit of a Bond villain, thwarting his own plan via exposition: You know what, you guys are...
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I’m not Hitchens, and so I’m often not as articulate when I speak as when I write. But here, after some thought, is what I find annoying about Charlie the Atheist Homophobe’s arguments. His obsession with words and their proper definitions would be a lot more persuasive if he weren’t being so self-serving and hypocritical about how he argues his position. When he called Tracie and me two weeks ago, the burden of his argument was that the word homophobia has a colloquial meaning that has changed and evolved from its dictionary definition, so as to incorporate such things as “disgust” rather than strictly “irrational fear” (the meaning of “phobia” in a nutshell). Charlie was supportive of this evolution of homophobia’s meaning, of course. But he is not similarly supportive of a change and evolution of the definition of marriage. While homophobia gets to expand its meaning to include a variety of emotional states, marriage does not get to expand its meaning to include a variety of relationship commitments, including same-sex couples (even though the almighty dictionary says it can). And Charlie’s whole justification for opposing any expansion of marriage‘s definition is an appeal to tradition and consensus, the very things he thinks should be ignored in the case of homophobia. It’s a pure double standard, of the sort that people who are smart enough to know better often hold, so as to convince themselves that an intellectually and morally offensive point of view is in fact intellectually and morally justified. But as Russell said, if the guy isn’t actually out to impinge on anyone’s rights, then his word games are just so much noise. I personally still don’t get why people so desperately latch onto these kinds of justifications. I’d find it ridiculously presumptuous of me to instruct a couple of strangers, who happened to be consenting adults, on what term...
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A fellow named Brian Wilson (not that one) is currently hosting a colossal torrent of MP3s of Atheist Experience shows from 2004 through 2010. No idea if this includes my final episodes with Ashley Perrien from when I originally hosted (but it might as I left in March of ’04). But it will include all of Ashley’s shows and the first ones with Matt. So, you know, go grab ‘em, seed ‘em, spread the love happening. Thanks to Brian for hosting this.

The Atheist Experience audience has made me extremely paranoid, since it is a virtual guarantee that every single theist caller or commenter who expresses their two cents will be called a Poe by somebody. To listen to them talk, you’d think that there is not a single True Christian to be found anywhere in the world, while the hills are teeming with atheists wearing jester caps who are keeping up a massive worldwide conspiracy to make you think that most people believe in God. Even so, this email really takes the cake, so can you blame me for being a bit suspicious? Subject: Please Read. Excuse my typos. This is what God spoke to me about personally. Heres my phone number , please call me anytime. Read more
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