[[If you make any more comments in that vain, I will specifically ask the BA via email to have you removed from the site. ]]

“Vein.” And go right ahead. When people use Nazi or Klan-like tactics, including Nazi or Klan-style exegesis of sacred scriptures, I will continue to point them out. And when I want advice from an anonymous poster who goes on at length about my failings but refuses to acknowledge that anyone on his side has done anything wrong, then I’ll drop you a line, kitten.

I appreciate you subsequently said you’d make an effort to ‘calm down’, and I also appreciate that you felt personally offended by some comments in which your religious beliefs were challenged.

If you make any more comments in that vain, I will specifically ask the BA via email to have you removed from the site. I don’t know if he will or not, but I think there’s a good chance.

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Some friendly advice, and I really mean it. I’ve tried hard not to be condescending or preachy. It’s the sort of advice that anyone could write, but we all need to hear it from time to time.

1) Believe it or not, I know what it’s like to get furious in an internet debate, and to feel deeply wounded, even when the comments are not directed at a personal level. We all identify ourselves with various social groups, whether it be religious or otherwise. I understand that it hurts when causes or views we care deeply about are misrepresented or attacked.

So realize, that I’m not singling you out because I disagree with you on religion. I disagree with everyone on religion. Even other atheists think some of my arguments are crazy.

2) If absolutely you have to attack, then why not compare atheists to fascists or call atheism an idiotic and dangerous philosophy? By keeping the comments aimed at a general group, you’re not insulting someone on a personal basis and so less likely to run amok of the rules. (I have a feeling the BA might not entirely approve of this point. Accusations of Nazism rarely improve a debate, no matter what context.)

3) Try to remember that you don’t know any of the people you’re criticizing. You’re only judging them by a few words, which through no fault of your own, you could be misinterpreting. The internet is a great tool, but it’s sometimes hard to get a viewpoint across in email and bulletin boards and confusion is the norm.

The reason that personal attacks are frowned upon is partly because you have no idea what the person you’re attacking is really like. I imagine that many of the people I’ve argued with, who sound like foaming at the mouth bigots on the internet, are in reality people who in ‘real life’ I would get along with just fine.

Also, you have to realize that this board is read by adolescents, who may sometimes post comments. It’s possible that a personal attack which an adult would be able to brush off would be far more serious if the person you were criticizing turned out to be a child.

There’s also the possibility that a person you’re arguing with has psychiatric problems. (No, I’m not referring to anyone on this page). Some of the more extreme comments I’ve read on the internet were probably written by people with mental illness. Their comments may be annoying, but do you really want to be the one seen kicking a mentally ill person when he/she’s down?

4) This is not an atheist site. Do not presume that the BA is an atheist. He has never mentioned his private views in that regard. Unlike me, the BA does not criticize all Christians in general. He criticizes religious people only for specific comments.

You would probably be mistaken to assume that the BA shares my views or Daffy’s views on religion and atheism. It’s quite possible that he thinks my posts are idiotic and derail his threads, or that some of my posts are plain wrong. (He did say that with one of my posts a couple of years ago.)

For all we know, the BA could be Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian or atheist. However he identifies himself, we do know that he doesn’t like some aspects of faith/spirituality, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t identify with a particular belief system. (For comparison, Martin Gardner, who is one of the most famous skeptics and who has written numerous articles criticizing religion self-identifies as a Christian who believes in a god.)

The BA forums are used by people of every religion. That doesn’t mean we have to agree with each-other in threads like this, but it does show that your religious belief (if any) is not a pre-requisite for posting.

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I want to emphasize that I have no more right than you, or anyone else to post on these boards as long as we both follow the rules. In fact, none of has any rights. We can only post on the BA’s blog because he grants us that privilege. It his decision to revoke it.

Also, I do not speak for the BA and have no more knowledge than you when it comes to rule-breaking. If you’ve read the rules, then you know as much as me. And again, I do not expect the BA to agree with my comments on religion any more than yours.

I won’t respond, because these arguments have gone on long enough. It’s slightly crazy to be writing new posts to a Blog page which is a week old. Besides, we’ve long since lost the thread of the original Blog post and are not adding anything new. So this will be the last time I write anything on this page.

[[“Gee, you harrass me endlessly and I reply with insults and slander. I wonder what could have motivated that?”

Bad manners.]]

As opposed to your impeccable courtesy? Stop giving yourself airs.

Bad manners.

[[All I have done is ask—over and over again—for you to explain the context where killing babies is OK. I say such killing is wrong and there is no context that makes it OK.]]

I explained it, in detail, the first time you brought it up. You keep bringing it up, claiming I can’t answer you, when anybody following these threads knows I already did answer you.

[[You have responded with insults and slander.]]

Gee, you harrass me endlessly and I reply with insults and slander. I wonder what could have motivated that?

Barton, please show one quote from me where I treated you like an enemy. All I have done is ask—over and over again—for you to explain the context where killing babies is OK. I say such killing is wrong and there is no context that makes it OK.

You have responded with insults and slander.

I’ll try to “calm down,” but I sure am sick of being treated like an enemy because I don’t share the religious beliefs of most of the posters. Religious bigotry is just as unattractive as name-calling, in my view. Of course, I’m not making the rules here.