I'm supposed to be on a blogging
sabbatical but after reading a comment left on this site, I feel
compelled to respond to it. Jack McIntyre took issue with a
misspelled word in my previous post. I apologize profusely for
failing to run the post in question through a spellchecker and, yes,
I am guilty at times of mauling the English language and its proper spelling.
Before I maul Jack's comment, I will commend him for a couple of
things. First, he actually put the comment on the blog rather than
emailing it to me like so many other spineless liberals do when they
want to insult me but don't want their musings out there for public
consumption. Second, he signed his name to it. Most of you would be ashamed
to put your good name on a comment like his. After reading Jack's
insult you'll also understand why I'm a little weary of this blogging
thing.
In one of my introductory posts I asked
that comments remain above board and wrote:
[T]his can be a place where ideas
are introduced, exchanged and accepted or rejected. This will be a
place where tough issues are discussed and debated and opinions
become better informed.
In the year that I've been writing this
blog, I've tried to uphold that standard and admittedly, I've failed
on a few occasions. I have at times published things that I regret
and I have removed them and apologized. However, I treasure an email
sent from a Democrat legislator that remarked about how they enjoyed
reading this blog because it wasn't “bitter” (his word) like so
many others. I left professional politics a year ago and in that
time, I've learned that I don't have to hate Democrats or liberals in
order to disagree with them. I can respect them as individuals even
if I take issue with their politics. I reiterated that sentiment to
someone whom I felt I unfairly attacked on this site. I apologized
to them in person and that apology was unsolicited.
Despite my failures at times, I
honestly do my best to be fair to every subject I cover. And because
I do, I was shocked to read this from Jack McIntyre after I typed
“guillotene” where I should have typed “guillotine”:
Don't you mean "guillotine?"
Too much time studying the Bible and not enough time studying the
three r's?
I have asked Mr. McIntyre for
additional comment or context on this but at present have not heard a
reply. In the absence of such a reply, I assume he means that one cannot be simultaneously smart and
a Christian. What has caused this pervasive (or perverse) animosity
towards Christians? Is it because Christians had the temerity to
vote? We didn't hear this drumbeat at this volume until Christians
supposedly swung two presidential elections, so that must be it. I
guess liberals would rather have Christians pay their taxes, shut up
and leave the governing to the experts.
Perhaps liberals don't like Christians'
faith informing their worldview, political or otherwise. How dare
anyone use the, gasp, Bible as a basis for thought. But that doesn't
explain why Joe would say that to me. I did a quick review of my
archives and cannot find a single instance where I have used
scripture as the basis for a political argument because I will not use my faith as a crutch to prop up my
political views. I can recite countless Biblical foundations for my
views on taxation, welfare, abortion, gay marriage, social
responsibility and just about any other issue Jack wants to put on
the table. But I don't use those arguments to sway others to my point
of view mainly because Biblical arguments won't be compelling to someone who does not believe in God. I would love to share my faith with them, but I won't do it in a political context. I do, however, measure my political views against my faith because I want to ensure that they are consistent. But I certainly won't tell anyone they're going to hell because they hold a different belief on taxation than mine.
Jack McIntyre and those of his ilk love to lecture about tolerance. Yet their animus towards Christians can only be described as intolerant and even bigoted. I don't understand why political discourse has devolved to this pitifully low level, but I won't allow it to perpetuate here. I will continue to try my best to be respectful of everyone regardless of race, sexual orientation and especially religion. All I ask is that readers and commenters do the same. If you want to disagree with me, please feel free. I welcome any engaging and thoughtful debate. But if you feel the urge to attack anyone personally, especially for their religion, then use someone else's bandwidth to commiserate with your fellow bigots. And that goes for anyone who berates Jews, Muslims or even athiests.
I'm going to continue my vacation from blogging now. I'll be back in a week or two.
