Comments on: Don’t Use Exclamation Points

By: There are Nerds, and then there are Bigots | Inkandescence

There are Nerds, and then there are Bigots | Inkandescence — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 21:31:04 +0000

[…] kind that grow more likely the farther out of one’s familiar precincts one is lured. The torch-and-pitchfork crowds await, and one gets no reasonable opportunity to make amends or seek redress for […]

By: There are Nerds, and then there are Bigots | Hang Together

There are Nerds, and then there are Bigots | Hang Together — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 21:30:51 +0000

By: Don’t Expect Torch-and-Pitchfork Crowds to Behave Consistently | Hang Together

Fri, 29 May 2015 00:57:04 +0000

[…] can go wrong, then: only do not be drawn into the half-light, then the darkness, in your urge to fight–or your urge to flee–or your urge to be nice. […]

By: Don’t Expect Torch-and-Pitchfork Crowds to Behave Consistently | Inkandescence

Sat, 23 May 2015 05:56:38 +0000

[…] can go wrong, then: only do not be drawn into the half-light, then the darkness, in your urge to fight–or your urge to flee–or your urge to be nice. […]

By: Yes, let’s do that! | Hang Together

Yes, let’s do that! | Hang Together — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 23:50:11 +0000

[…] be, an excuse for giving in to another lie today because you gave into a similar one yesterday. Tell the truth, and shame the devil. And then go do what you can about yesterday’s lie, too. Douthat gets fuzzy, […]

By: Yes, let’s do that! | Inkandescence

Yes, let’s do that! | Inkandescence — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 23:40:10 +0000

By: Sometimes Reason Must Raise Her Voice | Hang Together

Sometimes Reason Must Raise Her Voice | Hang Together — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 20:24:35 +0000

[…] call for the unity of reasonable people in the face of the torch-and-pitchfork crowd’s endless and irrational […]

By: Sometimes Reason Must Raise Her Voice | Inkandescence

Sometimes Reason Must Raise Her Voice | Inkandescence — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 20:23:37 +0000

[…] call for the unity of reasonable people in the face of the torch-and-pitchfork crowd’s endless and irrational […]

By: …or you could just go with bigotry | Hang Together

…or you could just go with bigotry | Hang Together — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 13:45:45 +0000

[…] send the witch-hunters a memo about that, please. And make sure you’re keeping it respectful, yourself, while […]

By: pgepps

pgepps — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 03:37:13 +0000

Or, as I've said elsewhere:

Thought, for the nihilist, is whatever “intelligent” expression he is not currently rebelling against; whatever he attacks becomes, simply because he is attacking it, an “imaginary being” of “abstract fancy.”

(source: The Problem of Nihilism in Public Discourse: A Case Study (Part 4) | Hang Together)

By: pgepps

pgepps — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 02:12:50 +0000

One always wonders whether there’s more to it, but–as far as I can tell, there’s not. See http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2015/03/nj_private_school_forces_teacher_to_remove_faceboo.html and http://www.towleroad.com/2015/03/susan-sarandon-real-housewives-star-slam-catholic-high-school-teachers-anti-gay-facebook-rant-.html

Unbelievable, really. Here’s the language that the person who launched the witch hunt used:

“This nightmare dumpster human taught me in high school, and still teaches there. Keep it classy, Immaculata”

If there is actually something bad happening here, something patently offensive, nobody has come forward with it–and if there really is, someone really should. The only hateful, accusatory, damaging speech I’ve seen in any of the reports, the tweets, and the petition comes from those obviously hostile to this teacher.

“Every form of unjust discrimination is to be avoided.” That’s the rule we’re held to by our Church.

What rules do these torch-and-pitchfork crowds observe?

And what standards do our own ecclesiastical superiors stand for, when we stand for what they teach?

I don’t like the term “gay agenda,” because I think it’s imprecise and clouds the issue. I don’t use it, and I don’t approve its use. But when we see stories like the following, what are we to call it?

http://www.cnet.com/news/mozilla-ceo-gay-marriage-firestorm-could-hurt-firefox-cause-q-a/

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sf-archdiocese-teachers-20150304-story.html

http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2015/03/nj_private_school_forces_teacher_to_remove_faceboo.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/09/showbiz/benham-brothers-hgtv/