Answering Some of My Critics

Around the web I have several detractors. They accuse me of a few things which I’d like to take the time to answer. I’m accused of being an egotistical self-promoting control freak who censors comments at DC and bans people off his Blog who disagree with me. I’m accused of wanting fame and financial gain. I'm accused of being childish and abrasive. Granted this comes from a small fringe of people but since their noise is discovered by search engines I should respond.

I’ve tried to resist responding to such ignorant and false drivel before. I know I cannot satisfy the people making such accusations. I also know that by responding I’ll give them more fodder. But here goes.

Am I a self-promoter? Why shouldn't I be? Do I want financial gain? Why not? Do I want fame? Who doesn’t? Am I egotistical? So what if I am? An egotistical person is usually in the eye of the beholder anyway, and since it takes one to know one, the person making that accusation is probably more affected by that disease. The truth about me is that I lack a whole lot of self-esteem. I’m never satisfied with my efforts. I always find fault with them. I continually think I don’t measure up. So when people tell me I did something great I get excited about it. If I appear egotistical then it’s merely because I’m overjoyed and excited that people tell me I did something great. This is what people are telling me about my efforts to debunk Christianity. And fame is a double edged sword, anyway. The more famous a person is the more that person has problems.

I have a few internet stalkers and trolls here at DC, a few websites dedicated to trashing me, along with several published books and ebooks against me and more promised coming down the pike. They say you can tell how famous a person is by the number of stalkers he or she has. Well I have some. Woooo! Hoooo! The problem is that people hate me for what I’m doing. I’m not famous. I’m infamous. Yeah, that’s what I want, right.

Am I in it for financial gain? This is absolute bullshit! I barely make a living as it is precisely because I spend too much time writing and blogging. THAT’S why I appreciate any financial help I can get from people who click on the donate button in the sidebar. People who have never published a book have no clue how little an author makes when there is a publisher involved. If I did it for the money I wouldn't do it at all. It has brought me to the precipice of financial ruin more than once.

I only “censor” comments here at this Blog by the same standards any newspaper editor uses when deciding whether to publish a “Letter to the Editor.” That’s because I want a civilized and intelligent discussion of the ideas that separate us, or none at all. I don't want any personal attacks on anyone, but I'm most sensitive to attacks on me, especially coming from atheists on my side who do more harm to me than the other side. If these atheists were truly my friends then they would do what friends do. They would criticize in private and praise in public. The ones doing the complaining know how to email me. So when they slam me in public I cannot treat them as if they are my friends.

This is my Blog. It’s my house. I invite guests here into my house. If they don’t respect me, or if they somehow think they can tell me what goals to pursue or how to live my life and complain if I don't do what they say, there will be problems. Too many wannabes think they know more than I do and how to do it best. Well, if that's the case then do it and leave me alone.

As for the accusation of childish behavior goes, my problem is that I write for the average educated person in the pew. People can understand what I write quite easily, and I write that way on purpose. I do not use a lot of Hebrew or Greek but I could. I don't need to do so, you see, since I have done that kind of work before writing and the scholars who know the original languages will know that I got it right, usually. And I don't write to impress people with big philosophical words even though I could do so, because of my target audience. But this means most any Christian can understand what I write and so they come to deride me. I can only take so much derision. Sometimes I blast back. There is at the present time a debate among atheists whether ridicule should be used. I think it should be used in some select instances, but one could hardly make the claim that this is most of what you see coming from me.

In my book WIBA I spoke about my personal life as a Christian and how I had personal character flaws. Christians have used that against me. I have blasted them back, since after all they are getting personal with my life. It's hard not to resist. You try writing a book that does that and see how you like it when they misrepresent your personal life. See if you won't at times blast them for it. Hint: You will. But my personal story is important in my deconversion precisely because it reveals how much it took for me to question my inherited faith. My personal experiences forced me to do what I should have been doing all along; critically examining it.

There are other accusations. Expect them. Just tell my accusers to produce evidence, think about them, and then tell these accusers to try to answer my arguments.

One thing is for sure. I stand in the gap. It's where I want to be. I am reaching across this divide to Christians. They don't like me because I'm doing so. Some atheists don't like me because they cannot put me in their pocket.

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Now let me get back to what I do best. No more distractions. I've got better things to do. If my accusers really cared about the things I do, then they would not try to "save face" by attacking a person such as myself who uses his real name. They play footloose and fancy free with my name, but realize that they are doing so from behind otherwise anonymous monikers, and are therefore chickens.

[First posted on 10/16/11]

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