I haven't followed this so far, but did look back in you archives when I read your latest post. I don't think the problem is as much the lathered vehemence of some pseudo-Christian, (if he hadn't been here, he'd have invented himself somewhere else.), I'm disturbed by associates sites bailing out at the singular rantings of flaming little ball of righteous indignation.
Anyone who has read my commentaries knows that I am a fierce defender of free speech on the web. In fact, I've commented on both Starmax sites about a webmom's responsibilty for minimum inteference with posts. I also feel that you are free to persent any personal support of your own to any issue you may choose--and in any column or venue.
Your sense and right of free speech is no less than anyone else's.
I also feel that having this power of decision and choice in the overview of what a reader might see, calls for a greater self-criticism and honest challenge for the ones in power. I have no problem with slippage and failure if there is at least some recognition of corrections available and balance occurs more often than not. You put in the energy and you wear your heart on your sleeve; that's generally good enough for me in the first consideration. Your following actions of publicly airing the issues and allowing us to see both sides, continues my sense of trust in your character and decisions.
I can't tell if Christianity or "Islam seem to encourage intolerance of other religions and sanctions violence against nonbelievers." to quoute a part of a letter in the bin. The practices of both sets of followers can be really malodorous at times--and thru history, they've been deadly. Interestingly, free speech protects both, not that the zealots notice, and it protects every subset of other religions as well.
It takes a sophistication and maturity to understand that; two states Mr. Bauer has not yet achieved. And, I really could care less about the date wisdom knocks on his door, but he's been out there working and writing, and convinced some knee-jerk associate sites to pull the plug. That's a shame because they should have the same sense of responsibility tothe goals of balance and free choice.
They may claim they're responding to concerns of their customers; they're just inattentive and stupid, acting before thinking.
Maybe that's the general problem: the absence of thinking. Absence of thinking for Christianity and Islam, and any other intolerant group that claims linkage with God, and will punish their imagined disbelievers.
When global warming and the other plagues we have called upon ourselves, disrupt farming and diminish the oil we need for winters and transportation, I suspect I will find the rioting, furious, newly deprived to be rarely pious and religiously indistinguishable. Jew, Christian, Muslim, and all, will fight, spit and scream over the scraps.
It's easy to be religious at a keyboard in a warm room, waxing eloquent over one's personal purity. Me, I find that distastful. In him, I mean. For me, well, that's a different story...
God may indeed have provided one religion. He also provided us the fog of personal hypocracies as a test. Then, he gave us free choice.
Look around and see how well we're doing.
Bob Wulkowicz
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