Judy:
I don't know whether I would call your example "fear of reason" Blaine - I've seen this happen time and time again
with the homosexual community on television.  When they have a representative discussing some issue with the
"talking heads" and he begins to lose ground invariably they all become impassioned and talk over or shout down  
the other person.
 
IMO the issue is not reason or fear it is morality.  Homosexuals are massively deceived and their morality has
determined their theology. This man's basic problem is sin along with a depraved mind. The man has a problem
with God and he is defending ignorance which is a form of wisdom (the kind that comes from the wrong tree).
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From: "Dean Moore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
If this is true-Where does this place Jesus when he called them hypocrites-foxes-blind leading the blind?
 
From: Blaine Borrowman  The word is “arophobia” \ n. (arophobe n., arophobic adj.).   Its definition is as follows:  “The intense, abnormal, or illogical fear of reason evidenced by personal attacks and/or attempts to place derogatory labels on those with differing views.” 

To understand the etymology of this new word, you should know that the Indo-European root of the word “reason” is “ar,” which means “to fit together.”  Derivatives include words such as “army,” “harmony,” and “arithmetic.”  In other words, one who is able to reason is one who is able to fit things together and make some sense out of them.  When coupled with the familiar suffix, “phobia,” which means “inordinate fear,” you have this word, “arophobia.”  Thus my counsel:  Don’t be an arophobe. 

I’ll share another quick story to exemplify an occasion when I believe use of this word would have been appropriate.  A couple of months ago I was invited to be a guest on a one-hour radio talk show originating in Austin, Texas and accessible nationwide over the internet.  I joined the broadcast via telephone. 

The one other guest on the show was in studio, I’ll call him Steve, a homosexual man who with his partner was trying to adopt a child.  Steve was an attorney there in Austin and was active in the community in promoting a homosexual political agenda.  The recent Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas on sodomy was part of the discussion, as was a possible federal marriage amendment and adoption by same-sex couples. 

During the discussion on adoption, Steve asserted in passing that potential fears relating to pedophilia among homosexuals were unfounded and that there were no differences between homosexual couples and heterosexual couples.  Being aware of several studies that challenge this assertion, I thought it needful to share them.  As I did so, Steve immediately became emotionally charged and began shouting irrationally into the microphone, “Liar!  Liar! Liar!  Liar!”  Although I could hear his voice over the telephone, I could also hear my own and therefore just kept talking.

Others listening to the show later told me that his voice completely drowned mine out, and that my level voice could only be heard when he took a breath.  When I stopped speaking, and he stopped shouting, the host of the show attempted to make a reconciliatory statement and broke for commercials.  Although a man practiced in rational argument, Steve’s only response had been to abandon reason and attack the messenger.  Although I never met the man personally, I am left to conclude that Steve is arophobic. 

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