Steven,
I suppose my personal animosity arose after the nastiness about my distinguishing between 'christianists' or Evangelical Republicans and Christians.
The attacks, the hateful and spiteful emails, the threats of physical violence, the denunciations to 'authorities', the viciousness with which some of the Christians around here 'proved' to me that I had no right to use the word christianist for people...exhibiting exactly their nasty behavior did nothing to make me feel good about them.
It also doesn't help matters that I have had the opportunity for the last 25 years to live in a culture which treats gays as human beings with full civil rights, including marriage. Obviously, I am not going to let anyone put me into the closet, strip me of my rights and confine me to non-human status. And that is exactly what the Evangelical Republicans, the christianists are now doing.
There are a large number of Christians on this website who don't threaten others with harm to their parents, who don't send nasty-o-grams.
But there are enough folks here who have made their hatred for all of us who don't follow their interpretation of the bible clear, it is not really a wonder that many of us have lost our patience.
Back when the killer queens were furious with me for saying, to me, 'gun control means using both hands', I really took it on the chin from the self-appointed arbitrators of leftist politics. Back when I, a vegetarian, said I had no problem with hunters bagging their limit and donating the game to food banks, well, quite a few of the ladies got the vapors. When I admitted as that I hold the mink to be a vicious rat in a nice coat and have no problem with leather and fur...well, gracious me oh my. But none of these queens, and believe me, they do not like me, threatened me, wished my parents physical harm, sent me emails containing the sort of language you'd expect from a sufferer of Tourret's syndrome.... Nope, they disagreed, loudly...but we still work together.
Just as you and I work together. Our only agreement is that the US Constitution is the best work civilization has ever brought forth...but you have distinguish between my opinions and me.
Other conservatives here have also refrained from ad hominem attacks. Unfortunately, too many on the 'right' have just plain been so nasty, is it really a surprise that folks are pushing back? It has not been easy to acknowledge that I have lost the ability to distinguish between the nasty folks on the right and the non-nasty. That's why I have withdrawn from political commentary until after the election. Of course, I don't go around wishing people a death in agony, either...as some here have done.
It is hard, I am certain, for those here who feel their Christian beliefs are under attack. I regret that. For those of us receiving nasty-o-grams wishing us death in agony because we are not Christians in the way the christianists demand we be...well, when that's how we are being treated, is it surprising we aren't all that pleased?
I tried to distinguish between the two groups with the term 'christianist' or Evangelical Republican. Didn't help, the attacks just increased exponentially.
At this point, I don't know what to do...except to note that neither the Wiccans, the Jews nor the Jewish Wiccans around here are attacking people. Maybe the Christian right could learn something from them?
