Rising to the Bait

I’m probably going to regret this in the morning … but, what the heck!?

One commenter downstream accused me of censorship for my decision to turn comment moderation “on” for this blog. That’s rather ironic, since I have published every one of his comments here. I’m not afraid of disagreement, though some of it does sadden me.

Strangely enough, after I announced I was going to begin moderating comments, I only got a few more comments of the “ick” variety, then they died down and took their screeds to other blogs. Perhaps the mere awareness that they were going to be scrutinized here kept some of the bottom feeders away. I don’t know. But I do know that, while waiting for these people to slink back into the primordial slime, I was determined to review comments before I allowed them to post here.

There are some things that are beyond the pale. I will allow some mild profanity here. The occasional mild expletive does not get my knickers in a twist. Heck! I’ll even allow four-letter words like "ALPO" and intellectually vapid phrases like “the plain meaning of Scripture” to be used. But there are certain four-letter words which will not appear here. [Hint: If it would make my mother blush, the word or phrase won’t get published here.] And some comments have had a hateful, unChristian tone which I will not publish here.

Now … if you want some evidence of why I had to begin moderating each and every comment, here are some of the discussions currently transpiring elsewhere in the blogosphere about a couple of my recent entries. Be forewarned: the level of disdain and vitriol in these blogs may be more than some of you want to endure. So click on these at your own risk.

Some folks flat did not like my PhotoChopped "primate" image. You may be entertained by their outrage. Fortunately, at least one blogger urged these folks to “get a life!”

My "After Columbus" post didn’t win me a bunch of fans, either. Readers at Drell's Descants were comparatively restrained – except they couldn’t decide (as they put it) "whether to laugh or throw up" at the distress I and that young man at Starbuck’s were feeling after GC06’s decisions. These Canadians also seem to have come up a gallon short on the “milk of human kindness.” But the prize goes to this Missouri blog , whose readers really went into a feeding frenzy. One progressive priest tried to remind them of the need for Christian charity, and that led to one of them calling him “Antichrist.” You really must read the comments to “feel the love” that these supposedly orthodox Christians exhibit.

Added 08.06.06: I forgot to include this site you should include in your exploration of the underbelly of Episcopalian Bottom Feeders. It’s run by a person (or group; that’s not quite clear) that typifies the behavior of trolling through liberal/progressive blogs in order to find snippets for use as target practice. This lovely little discussion is focused on a friend I’ve made in cyberspace; I merely rate a light comment about my “Mutual Whining Society” site. But the sixth-grade-level name-calling here truly did take my breath away. “St. Elizabeth of the Perpetually Huffy”? “Lizzy the Lezzie”? I am astonished at this kind of speech among purported Episcopalians! I had thought that at least Episcopalians exhibited some manners and decorum. This gang proves me wrong. To their credit, note that one or two of the regulars there actually chide their “orthodox friends” when the venom goes off the charts.

Friends, this is the kind of stuff that's being written on the sites that claim they want to cling to the "faith once delivered to the saints." If that's their faith -- and if those are the fruits of that faith -- then kindly "color me gone."

You may wonder why the heck I am publishing those links. My reason is simple, and two-fold. First, if you want to use the yardstick, “See how those Christians love one another,” then I think you’ll quickly figure out which weblogs are exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit. Second, these were the kinds of comments coming into my wee little blog, and I want you to know why I had to go into “comment moderation” mode.

Edit 8/6/06: Aha! Now I understand. It's the Cavaliers and the Roundheads again. MadPriest has a great and funny analysis of this whole dynamic. Go there and read!