I want to be honest with you.  Gut level honest.  I’m tired.  I’m tired of people throwing out words on the internet that lack substance.  Words that attack character instead of the issues.  Words that avoid the issues.  Words like “You’re arrogant,” “You’re full of Crap,” “You’re an idiot,” Etc.

1st. Those are empty words because they are an attack on character. I don’t log onto your blog and call you an idiot for your beliefs.  I will, however, debate your beliefs and point out how inconsistent it is to say “science” as if there were a collective authoritative body of work that always agrees and never disagrees with itself. That’s an issue.  Calling me arrogant is an attempt to move the argument from issue to my character.  You may feel like you don’t have to substantiate you position if I let you assassinate my character.

2nd. In most cases arrogance is a generalization.  I get called arrogant or full of crap just because I’m a Christian and I publish views that reflect my beliefs.  If you have called me arrogant, you probably don’t know me.  By generalizing me and others that are similar into a category of arrogance you are again are avoiding the issue.  You create a rule for yourself in which it is okay to treat me and my opinions as sub-par because you have placed me in a category of “full of crap.”  I dare you to argue the issues with me.

3rd. I know where this goes.  You are not the first one to level this kind argument (that isn’t an argument at all).  Its been used throughout history.  Perhaps the Nazi’s exploited this tactic best when creating propaganda against the Jews.  How do you discredit an entire race that for a large part enjoys culture and status with in your country?  You create a stigma about them and assassinate character. The saddest part of the story is that otherwise decent and moral people stood by while awful things were being said and done to their Jewish neighbors.

My only question then is how long?   How long until you deem that those that are “full of crap” don’t have a right to express their opinions on the internet?  How long until the “idiots” should stop using up earth’s precious resources?

To all my Christian brothers and sisters who feel the need to comment on someone else’s blog.  Arrogance is not an intelligent argument.  Nobody has ever been won over to a cause be being called arrogant or stupid.  Just because someone is an atheist, agnostic, etc. does not mean that they are arrogant or ignorant.  Politely argue the facts.

Just a commentary on the obvious here: arrogance is when someone believes that they are smarter or superior to you.  To claim that someone else is arrogant (to a 3rd party… like the audience of a blog) you are claiming to be smarter or superior to them.  In essence to claim the arrogance of someone else (to a 3rd party) is in a very real sense to present yourself as arrogant.  Satan is a perfect picture of this.  He argues to Adam and Eve that God is in a sense arrogant because he is keeping them from being like him.  The irony here is that Satan was kicked out of Heaven for trying to arrogantly usurp the throne of God.

The only one who has the right to judge arrogance is God.  He sees the heart clearly.

Time and space won’t allow for further comment so let me just make a few points of context.  There is a difference between being called arrogant and being called full of crap.  Perhaps as time permits I’ll handle the “crap” issue.  This blog post comes in response to several comments that I have received in the past and will receive in the future.  I do not publish all comments to this blog.  I hold back the really negative ones and don’t allow people to attack the character of the people who write comments on my blog.  There are a few instances where I have allowed personal attacks on myself (never on those supplying comment) that are mild in nature. I include a link to one here.  Most are deleted.

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