Hate Mail

Anonymous Brian

[Editor's note: this one is completely unremarkable, except that he was particularly adamant that it be posted on the site. I don't know what he hoped to accomplish with his demand, but here it is]

Tuesday 26 February 2002:

Ok, here's the thing. I wouldn't mind so much if you just presented your point of view, which could have easily been acomplished by simply presenting the creationist arguement, and then providing a counter-point.

Which is precisely what I've done.

[Editor's note: I suspect he means "presenting the creationist argument in a respectful tone and then making some mildly worded criticisms", which is obviously not what I've done]

However, this wasn't sufficient for you in your pathtic little need to prove that you are the end-all genius on the nature of life. Your pathetic tirades are both petty and wearisome. Quotes like "Hoyle was an idiot" work well in proving yourslef to be the more mature side of the issue, which you try to do throughout the site by providing flawed, irrational arguements that no sane person would ever really use. "There's more to life than science?" That's not even an arguement, and even if someone did present it in an arguement, the only reason you would post it on your page is to have as many forms of "evidence" for your arguement as possible.

Two points here:

  1. Your arguments against my site focus entirely on me, not on my arguments. Look up "ad hominem fallacy" sometime.

  2. I actually have gotten the "there's more to life than science" argument. In fact, the letters I post on my Hate Mail page represent the best of my creationist hate mail. Most of it looks like your message: a stream of personal attacks and no substance at all.

I especially liked the part of your site where you assumed the role of God in explaining why the human form is nowhere near perfect, without ever taking the time to consider just how efficient the human body really is, REGARDLESS of what side of the issue you support.

Why can't I assume the role of God? If we accept creationist dogma that he created all creatures in his "infinite wisdom", then he hasn't done a very good job of it, has he? More than 99% of the species who ever lived on this planet (as demonstrated by the fossil record) are now extinct!

If an engineer had a 99% failure rate, he'd lose his license! Moreover, if anything, I am more qualified to play the role of God than the God of Biblical literalism. After all, in Job 38, God proves himself to be a laughable ignoramus, remember?

[Editor's note: I like the way he introduces this red herring. I pointed out numerous glaring design flaws in the human body which are clearly inherited, and he retorts that it's "efficient" (without even bothering to explain how he makes that determination), while admitting that this has nothing to with which side one supports!]

In response to the odds of life starting from a molecule, you called the creationist point an "outright lie," and then proceeded to completely evade the question, going onto how "creationist statistics are nonsense." Very nice- you use the same lame tactics which you belittle in your Arguements section. Brilliantly done.

I like the way you don't bother to read my articles before presuming to debunk them. So you think I "evade" Hoyle's moronic probability argument? Perhaps you failed to notice that I have an entire group of pages devoted to a thorough debunking of that very issue, eh? Here's a hint: click on the "Probability" link.

Finally, you hide behind your web-site, posting letters and your own comments without the author of the letter having any chance at rebuttal, not to mention that most of the letters posted on your page contain ridiculous, flawed, or just outright dumb arguements which are easy for you to shoot down.

What makes you think I'm posting the worst reader responses rather than the best or most interesting ones? And what makes you think I "hide" by not having a BBS system on my website? Free guestbooks are useless (old feedback scrolls off the bottom because the free services don't want to archive), and scalable BBS systems cost money. I use my real name in all correspondence, and make no attempt to hide behind a shield of anonymity. Magazines and newspapers have employed the same practices (posting editorials and selected reader responses) for decades; are they a bunch of cowards too? Not everyone can afford to add a BBS system to their website, or take the time to administer and moderate it.

Yet again, your arguments against my site focus entirely on me, the person. Look up "ad hominem attack", Bwian.

By the way, do you want to know what a real coward is? A real coward is the sort of person who shies away from one on one debate in favour of a discussion-board melee, in which he can call in his friends and play with politics and rhetoric instead of talking science. A real coward is one who hides his identity by using webmail accounts and not revealing his full name, so he doesn't have to take responsibility for his own statements. Right, Mr. Brian With No Last Name?

Grow up. Try posting some instant messages on your site.

Are you willing to ante up the money to upgrade my web hosting account for that purpose? Will you maintain it, code it, host it, and find some full-time moderators for it? If not, then stop blowing hot air. If you can't find a better rebuttal to my critiques of creationism and Christian fundamentalist intolerance than "you don't have a BBS on your website", you make my point for me.

[Editor's note: FYI, this was written a long time ago, before I added forums to the site].

And please by all means, publish this email on your site. Your points alone, I want everyone who visits your site to recognize your arrogance and udacity for what it is. Your website is nothing more than a cheap way to show how all the "fanatical creationists" are completely wrong and that you, in all your splendor, are absolutly correct on everything.

You're half right, Bwian. It is indeed a cheap way to show how all of the fanatical creationists are completely wrong. It costs me less than $20 US per month, which I regard as good value for money. Since you apparently didn't even bother reading my arguments before attacking me personally, you demonstrate that it was a case of throwing pearls before swine in your case, but I never expected to convince people like you anyway. My arguments are directed towards people who prefer logic.

As for the bit about my "splendour", your continuing use of personal attacks and appeals to motive proves nothing apart from your willingness to rely exclusively upon fallacious rhetorical techniques. Not once in this entire message have you made a single argument or statement which remotely addresses the issue of evolution versus creationism.

Have a nice life.

I'm sure that sentiment is 100% genuine, Bwian.

PS. Normally, I wouldn't post such a useless, empty, personal attack as this. A detractor whose letter gets published generally tries to make at least one point which is somehow remotely related to the arguments I make on my site. But since you seem bound and determined to have your words appear on my site, I will accomodate your bizarre request. Luckily for you, you were too cowardly to provide your full name, so I suppose you can always cancel that Yahoo mail account of yours, and wash your hands of this whenever you want.

Last updated: February 27, 2001

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