Sometimes I astound myself

Gilburn is a poor-man’s Richard Dawkins, whose YouTube videos are popular with and considered marvelously enlightening by the sort of 10th-grade boys who seriously believe that no Christian has ever read the Bible. (This is a common theme in the sort of science fiction they read, wherein the scene featuring the atheist hero stunning the Bible-thumping bigot into silence with a devastating quote from John 8:7 is as mandatory as the sex scene with the seductive female scientist/space alien. Of course, only an author who knows nothing about the ubiquity of Christian Bible studies could posit such a scenario, moreover, they invariably leave out John 8:11.)
– Vox Day, 12 February 2007

Luckily, I happen to have a Bible laying around this house, because even though I’m not a Christian, I was an English major, and it is important to Know Your Ancient Mythologies if you are reading poetry. And I flipped to this passage that seems to have solid advice on what to do if you’ve got some asshole dragging a woman in front of an angry crowd and yelling, “SINNER!”:
– Amynda Marcotte, 13 February 2007

Here’s a suggestion for atheists who wish to avoid looking like ignorant doorknobs. Stay very far away from quoting the Gospels, 1st Corinthians and 1st John if you harbor a desire to play Bible expert. I recommend delving into the latter part of Job, Ecclesiastes, or Ephesians if you want to have even a prayer of saying something that isn’t effortlessly dismantled by anyone whose spent more than six months attending a Bible study.

Her ignorance is demonstrated by her focus on the misguided notion of her losing her job due to her being a sinner. That was never the point, as every Christian already knew that before the first time encounter with her verbal diarrhea. The point, from the start, that she is a man-hating, Christian-hating bigot, publicly condemned and convicted as such by her own words and therefore a major handicap to the Edwards’ campaign seeking Christian votes. A campaign to which no one dragged her, one should mention.

And one should also mention that criticism based on direct quotes of your own words is hardly equivalent to a fatal stoning. Yes, there is a certain symmetry in the metaphor of “words” and “stones” combined with “forced resignation” and “death”, but it is a shallow one.

Her problem is that there is no “context” in which her writings can be interpreted in which those terms do not apply to her, and yet Amynda is too wedded to her sanctimonious rage to view herself with any degree of objectivity. The fact that she genuinely hates certain forms of bigotry does not inoculate her from being a bigot herself any more than having been an abused child inoculates an adult from abusing others.

But in any case, her sin is no worse than anyone else’s. The door is always there, awaiting only the knock.