Every couple of weeks I seem to pique the interest of some absolute raving nutter.
It usually goes something like this. I post an article on some current news item. The Queen spends $10 million on curtains for Windsor Castle, for example (she hasn’t, as far as I know). So I write a few words about whether the British public are getting good value for money from their Queen.
A couple of days later there is a long and outraged comment, demanding to know why I have used a word that is offensive to the whole gay commuity. Don’t I care that gay people have been oppressed for centuries?
Then there will be several paragraphs detailing incidents of oppression of homosexuals, and perhaps a quote or two from the Magna Carta thrown in for good measure.
Shortly afterwards I will find that this comment has been emailed to a couple of hundred people, pointing out what a hopeless homophobe I am.
Then there will be several more comments detailing at rambling and incoherent length, the hideous oppressions to which the gay community is still subjected. Some of these will include unpleasant personal insults directed at me and any other commenters who have asked what the heck is going through this person’s mind.
Some of those comments I will not allow through. Of course this proves what an unspeakable bastard I am, imposing my views on the gay community, using the power of censorship to silence the oppressed.
There may even be a little exchange demanding to know why I didn’t discuss my inflammatory and biased views with representatives of the gay community before publishing them.
I’ll reply that what I said was in response to a news article, and I was just expressing my own opinion. Others are welcome to do the same, and if any members of the gay community do want to speak with me, I’d be more than happy to talk with them.
That’s typical of my kind of ego-centric gender focussed personality, I’ll be told.
It’s very well for me to sit back and expect the oppressed minority to come to me. I wouldn’t think of making the effort to go to them, would I?
By now there will have been several more comments by the same person, perhaps on different articles.
For example, if I have written about climate change, I will be asked why I have, once again, failed to include the gay perspective, which will be detailed at length.
If I write about agricultural policy in Africa, my homophobia means I won’t even give passing recogniton to the plight of gay rice planters in Swaziland. My fortnightly weirdo will thoughtfully fill in the gaps, while continuing to send examples of my perfidious lack of concern to his or her extensive mailing list.
After the first couple of exchanges I usually recognise the pattern, and ask politely that the person stop emailing me. That request will be ignored.
Eventually, a week or so after I stop publishing any more comments and answering any more emails, my nutter will go away, presumably to pester some other blogger or public figure about why he or she is participating in the marginalisation of an oppressed minority by refusing to acknowledge the extensive gay contribution to highway traffic planning.
And then I’ll have a bit of peace for a week or so till the next nutter comes along.
Gees Peter, after reading this article and the vagueness of your rant against someone that must have taken offense to an apparent opinion you expressed against the gay community, I searched everywhere to try and find the negative comment to which you refer. (Next time, add some links to the post in question). Not finding it, in fact, finding very little comments left, on any of your posts, I can only assume:
1. Either your blog has VERY LITTLE readership, or
2. You have a very heavy hand in censoring your comments.
In either case, I wonder why you spend so much time then, blogging, get another life and certainly do not give up your day job!
I can only assume the “nutter” case, as you refer to it, actually had a valid point about your homophobia, or, perhaps you are ranting about his misinterpretation of your opinion…hard to tell.
So I am assuming this rant is about your dislike of someone else expressing an opposing view and how you seem to be “put out” by his comments, as well as you gloating over your ability to censor opposing views.(I also assume you will censor this comment as well)
After reviewing the content in this post, it certainly appears, the only raving nutter case here, is YOU!
Ken
http://rvbirdsofafeather.blogspot.com
Thanks Ken. As far as I know I have never had any problems with the gay community – the best man at my wedding, my best friend at the time, is gay, as is one of my brothers.
I do, as I’m sure most bloggers do, get very odd responses to posts from time to time, reponses that are personal, seemingly irrational, and vehement to the point of being quite scary.
The events I described are imaginary, as I thought I had made clear. But they are an accurate summary of the kind of interaction I have experienced (though never on gay issues, which is one of the reasons I picked them as an illustration!).
Sometimes it is necessary to filter comments which are abusive or libellous. My point was that in my experience it is exactly the people who are most abusive who complain most about being censored. But I never block a comment just because it expresses views different from mine.
Ha ha.
Very funny. Ken’s response proving the point perfectly:
“I searched everywhere to try and find the negative comment to which you refer. (Next time, add some links to the post in question)’
OMG!
Being stalked is never fun, even online. I’ve also run into people who are so obsessed with their own agenda that they cannot see anything else, everything has to relate to their perspective. They think there is something wrong with you if you don’t agree. There is no reasoning with them, because often their arguments with you are not with anything you have done or said but with what they assume about who you are and what you meant.
The only positive is that they eventually give up and go and pester someone else.
In the cirsumstances, Ken’s comment, with its misreading of the post and truckloads of assumptions, is priceless.