Teh Interwebs- There's Criticism

atheism, atheist, christian, jesus, religion, christianity, tom estes,

Tom Estes of Hard Truth* has a little trouble with the part of Teh Interwebs I enjoy most- the interactivity. On good days, I'm funny, maybe even insightful, and get compliments. On great days, I say something that sparks a fascinating, if only tangentially related, conversation in the comments. On my off days, I say something stupid, you call me on it, we all have a little laugh and move on.

That's the internet. If you don't want to deal with criticism, don't post on the internet. Write your thoughts in your journal and hide the journal under your mattress.

Mr. Estes just can't seem to figure that out. He posts something stupid, people call him on it and he changes his comment policies. First there were the ridiculous commenting rules, which could be boiled down to "unless you plan on kissing my ass, don't comment". Then Hard Truth became an "almost atheist-free zone", a little odd for a blog devoted to "exposing the adverse effects of atheism on our world**".

Most recently, Mr. Estes posted on Lord May. If you're not familiar with Lord May, Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, simply typing "lord may" into google will give you a wealth of information, something Mr. Estes clearly didn't bother to do.

This article is about a scientist who calls himself, and not making this up, Lord May. That's right, Lord May. I guess he did it to simplify conversation. Now, when someone wants to ask him a question, their sentence can begin with their question, and his name at the same time. One could say, "lord, may I hear your ridiculous opinion on a particular matter?" See how that works? It kills two birds with one stone.

The comments to this post, of course, were hilarious, as one commentor after another excoriated Mr. Estes for his stunning inability to use google. Mr. Estes, never one to take criticism well, has gone scorched earth on the comment policy.

Here's the thing, the atheists that come here don't own this site, and it's time for them to understand that, so here is how things are going to work for a while.

My posts will no longer be enabled to receive comments.

All comments will be made in the forums.

There will be two forum pages; Christians forum topics, and atheist forum topics.
You will be free to comment in either forum, but if Christians want to comment on atheist topics, you must discuss the topics as framed by the atheist who started it. And if an atheist wants to comment on a Christian forum topic, you need to understand that all comments need to be from a Christian perspective. If an atheist wants to start a Christian topic that's fine, and vice versa, but nothing condescending, it needs to be out of genuine curiosity.

As always, no foul or hateful language of any kind will be permitted.

So, nobody gets to see Mr. Estes called on his hateful stupidity, and atheists will be forced to comment from the Christian perspective in the forums? What does that even mean? I suspect it means that unless I'm crediting Jesus with helping me find my keys this morning, I'm out.

Here's a hard truth, Mr. Estes: if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you can't handle it when someone calls you on your bullshit, don't post it on the internet. Go preach to the choir from the pulpit and soak up the sycophancy if that's what you need, but the internet is clearly not for you.

*Totally juvenile, but seriously, T.Estes of Hard Truth? Really?

**Atheism: the real reason polar bears are disappearing. What can I say? They're tasty!