The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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February 17, 2004
Mea Culpa: My un-hate crimes So I accidentally started the Bad Eagle anti-Massacre Movement, cheesing off a good many people. I apparently sinned fairly significantly by not being sufficiently offended by the childish racial jabs of this guy David Yeagley.
I apparently offended a good sized part of the Blogcritics community, which railed against me in colorful terms. Some opined that this situation proved that I am a "racist" or am racially insensitive, which is pretty much the same thing. "How could you?" and proclamations that my words could never be read the same way ever again greeted my crime.
All right, then. I'm a bad guy. Cool. I don't think you have the full picture of my badness. I've got other similar sins to confess, and offer myself up for the moral judgment of the community.
What exactly did I do bad in the "Should Janet Jackson Be Punished?" post? I quoted in a friendly manner something from David Yeagley's Bad Eagle website. I didn't agree with his ultimate judgment, but quoted him in a respectful manner to discuss his idea.
Other Blogcritics went to Yeagley's site and found some childish racial jabs, most notably another article about Janet Jackson illustrated with a picture of a gorilla. I was personally less than thrilled with his comments about the "Turd World."
I suggested that I found those comments hateful and inappropriate, but did not feel or display any particularly ANGRY reaction. Whereas on the other hand, a big chunk of the Blogcritics community went just batty against Yeagley, wishing him death and suffering, etc.
It was apparently considered requisite in order to mitigate the offense of having mentioned the name of such an evil person in a friendly manner that I must lead the group in some kind of Orwellian Two-Minute Hate against Yeagley in order to prove that I am not a racist. Refusing to join the verbal lynching of Bad Eagle meant that I myself am suspect of wicked racism.
Alright, if that is what you think. As Ayn Rand said, "Judge- and prepare to be judged." We could start with other Blogcritics' crimes against proper racial sensitivity, but let's put the judgment on me.
To that end, I think I've violated those standards of racial sensitivity on numerous occassions. I have repeatedly given at least limited friendly, civil discourse to several people with hostile, prejudiced racially based views- people FAR worse than Bad Eagle. I'd like to offer them for your consideration and judgement. Tell me which of these situations constitutes offensive racial behavior on my part:
OFFENDER #1: Mac Diva Despite the constant racial and just all round hostility, I've repeatedly praised different things she's said. I've tried, largely in vain, to make nice with her. Should I be condemned as implicitly supporting her bigotry by not denouncing her in the harshest terms, and wishing her suffering and death? She's a lot harsher in her bigotry than Yeagley.
OFFENDER #2: Al Sharpton The Rev is not just a crank venting his spleen, but a crafty demagogue manipulating the deepest racial anxieties of his people. People have absolutely died under the promptings of his demagoguery, but he doesn't much care. He's many bazillion times worse than Bad Eagle.
Yet I've several times written positive words about Sharpton. I praised his performance on SNL, and at least once or twice his performances during the presidential debates. The man's got skills.
I've never ever wished suffering or death on Sharpton, despite his bad behavior. Hell, I'm going to vote for him when the primaries roll through Indiana. I may yet contribute money. Am I a racist sympathizer or some bad sin like that?
OFFENDER #3 RAY HANANIA Mr. Hanania gained a minute of reknown back in 2002 by getting bumped off the lineup for a 10 minute spot at a Chicago comedy club opening for Jackie Mason.
Investigating the story of the Hanania guy, I quickly found some really ugly stuff. Hanania is an American of Palestinian ancestry, who obviously identifies strongly with that side of things. To that end, he had published a letter of praise for the Palestinian intifada murderers, praising them to correct the original mistake of having allowed Israel to come into existence. [That particular letter has since been deleted from The Daily Star website- a Lebanese paper.]
Heaping praise and encouragement on people who are actually out killing people rates FAR worse in my ledger than a couple of South Park playground insults from Bad Eagle. Hanania was pushing some dangerous buttons in some dangerous people.
Yet, I never cursed Hanania, nor wished him harm. The harshest thing I wrote was an explanation of how he personally fulfilled negative stereotypes of Arabs and Palestinians. Even then, I stated the facts gently, and carefully pulled back a bit at the end. I tried to be as generous as I reasonably could. I didn't wish him ill.
This dude was praising the sacrifices of murderers who massacre Jews. He's been extremely hateful to Jews. Am I commiting an un-hate crime by not denouncing Hanania to a special circle of hell with horrible suffering, etc?
OFFENDER #4 David Yeagley, aka Bad Eagle He has some hateful comments about black folk and third world countries. I quoted something innocuous from his site, and have not been inclined to lead an Orwellian Two-Minute Hate against him since then. Heck, I don't even feel bad about invoking him.
So there you have my top 4 obvious picks where I may have committed un-hate crimes by not expressing sufficient moral outrage. In which of these should I be considered bad? Or perhaps you can find some other bad things I have said that deserve rebuke.
