Cutting the head off Medusa

[Brian37]

But do you not see that calling someone something like an 'ignorant fucktard' is counterproductive to your goal of ridding the world of silly superstition? I would never advocate you have to censor yourself(except if you violate the rules here), but I think you are ignoring the issue of how important choice of words and tact are to convincing people to let go of their dogma. You are more than free to call them fucking idiots, just don't think it will ever do any good as it will mostly likely cause harm to your goals..

How is calling someone who deserves it, like the homophobe who reciently used his pulpit to make the claim gays should be arrested be any value? If it motivates gays to unite against that "fucktard" why wouldn't that work?

Do you think men who publicly execute women during halftime at a soccer game deserve value? Do you think murdering women because they wont enter a pre arranged marriage deserves value?

When people are that far gone and willing to kill over it, it wouldn't matter how polite your objections are. Ayaan Hersi Ali made a documentary with a film maker about the abuse of Muslim women. He was murdered and a note stabbed in his chest with "you're next" aimed at her. There was no cussing in that documentary. She still receives death threats.

You wont reach those nuts in any case. Blasphemy and ridicule ESPECIALLY of those who are that far gone is a useful tool to put them in their place. And it can and does undermine the absolute power by planting thoughts in the heads of those under them that may say "yea, you are being an asshole".

I am always willing to be polite depending on context, but I am not going to shy away from calling a dick a dick, especially if they are a violent dick.

Neither all polite are all "in your face" work as absolutes individually. Life is a range, not a script and people react differently. If my saying something like "Hey Muslim men, stop being dicks to your women by treating them like property" and some women in a Muslim community says by reading this "He's right, I don't have to put up with this". Then my harsh words have helped someone and fuck the dicks who would hurt her for questioning them.

It is not either or for me, it always depends on context.

I find it funny that people while Hitchens was alive people accused him of what you are accusing me of here. Not once in any of his books did he call names or cuss people out, and did not do that on tv either, even while in debate.

Yet he was a best selling author and admired by even the theists he worked with at Vanity Fair, and upon his death was given kind words even by his detractors.

His common metaphor which I think is apt describing heaven as a "celestial North Korea", even without cussing is enough to bring Christians to rage. My point is SO WHAT.

I am sure there were quite many Christian men who wanted Susan B Anthony to "shut the fuck up bitch", and if thought they could get away with it, might have murdered her. I am glad she thought better of humanity and was brave enough to make waves.

Sometimes a dick is a dick and sometimes these dicks will hate you no matter what tactic you take.

Read "Infidel" by Ayaan Hersi Ali and "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris if you want to know why I am so harsh on irrational claims. Mature adults, even if they wish I would chose different words for my message, wont treat others like Ayaan was treated, and wont do what "The End Of Faith" depicts in the beginning of the book.

You are always going to have nuts who won't listen. But if I can empower someone who otherwise is demonized in the society the live in and "fuck you" motivates them to stand up for themselves, it works, and despite what you may think, it has worked.