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And by “it,” I mean two things: First, his mind, and second, the debate.
The reason I say that is that White has now posted pictures depicting those who have urged him to be more charitable with Frank Beckwith as radical Muslims protesting and urging beheading.
Here are the pictures.
To the first he gave the name “RCfatwa” (i.e., Roman Catholic fatwa):
jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/images/2007/08/09/rcfatwa.jpg
To the second he gave the name “RCcharity” (i.e., “Roman Catholic charity”–depicting the attitude of the man in the picture as the kind of charity that Catholics display):
jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/images/2007/08/09/rccharity.jpg
ORIGINAL SOURCE.
Toward the end of his post, White seeks to blunt criticism of these pictures (or appears to do so) by saying:
Now, I have obviously attempted to insert a bit of levity, and a bit of humorous sarcasm here, for the simple reason that I’m to the point where you either have to laugh or cry.
I’m sorry, but no. This kind of excuse will not do. Not in the slightest.
You do not compare your interlocutors to Islamists or portray those who urge charity on your part as if they were advocates of beheading those who disagree with them. Whether you feel they are right or wrong, annoying or not, or even reasonable or not, the actions of people engaged in this discussion with White are simply incommensurate with the kind of actions undertaken by radical Muslims.
What White has done here is not humor.
It is vile. It is reprehensible. It is despicable. It is outrageous. If White were thinking rationally, he would see this.
Hence, White has lost his mind when it comes to this. He is not functioning as a rational agent on this topic.
He also loses any debate on this point via special application of Godwin’s Law.
Godwin’s Law holds that the longer an online discussion goes, the greater the odds of someone making a comparison to Hitler. It is standard practice in many Internet circles–because of the inflammatory nature of this comparison and its tendency to start flame wars and shut down rational discussion–to regard anyone who makes such a comparison (unless you are talking about real-life Nazis or mass murderers) as having automatically lost the debate in question.
Islamists are the Nazis of the post-9/11 world, and thus anyone who depicts his debate opponents as Islamists automatically loses whatever debate was underway due to forfeiture.
He has crossed a fundamental line that shows himself to be incapable of holding a rational discussion. Excuses like “it was just a little levity” count for nothing. Those are the remarks of a troll. The individual has shown that he is not willing to make a good faith effort to abide by the terms of Internet discussions, and there is no point in discussing anything with him–either ever or at least until he seriously and sincerely acknowledges just how far over the line he was.
Discussion over.
James, you lose.
If you were Catholic, I’d tell you to go to confession.
What you did was vile, unacceptable, and childish. You have reduced yourself to the status of a troll.
If you can’t immediately see that and make amends then no one, knowing that you are capable of this, should engage you in debate or discussions of any kind.
**UPDATE: **The above pictures are so vile, particularly in light of 9/11 and the ensuing history and those who have been threatened or killed by radical Muslims, that this should be a matter upon which individuals of all confessional affiliations should be able to agree, including Evangelicals. I would like to invite Evangelicals, including those who have been close to White, to both publicly and privately distance themselves from the actions of Mr. White in posting these pictures as an act fundamentally incompatible with Christian charity. Evangelicals, in particular, can play a spiritual service to White by making this clear to him, since as the pictures themselves illustrate, he is deaf to appeals to charity from Catholics.
More…
The reason I say that is that White has now posted pictures depicting those who have urged him to be more charitable with Frank Beckwith as radical Muslims protesting and urging beheading.
Here are the pictures.
To the first he gave the name “RCfatwa” (i.e., Roman Catholic fatwa):
jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/images/2007/08/09/rcfatwa.jpg
To the second he gave the name “RCcharity” (i.e., “Roman Catholic charity”–depicting the attitude of the man in the picture as the kind of charity that Catholics display):
jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/images/2007/08/09/rccharity.jpg
ORIGINAL SOURCE.
Toward the end of his post, White seeks to blunt criticism of these pictures (or appears to do so) by saying:
Now, I have obviously attempted to insert a bit of levity, and a bit of humorous sarcasm here, for the simple reason that I’m to the point where you either have to laugh or cry.
I’m sorry, but no. This kind of excuse will not do. Not in the slightest.
You do not compare your interlocutors to Islamists or portray those who urge charity on your part as if they were advocates of beheading those who disagree with them. Whether you feel they are right or wrong, annoying or not, or even reasonable or not, the actions of people engaged in this discussion with White are simply incommensurate with the kind of actions undertaken by radical Muslims.
What White has done here is not humor.
It is vile. It is reprehensible. It is despicable. It is outrageous. If White were thinking rationally, he would see this.
Hence, White has lost his mind when it comes to this. He is not functioning as a rational agent on this topic.
He also loses any debate on this point via special application of Godwin’s Law.
Godwin’s Law holds that the longer an online discussion goes, the greater the odds of someone making a comparison to Hitler. It is standard practice in many Internet circles–because of the inflammatory nature of this comparison and its tendency to start flame wars and shut down rational discussion–to regard anyone who makes such a comparison (unless you are talking about real-life Nazis or mass murderers) as having automatically lost the debate in question.
Islamists are the Nazis of the post-9/11 world, and thus anyone who depicts his debate opponents as Islamists automatically loses whatever debate was underway due to forfeiture.
He has crossed a fundamental line that shows himself to be incapable of holding a rational discussion. Excuses like “it was just a little levity” count for nothing. Those are the remarks of a troll. The individual has shown that he is not willing to make a good faith effort to abide by the terms of Internet discussions, and there is no point in discussing anything with him–either ever or at least until he seriously and sincerely acknowledges just how far over the line he was.
Discussion over.
James, you lose.
If you were Catholic, I’d tell you to go to confession.
What you did was vile, unacceptable, and childish. You have reduced yourself to the status of a troll.
If you can’t immediately see that and make amends then no one, knowing that you are capable of this, should engage you in debate or discussions of any kind.
**UPDATE: **The above pictures are so vile, particularly in light of 9/11 and the ensuing history and those who have been threatened or killed by radical Muslims, that this should be a matter upon which individuals of all confessional affiliations should be able to agree, including Evangelicals. I would like to invite Evangelicals, including those who have been close to White, to both publicly and privately distance themselves from the actions of Mr. White in posting these pictures as an act fundamentally incompatible with Christian charity. Evangelicals, in particular, can play a spiritual service to White by making this clear to him, since as the pictures themselves illustrate, he is deaf to appeals to charity from Catholics.
More…
Disgraceful behaviour, Mr White; shame on you!!!
Only those whose hearts have been hardened would find these pictures remotely amusing. I think Mr. White needs our prayer more than our debate at this stage. 
“humorous…”:nope::nope:
but I remember seeing those pictures before so I checked his archives and he’s used them in another context.