The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #153681   Message #3602828
Posted By: McGrath of Harlow
19-Feb-14 - 11:29 AM
Thread Name: BS: Real Non-belief/not militant
Subject: RE: BS: Real Non-belief/not militant
Interpreting and rephrasing views with which we disagree and then launching in at individuals is not attacking hatred, it is promoting hatred.

If we believe that particular views have implications which we see as hateful, that is a reasonable thing to say.

And it is quite right if we feel it useful to explain why we think those implications are hateful. But we should be very careful about taking the additional step of assuming that our interpretation is correct, both as to the implications and as to their hatefullness, and on that basis attacking an individual for holding the views we ascribe to them, and for being detestable on that account.

At the same time, if we feel we are attacked unfairly, while it is reasonable to explain why we think the attack is unfair, and to point out if we feel we have been misunderstood or misrepresented, counterattacking in a personal way is not a useful response.