God Hates Figs

This is the way you do it:



That ain't the way you do it:



Shouting someone down when they have a right to speak in lieu of dealing with their ideas, however odious, is a failure. It's a failure if Bill O'Reilly does it; it's a failure if a LGBT group does it; it's a failure if Jesus Christ and a choir of angels from above do it. It is contemptible.

It's interesting to note yet again that it is precisely those that would yell the loudest against any attempt to silence their own voices who are most eager to silence the voices of others. I have contempt for Phelps, Sorba and their ilk; I have only slightly less contempt for those who would deny Phelps or Sorba - or any other hatemonger, poltroon or moron - their legitimate right to speak.

"Evil is not the attempt to eliminate the play of another according to published and accepted rules, but to eliminate the play of another regardless of the rules. Evil is not the acquisition of power, but the expression of power." - James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games.

It's interesting to note yet again that it is precisely those that would yell the loudest against any attempt to silence their own voices who are most eager to silence the voices of others.

Mockery, on the other hand, is a perfect way of puncturing the pretense to respectability of the like of Phelps.