I have always presumed that comment box on Catholic sites (or any religious sites) provided a unique distance and anonymity that allows commenters to behave badly. Among the most misbehaved are atheist commenters who prowl around comboxes making vicious, insulting, and often vacuous comments while feeling so superior in the process. If you have been around Catholic comboxes for any length of time, you have seen them. No more explanation is needed.
Like I said, I presumed this to be strictly a combox phenomenon for while I have met many atheists in my life I have never met one who behaves in person like these others do in comboxes. I have never met one who behaved like they do, until now.
I was having a conversation with a work colleague of mine. He is Greek Orthodox. We were having the latest in our ongoing conversation in which he misrepresents, misunderstand, and misinterprets history in ways that put the Greeks and the Orthodox at the center and as saviors of the Universe. And I, for my part, was correcting him. We do this frequently and we always have fun.
A consultant currently working in my office sitting nearby overheard our (loud) conversation and decided to weigh in.
“All religions are stupid because there is no God and people who believe in religion are biased and have closed minds. There is no point in speaking to anyone who believes in religion because they don’t have an open mind.”
“Okay,” I said as I foolishly took the bait. “By that logic…
