Tom McMahon, Please Kindly Go To Hell, Along With Your Friend Whittaker Chambers

Tom McMahon, Please Kindly Go To Hell, Along With Your Friend Whittaker Chambers

An interesting exchange with Diana Mertz Hsieh that started with this post on her blog. Go read the whole thing, it's one of those jaw-dropping-amazing-blog-o-sphere moments. To oversimplify greatly, the exchange took a decided turn for the worse after I quoted one verse of the hymn Amazing Grace. Here's Diana's response:

Tom, I am quite familiar with the Christian view of redemption. As far as I'm concerned, it's MONSTROUSLY EVIL. So please, go proseletize your faith in supernatural redemption for any and all sins elsewhere. I will not allow you to use my property to offer aid and comfort to the lowest depths of human evil. It's ideas like yours that make mass graveyards like the Third Reich and Soviet Russia possible. The committed racist seems benign in comparison.

After another exchange or two, she posted this comment:

Tom, the only "deeper story" is a passionate committment to reason and life. Although I respect the rights of Christians to be as idiotic as they please in their own lives, I absolutely will not pretend that the tenets of the Christian faith are anything but irrational and deadly absurdities. That shouldn't be news to you.

And then the final one from Diana Mertz Hsieh:

Tom McMahon: You are no longer welcome to post comments on this blog. Please kindly go to hell, along with your friend Whittaker Chambers.

Pretty much sums it up, I guess. Now if you will excuse me, I gotta go get some ice for my buddy Whittaker. It's kinda hot in here, you know. And are atheists really allowed to tell you to go to hell? Seems like that should be points off for bad form.

UPDATE #1: This is how Diana sees it:

I will happily admit that I did get more upset with "the more love and compassion [Tom] showed" to racists and Nazis. I'd also agree that "the message of the Gospel is foolishness" -- although faith in it doesn't make it any less so.

When in fact she is talking about this comment:

Nice going, Tom. The more love and compassion you showed, the more unhinged she became. Weird how that happens. Hey, the message of the Gospel is foolishness to those who don't believe. This is a pretty stark example of that. You handled yourself remarkably.

UPDATE #2: I've been de-linked from Paul Hsieh's Geekpress. Expected but sad nonetheless.

UPDATE #3: Another interesting comment from Diana Mertz Hsieh:

Rob: Did you really not understand what I meant when I said "DO NOT POST ON THIS TOPIC AGAIN"? Do you have any respect for property rights? These are rhetorical questions. Please do not reply to them here. I will delete any future comments from you, as I've had quite enough of your antics. Go post some more stupid comments on Tom's blog, if you like.

So Diana, YOU have property rights with your blog, but you are telling someone to go post stupid comments on MY blog, as if I have no property rights with mine? And what's so hard about deleting comments you don't like anyway?

Comments

[Guy]

I knew a gentleman who didn't believe in "mixed marriages". He was from another era - a gunner in the 29th Bomb Group www.29bg.com in WWII. He lived in Indep, MO, and I don't think he realized I have black brother-in-law, but I liked him anyways. If he had ever made it to Dallas I would've taken great pleasure introducing them and watching what happened. They're both so polite I doubt there would've been any fireworks...

[Kevin Murphy]

Jim,

I'm glad to see we're in agreement.

[Kevin Murphy]

Tom,

At the risk of being thrown into the outer dark with you and Whittaker Chambers, here's a link to my review of Atlas Shrugged:

http://funmurphys.com/lotw/letter20.html

[Rob]

Wow, I made the front page of Tom's blog! I'm honored, though it's not quite the way I'd ever envisioned makeing it there. BTW, the "antics" she refers to is an apology I posted there. I'll do her the favor of no longer commenting there and leave my stupid comments for Tom's blog where land values are cheaper. Must be all the mosquitos, don'ch know.

[Tom McMahon]

I'm seriously thinking of starting an I've-Been-Told-To-Go-To-Hell-with-Whittaker-Chambers Club, open to anyone who's written a bad review of Atlas Shrugged, or otherwise PO'd an Objectivist.

And to think that when I started that day I thought the Bunghole story would have gotten all the comments. Just goes to show you how wrong we all can be!

[Rob]

Well, sign me up for that.. I seem to have worn out my welcome in 3 comments or less. :-}

[Dave Munger]

Tangentialy: Do Objectivists now believe that to limit federal funding for private medical experiments involving infanticide is tantamount to declaring that "war on science" I've been hearing so much about?