This is a diatribe I sent to one of my most trusted friends some time ago. I sent it to him as an example of what I wanted to scream at some people, some of the time. I'm posting it here almost unchanged because, well, because I feel I need to:
I'm going to do it. I have to do it. I can no longer hold it in. I am going to let loose with my personal manifesto. Of sorts.
I know this will offend some people. A lot of the people this will offend are people I not only genuinely like, but quite a few of them, I actually love.
I would hope those people would understand that this is not directed at them. Not at all. If you are part of my vast array of friends it generally means I've accepted you for who you are and what you believe to be true or false, and hopefully the same is true for you of me.
No, this is for the occasional person I have the misfortune to engage in conversation with at a bar or store or restaurant or wherever.
I'm tired of being polite and biting my tongue whenever strangers decide my polite demeanor gives them the freedom to assault my ears and sensibilities with their ranting and raving.
See, usually if somebody starts in with something I find nonsensical, I say something along the lines of "You make an interesting point, but as I have yet to experience such and such firsthand, I can only state that I have never been presented with any proof of your claim(s) that is irrefutable. I do respect your opinion on this, and I hope you respect mine. Please do not interpret my views as an attack on your beliefs or on you personally. It's just my opinion."
But no longer.
I'll start out with the most important bit. Unless you have established at least a basic capacity for critical thinking, stay the fcuk away from me.
That's right, I do not want to hear your cockamamie bullshit.
Your extremist views from either end of the political spectrum? Shove them up your ass.
Birther? Think Obama is a Socialist Muslim out to destroy Christian America? You're a fcuking idiot.
Think 9/11 was an inside job perpetuated by George Bush and his cronies so they could profit from airline and oil stock manipulation? You're a fcuking idiot.
UFOs? Bigfoot? Ghosts? Nessie? Levitation? The FBI, CIA, KGB, Mossad, M16, Mafia, Cubans, etc., all had multiple guys on multiple grassy knolls to kill Kennedy? Protocols of Zion? Harmonic Convergence? Holocaust Denial? HAARP? The Pope is the Anti-Christ? Paranormal activity? The Philadelphia Experiment? Mind control via fluoridation of the water supply? You're a fcuking idiot.
Do you get your opinions, philosophical insights, social or political ideals, etc., from figures in the entertainment industry? Did you watch a shoddily researched but well-crafted "documentary" and unquestionably adopt it's premise, as insane as it may have been, as truth? You're a fcuking idiot.
See, unless you can present one single, itty-bitty shred of tangible, irrefutable evidence for any of that crap, then it's all conjecture, unproven assertions, fantasy, or plain ol' lies.
And I just don't have the time or patience for it.
Do not approach me with the claim that I am close minded, or that I'm swallowing everything the man sells me. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof. Telling people that questioning a God's ways is sinful may have worked on uneducated dupes in the Middle Ages, but the Age of Enlightenment has been with us a long time, catch up.
You have accepted the views of either:
A) Delusional paranoids whose views are influenced by their political leanings, fears, or misguided beliefs, or B), the lies of charlatans.
You are either incapable of skepticism, or dishonestly ignore facts. Or both.
Doesn't matter which, really, because both annoy me. So either you shut the fcuk up or leave. I have to put up with asshats spouting inane, ignorant crap from the various media all day, and I'll be damned if I'll put up with it when I'm trying to relax in my free time.
That's right, I do not want to hear your cockamamie bullshit.
Your extremist views from either end of the political spectrum? Shove them up your ass.
Birther? Think Obama is a Socialist Muslim out to destroy Christian America? You're a fcuking idiot.
Think 9/11 was an inside job perpetuated by George Bush and his cronies so they could profit from airline and oil stock manipulation? You're a fcuking idiot.
UFOs? Bigfoot? Ghosts? Nessie? Levitation? The FBI, CIA, KGB, Mossad, M16, Mafia, Cubans, etc., all had multiple guys on multiple grassy knolls to kill Kennedy? Protocols of Zion? Harmonic Convergence? Holocaust Denial? HAARP? The Pope is the Anti-Christ? Paranormal activity? The Philadelphia Experiment? Mind control via fluoridation of the water supply? You're a fcuking idiot.
Do you get your opinions, philosophical insights, social or political ideals, etc., from figures in the entertainment industry? Did you watch a shoddily researched but well-crafted "documentary" and unquestionably adopt it's premise, as insane as it may have been, as truth? You're a fcuking idiot.
See, unless you can present one single, itty-bitty shred of tangible, irrefutable evidence for any of that crap, then it's all conjecture, unproven assertions, fantasy, or plain ol' lies.
And I just don't have the time or patience for it.
Do not approach me with the claim that I am close minded, or that I'm swallowing everything the man sells me. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof. Telling people that questioning a God's ways is sinful may have worked on uneducated dupes in the Middle Ages, but the Age of Enlightenment has been with us a long time, catch up.
You have accepted the views of either:
A) Delusional paranoids whose views are influenced by their political leanings, fears, or misguided beliefs, or B), the lies of charlatans.
You are either incapable of skepticism, or dishonestly ignore facts. Or both.
Doesn't matter which, really, because both annoy me. So either you shut the fcuk up or leave. I have to put up with asshats spouting inane, ignorant crap from the various media all day, and I'll be damned if I'll put up with it when I'm trying to relax in my free time.
Thank you for your indulgence, and have a nice day.
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