Tweet of the Day: September 22, 2013

This Is An Offensive Photo...Apparently: UPDATE!!!

If you happen to follow this blogs website on Facebook, you probably saw this photo which I posted this week. It seems as though someone did not take too kindly to me doing so however. When a awoke this Wednesday morning, there was a message which started a conversation. Here is how that conversation went:

Them: Hey Commonwealth Commentary, there's something about this photo that bothers me. Would you please take it down? Thanks.

Me: What about this photo bothers you?

Them: every thing the colors of the house etc

Me: I'm not really understanding the problem. Besides which, this photo is all around the internet. If there is a specific issue I can address then I will if I can.

Them: im just asking u to take it down i find it offensive and insulating to me im being nice here

Me: How is this photo offensive?

Them: it just is

Me: So, you're saying it's offensive, but you will not tell me why?

Them: don't pissme off i find it offensive and heres why its way to graphing for me do u have a problem with that?

Me: You're telling me it's "offensive" and graphic (I think that's what you meant), but you aren't telling me how so. There is nothing discriminatory, illicit, vulgar, or profane here. I am asking you very simple direct questions and being as respectful as I can but you are meeting me with naught but answers so vague that they can not truly be deemed answers. If you find this photo offensive then tell me how so. Otherwise, I see no reason to take this photo down, especially given that the positive responses to it far outweigh the one negative response I have received from you.

As you can see, I tried to keep it civil and address this person's concerns, to no avail. After this, the exchange broke off, partially because it was time for me to go to the day job. Several hours later when I checked the Facebook page, the "offending" photo had been removed...sort of. The photo itself was removed, though it is still there in another form (i.e. from the Twitter account attached to the page). There is also the fact that this photo is all over the internet, so (sort of) removing it from this one page really has no affect.

When this whole conversation started, my immediate assumption was that this was some conservative homophobic troll trying to rile me up. I checked his page just to be sure and he had liked many of the same pages I had, including Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama, and Equality Maine. Whoever this person is, they never told me why this photo is offensive and never told me how it was insulting. This whole scenario makes zero sense. The good news is that this photo, and its message, is spread far and wide throughout the internet. There is not a damned thing that can be done about that.

P.S. the moral of this story is that you can not reason with unreasonable folks. Pick your battles.

UPDATE: The fun continued later that night...

Him: y r u hassrassing me over a stupid picture dude i don't think u UNDERSTAND AT ALL UR picture is a stupid picture take it down NOW IT HAS OFFENED ME TOTHE POINT WERE I FIND IT SEXUAL & DESRUPTIVE TO ME PERSONALLY U R SAYING TO ME THAT " GAY" PEOPLE R GOING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD

Me: First, why are you even on this page if you find it insulting? Second, how is a picture of a house sexual or disruptive? Third, how can you claim I'm harassing you when you are the one who started all of this by making baseless claims? Fourth, how can you take this personally when you were in no way personally addressed with this photo?

If you don't like the photo, I'm not making you look at it. I'm not making you come to this page. I have tried to be respectful, but you clearly don't deserve that respect, so I suggest you find somewhere else to troll. If you don't like what is on this page, then do not come to the page. No one is stopping you from leaving, so just leave and find some like-minded homophobes with whom to commiserate.

After this final exchange, I was done with this guy and simply blocked him. I have better things to do with my time than trying to reason with internet trolls.

Westboro Member Has Gay Friend...Apparently

Umm...what?

Fox F**ks Up Again, Calls Westboro Left-Wing

Anonymous Declares War on Westboro

Dueling Homophobes

WBC: Gays Should be Put to Death (Video)

From The New Civil Rights Movement:

Jonathan Phelps, son of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps, says that “absolutely” homosexuals — including gay men, lesbian women, and bisexual and transgender people — should be put to death. “It’s the view of the Bible, it’s the clear teaching of the Bible,” Phelps said, adding that “the established human government should be following the rules of the Bible.”

The Westboro Baptist Church, which markets itself as “God Hates Fags,” is perhaps best known for picketing the funerals of soldiers, gay people, and celebrities, and has won a First Amendment case in the U.S. Supreme Court allowing them to do so. Westboro maintains a network of websites, including GodHatesFags.com, GodHatesIslam.com, JewsKilledJesus.com, and BeastObama.com.

The Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kansas, is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an active anti-gay hate group.

Jonathan Phelps spoke today with journalist David Pakman, of “The David Pakman Show,” telling him he believes in the biblical mandate that requires gay people to be put to death, although he declined, when pressed, to identify the method of extermination that should be used.

The good thing is that WBC is a fringe group that is more of a punchline than anything else. People rarely listen to them and when they do, eye-rolls generally follow. The bad thing is that this is not just a fringe notion. Remember that in the not-too-distant-past, a North Carolina pastor said pretty much the same thing while other pastors advocated acts of violence and putting LGBT people in concentration camps. Their partitioners backed them up in those stances, even on national television. This just goes to show how far we really have to go in our fight for equality and winning over the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens.