Following the double-standards employed by Citizen Tom, and the outright lies employed by Silence of Mind, a third party (a long-standing opponent of this site, and of Bruce Gerencser) weighed in. His claims are as dishonest as they come.
First off, thanks to Citizen Tom and Silence of the Mind for defending me in some of the comments. I appreciate it. Second, the owner of the MM website is tricky. As he stated in a comment above, he does not change the sentences and makes one a liar.
What he does is distort what a person who disagrees with him says. Yes, he will quote exactly what you said BUT then he will change what those sentences mean to fit what he wants them to mean. Not what was actually meant.
At that point is id fruitless to carry on a discussion. That is why most of my comments on the MM website read the way they do. it is a casting of pearls before swine because the owner of the MM website has no intention of interacting honestly or with an open mind.
https://theologyarchaeology.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/citizen-tom/
The claims here are as outrageous as they are dishonest. In the majority of cases, I have linked to the posts I have quoted, so anyone can see for themselves whether or not context is maintained. There’s no changes of any sort, no attempt to conceal what the other party has said, nor the framework in which they have said it. This stands in contradiction to how the fundamentalist will strip away links to sources that directly contradict him (take for example, the numerous times I have linked information showing that abortion rates decrease when abortion is legal; those links and quotes curiously never make it to the fundie’s posts).
The fundamentalist is thoroughly aware of the occasions where he has lied (such as calling me transgender when I have never made such a claim, and the wilful, deliberate ignoring of facts relating to faith healing and medicine, as well as guns, among other things). He is well-aware that he is the one who strips comments of relevant information (I have not forgotten one of our very first conversations, relating to employment law and discrimination, where the fundie quietly removed facts from my comments that contradicted him).
I would prefer not to even respond to the fundie, but considering the blatant attacks on my character, I feel compelled to defend myself from these dishonest and misleading claims. I wonder if he will attempt to substantiate them, just as I wonder if Silence of Mind will verify his? I suspect I’ll be waiting for a long, long time.
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They that cry the loudest are guiltiest most of all. Learn to be a man for once
I thought I’d approve this comment, because it is wonderfully ironic. I wonder if ‘David’ appreciates that irony. He who abandoned his responsibilities should not lecture others on being a man.
He sounds like the typical ‘good Christian’ that I run into. He only posted his comment because it was toward a another Christian.
I could lament ‘David’s’ behaviour, shoddy logic, outright lies, and callous disregard for facts, until the cows come home, but I have tried not to waste time on him. The manner in which Tom and Silence of Mind have chosen to exploit my ‘discussions’ with ‘David’ is something I shouldn’t be surprised by. They clearly hold people to different standards of evidence. It seems Tom is happy to accept SoM’s word, without any form of proof, despite Tom’s own experiences with my site, whilst expecting me to jump through hoops regarding my discussions with David (which were not even pertinent or relevant to SoM’s dishonest claims about me).
I don’t appreciate character assassinations, which ‘David’ has done repeatedly to me and to Bruce, and it seems both SoM and Tom are joining in with it. I await any of them justifying their claims, but I will not hold my breath.
I see Thiessen’s comment here and several on Citizen Tom’s blog are attempts to attack your “manhood.” This is a common tactic of his. Belittle and demean. I’ve saved all of Thiessen’s email to me, so I know how he relishes making people feel less than. I suspect he defines manhood differently than us. He is a product of Fundamentalist Christianity: patriarchalism, misogyny, and authoritarianism.
Bruce
His comments are deeply ironic aren’t they? You and I know who he is, and what he has abandoned, so he is in no position to lecture anyone on being a man.
“The fundamentalist is thoroughly aware of the occasions where he has lied (such as calling me transgender when I have never made such a claim,”
More evidence for your lying and distorting. I never called you a transgender. But then anything I say gets twisted to what you want it to mean. I referred to a post or comment you made on one of your earlier website formats which you subsequently deleted.
I never made such a comment, so yes, you are lying, and we both know it.
Sadly, they are three peas in a pod. Thiessen finally found people who think and act like he does. I suspect the lies and character assassinations will only increase.
I’ve been quite sick, but I do plan on finally writing a post that should silence Thiessen’s protestations. Or, at the very least, force him to answer uncomfortable questions. Of course, he will either ignore my post or say that his words under oath are being “misunderstood.” I will leave it to readers to decide if Thiessen is being “misunderstood.”
I just wish he would stop; but be won’t. Think of all the blogs he could respond to, but he’s obsessed with mine and yours.
Oh well. Back to March Madness.
Be well, Ben.
Bruce
What’s curious Bruce, is that via the WordPress reader, Thiessen has a post called ‘Citizen Tom’, but that post doesn’t appear when viewing his site directly. He may be shielding his posts from us, which is of course his right, but it will enable him to say whatever he wants, without restraint or reason, and crow that he’s not meeting with any resistance to whatever error-strewn claims he’s making. If that’s what he’s doing.
Both SOM and Thiessen think deleting a comment is editing. They think they should be able to say whatever they want. I rarely delete comments, but I will do it if the comments are hateful, vile, or have no relevance.
The best part is, they both delete comments – and in Thiessen’s case, edit them, and openly admit to it! Yet they’re not dishonest for doing so?!
I hope you feel better my friend, and I look forward to your post!
I’m trying not to engage him anymore, for I hate the way in which I feel he’s poisoning me. I am not by nature an angry or vindictive person, but he’s bringing out qualities in me I’d rather not see. I wouldn’t have bothered with him even now, if not for SoM’s strange injection of Thiessen-related matters into an entirely separate discussion. I remain disappointed at Tom, for allowing himself to be hook-winked, and for not holding SoM to account for unproven claims and outright lies.
I can’t read it on his site either, but I did receive it in my RSS reader.
I did some checking with a different device with a different IP address. The post in question has either been deleted or made private.