nameandnature

Someone calling themselves “Neo” from the Skeptic Arena emailed me on the subject of my previous article, sending me a Word document with his replies in. I pointed out that emailing Word documents around is a bit odd, showed him where the comment box is, pointed out that he didn’t seem to have read the previous post properly, and went on my way.

Neo wasn’t content with that, and has now featured our conversation on his web site as a another Word document. Publically posting private emails is rude, but seeing as Neo has done it, he’s lost the right to complain about the following. I’ve replied to selected points below the cut, but you can see the whole thing in all its glory on Neo’s site, if you’re worried I’m being a bit too selective.

If you’re short of time, here’s what you can learn from this:

Atheists aren’t necessarily more rational than anyone else. Some of them write green ink emails to other atheists.
Arguments are not soldiers: it’s not rational to attack an argument merely because it’s for the opposing “side”.
Some people take this to the next level: they confuse mentioning an argument with using it, and attack the person mentioning anyway. Here’s a Christian example, and another atheist example, ~~both directed at me. If both sides argue with me, I’ve achieved perfect balance in the Force!~~ (edit: actually, one is directed at Yvain and I just pointed it out).

Cut for detail