How to Handle An Anti-Gay Troll
About a month ago Disqus user Mary with a Jesus avatar was trolling people on Joe My God. I was a bit late to that, but and decided to engage him/her thinking I would get the best of them, which I certainly did. I planned to send links to people to show how to handle such a troll but unfortunately when I went to do so all Mary's comments had been deleted. I've done my best to recreate her/his comments to the best of my recollection here. His/her comments weren't as short as what I've written though. This took place over about a month as it frequently took Mary 2 or 3 days to respond so my memory is pretty general on what she/he said. Here's the original thread, not that I suggest you try to follow the mixed up comments there:
https://www.joemygod.com/2020/03/gop-idaho-gov-signs-two-anti-trans-bills-into-law/
By adhering to the concept of fairness and morality based on not harming others I think I short circuited this troll's narrative and he/she and made him/her afraid to engage and say what they really thought:
Mary says "I'm not christian, I just put up my Jesus avatar to trick the haters into showing themselves. You hate us merely for disagreeing".
I replied "I hate people who cause harm to innocent people. If it was mere disagreement that would be one thing, but you people do everything you can to harm us physically and mentally. You have no excuse, you deserve the hatred you get"
Mary replies "I'm not harming gays".
I replied "Of course you're harming lgbt people. You're encouraging people to deny us equal rights and to look down upon us. That leads to violence and lowers our quality of life."
Mary says "Choose a different lifestyle".
I respond "I'm morally free to make whatever choice I want as long as I don't hurt others. There's no justification for harming lgbt people."
Mary says "You made choices."
I replied "You made choices."
Mary says "I chose not to be gay".
I said "Oh really? Please tell me about it. How old were you when you decided not to be gay? What thought process did you go through to make that choice?
Think of the ugliest person you know of your same sex. Can you choose to have sex with that person and enjoy it? Of course not, because you can't choose who you're attracted to."
Mary says "Science has proven I chose to be heterosexual".
I responded "Why should anyone believe your unsupported allegation when you can't remember anything yourself about your alleged choice to be heterosexual?"
Mary says "Science has proven we choose to be heterosexual at 60 months of age."
I respond "Very interesting. Please tell me about it and please include a link to your source."
Mary stops responding after that.
-------------------------------
Mary makes a comment about gays deserving the abuse they get from people like her.
I respond "So, you've dropped your facade that you haven't harmed innocent lgbt people - thank god for small favours. At least now you admit you go around promoting the persecution of harmless people like me. Nice to see you admit who you are."
Mary replies something to the effect of "We find you disgusting"
I reply "That's fine. You've gone from denying you harm innocent lgbt people to admitting you do and enjoy doing it - you're a sadist . The truth about you is out in the open now. Thanks for that at least."
Mary says "Change your lifestyle then."
I respond "I have a moral right to live however I want as long as I'm not hurting others. Case closed."
Mary responds "We have a right to detest gays."
I respond "You don't have a moral right to detest or harm us as we aren't hurting anyone."
Mary has no response.
--------------------------------------
I replied to Mary "Yes, you only care about yourself and to you the rest of us can be abused and die and it concerns you not at all. You deserve the hate you get.
Mary says "Are you concerned about aborted babies?"
I reply "I'm concerned about aborted fetuses that have developed sufficiently to feel pain. I"m not in the slightest concerned about an aborted zygote which has virtually nothing in common with a human being."
Mary replies "Science has proven a zygote is a person"
I responded "A zygote has virtually nothing in common with a human being. It can't think, it can't feel, it can't love or do anything that we associate with personhood. By law and practical necessity a fetus does not legally become a human being until birth - its been this way for thousands of years."
Mary replied "Science has proven a zygote is a human. It has all the chromosomes of an adult so therefore it is a person.
I respond A zygote can't feel, can't think, can't love, can't regret - it is not a person in any sense of what we consider a person to be.
My fingernail has all the chromosomes an adult homo sapiens has, but its common sense that my fingernail is not a person.
A fetus is more of a person than a zygote is but less of a person than a baby. Its a continuum sweetheart.
The older the pregnancy is, the greater the concern society should have. By law and practicality for tens of thousands of years a fetus is not a person, only at birth does it become a person. And by law and custom for the same amount of time society has given no concern to zygotes nor should it.
If you were looking for a fair dividing line (and I know you're not), the practical and ethical cutoff would be the time the fetus has developed enough to feel pain. Abortion before that - no problem. After that there should be some societal concern which increases the older the fetus gets. Be realistic, you know this is the way it actually does work in most people's minds."
Mary replies "Living things feel pain."
I said "Your assertion that plants can feel pain has been rejected by science.
To feel pain an organism needs nerve cells to recognize touch and transmit it to a brain which is needed to make the organism aware of what is happening. A zygote has none of this. A zygote cannot feel pain. This is as obvious as the nose on your face. If you won't admit this, its obvious you are not debating in good faith."
Mary replies "A zygote can feel pain, science has proven this. A zygote is a person"
I respond "A zygote can't think, feel,love, hate, can't do anything we associate with being a person. As such it deserves no more consideration than an ant."
Mary says "A zygote is a person that can feel pain."
I respond "Why should anyone believe your unsupported claim? By your own admission, you start off every encounter with someone with the intent to deceive them - you have Jesus in your avatar and say its to deceive everyone you encounter into thinking you're a christian. Honesty is clearly not a virtue you value.
Mary decides not to respond further.
https://www.joemygod.com/2020/03/gop-idaho-gov-signs-two-anti-trans-bills-into-law/
By adhering to the concept of fairness and morality based on not harming others I think I short circuited this troll's narrative and he/she and made him/her afraid to engage and say what they really thought:
Mary says "I'm not christian, I just put up my Jesus avatar to trick the haters into showing themselves. You hate us merely for disagreeing".
I replied "I hate people who cause harm to innocent people. If it was mere disagreement that would be one thing, but you people do everything you can to harm us physically and mentally. You have no excuse, you deserve the hatred you get"
Mary replies "I'm not harming gays".
I replied "Of course you're harming lgbt people. You're encouraging people to deny us equal rights and to look down upon us. That leads to violence and lowers our quality of life."
Mary says "Choose a different lifestyle".
I respond "I'm morally free to make whatever choice I want as long as I don't hurt others. There's no justification for harming lgbt people."
Mary says "You made choices."
I replied "You made choices."
Mary says "I chose not to be gay".
I said "Oh really? Please tell me about it. How old were you when you decided not to be gay? What thought process did you go through to make that choice?
Think of the ugliest person you know of your same sex. Can you choose to have sex with that person and enjoy it? Of course not, because you can't choose who you're attracted to."
Mary says "Science has proven I chose to be heterosexual".
I responded "Why should anyone believe your unsupported allegation when you can't remember anything yourself about your alleged choice to be heterosexual?"
Mary says "Science has proven we choose to be heterosexual at 60 months of age."
I respond "Very interesting. Please tell me about it and please include a link to your source."
Mary stops responding after that.
-------------------------------
Mary makes a comment about gays deserving the abuse they get from people like her.
I respond "So, you've dropped your facade that you haven't harmed innocent lgbt people - thank god for small favours. At least now you admit you go around promoting the persecution of harmless people like me. Nice to see you admit who you are."
Mary replies something to the effect of "We find you disgusting"
I reply "That's fine. You've gone from denying you harm innocent lgbt people to admitting you do and enjoy doing it - you're a sadist . The truth about you is out in the open now. Thanks for that at least."
Mary says "Change your lifestyle then."
I respond "I have a moral right to live however I want as long as I'm not hurting others. Case closed."
Mary responds "We have a right to detest gays."
I respond "You don't have a moral right to detest or harm us as we aren't hurting anyone."
Mary has no response.
--------------------------------------
I replied to Mary "Yes, you only care about yourself and to you the rest of us can be abused and die and it concerns you not at all. You deserve the hate you get.
Mary says "Are you concerned about aborted babies?"
I reply "I'm concerned about aborted fetuses that have developed sufficiently to feel pain. I"m not in the slightest concerned about an aborted zygote which has virtually nothing in common with a human being."
Mary replies "Science has proven a zygote is a person"
I responded "A zygote has virtually nothing in common with a human being. It can't think, it can't feel, it can't love or do anything that we associate with personhood. By law and practical necessity a fetus does not legally become a human being until birth - its been this way for thousands of years."
Mary replied "Science has proven a zygote is a human. It has all the chromosomes of an adult so therefore it is a person.
I respond A zygote can't feel, can't think, can't love, can't regret - it is not a person in any sense of what we consider a person to be.
My fingernail has all the chromosomes an adult homo sapiens has, but its common sense that my fingernail is not a person.
A fetus is more of a person than a zygote is but less of a person than a baby. Its a continuum sweetheart.
The older the pregnancy is, the greater the concern society should have. By law and practicality for tens of thousands of years a fetus is not a person, only at birth does it become a person. And by law and custom for the same amount of time society has given no concern to zygotes nor should it.
If you were looking for a fair dividing line (and I know you're not), the practical and ethical cutoff would be the time the fetus has developed enough to feel pain. Abortion before that - no problem. After that there should be some societal concern which increases the older the fetus gets. Be realistic, you know this is the way it actually does work in most people's minds."
Mary replies "Living things feel pain."
I said "Your assertion that plants can feel pain has been rejected by science.
To feel pain an organism needs nerve cells to recognize touch and transmit it to a brain which is needed to make the organism aware of what is happening. A zygote has none of this. A zygote cannot feel pain. This is as obvious as the nose on your face. If you won't admit this, its obvious you are not debating in good faith."
Mary replies "A zygote can feel pain, science has proven this. A zygote is a person"
I respond "A zygote can't think, feel,love, hate, can't do anything we associate with being a person. As such it deserves no more consideration than an ant."
Mary says "A zygote is a person that can feel pain."
I respond "Why should anyone believe your unsupported claim? By your own admission, you start off every encounter with someone with the intent to deceive them - you have Jesus in your avatar and say its to deceive everyone you encounter into thinking you're a christian. Honesty is clearly not a virtue you value.
Mary decides not to respond further.
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