Also, know that eternal life is available to you. God loves you at all times, no matter the circumstance. He is with you always.

When is ‘turn the other cheek’ analogous to ‘kiss my ass’? *points up*

Words fail.

Anyway, back to ignoring.

You know MY answer to that, tas.

You’re right, but I’d rather just discipline myself to ignore his comments than delete them. I just don’t like to delete comments unless they are truly over the line (i.e., threatening, racist, homophobic, etc.).

I’m just not going to respond anymore after it’s clear there’s no point.

Some examples:

I agree with some of your narrative about torture. However, torture sometimes does provide valuable information. To say it has never, ever worked is to delude yourself. Would it benefit you and I to argue this point? It would not. I should avoid this subject.

“Puppet government” is manure. Is there any possibility whatsoever that you would be persuaded by reason on this point? There is not. I should avoid it.

This is why it seems to you that I ignore your “evidence” and “proof”. I’m trying to move past it, b/c we will never agree in those areas.

OTOH, I thought there was a slim chance you would be persuaded about this:

America is an imperfect yet definite force for democracy and human rights in Iraq.

I figured I might broach that a bit, since you were asking questions in that area, and were probing my opinions. I figured it would be the decent thing to respond to your queries. Didn’t work out so well.

MB, you may have already figured this out, and it may be part of what you detest, but: the polite thing is not an act. It’s not some type of suck up, it’s not some type of strategy, and it’s not an indicator of timidity or weakness. It is me doing my best to be open to God’s love, and to think and write as best I can in these comments. Criticize accordingly. In my best moments I am way imperfect. Yet, know this is genuinely how I am – except during the recurring moments when I close my heart to God and act worse.

Also, know that eternal life is available to you. God loves you at all times, no matter the circumstance. He is with you always.

For me, the frustration is not so much that his points are false. I can deal with that by demonstrating, with substantive information and facts, why his points are false. But then I would expect him to take those points into consideration when he next responds. But he doesn’t. He acts like the points haven’t even been made, and keeps repeating the same falsehoods and distortions without providing any additional information or evidence that takes into consideration the information *I* have just provided. In short, his replies do not move the conversation forward. They just keep the wheels spinning in the mud and moving nowhere.

In other words, he is trolling. Because he is a troll–a wordy, so-passive-aggressively-civil-it-makes-your-fucking-teeth-itch-like-a-heroin-addict-3-days-straight troll, but a troll none the less. In fact, the next time one of my non-net-addicted friends asks me to describe a ‘troll’ or ‘trolling’, I will link them to this comment.

Seriously, though — anyone who spews specious treacle like this:

Puppet government is a nuanced term. There are puppet governments and then there are PUPPET GOVERNMENTS. I thought you were talking about a puppet government.

Is not worth wasting energy, time and precious sanity on. All you are doing is validating his ego, and encouraging him to continue manipulating you into tendering a response (attention: the air that trolls breathe, food to nourish their pathetic, empty lives).

Do. Not. Feed.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m all for avoiding this run around and just outright deleting his comments. He’s been given a few months to clean up his act but he’s obviously not going to change, so I don’t see any point in allowing him to leave comments on here anymore. He’ll only end up driving potential decent commenters away.

For me, the frustration is not so much that his points are false. I can deal with that by demonstrating, with substantive information and facts, why his points are false. But then I would expect him to take those points into consideration when he next responds. But he doesn’t. He acts like the points haven’t even been made, and keeps repeating the same falsehoods and distortions without providing any additional information or evidence that takes into consideration the information *I* have just provided. In short, his replies do not move the conversation forward. They just keep the wheels spinning in the mud and moving nowhere.

That’s what drives me crazy.

And you wonder why people can’t hold conversations with you.

Iraq cannot throw America out, and I never said it could.

Third: the puppet government thing

Puppet government is a nuanced term. There are puppet governments and then there are PUPPET GOVERNMENTS. I thought you were talking about a puppet government.

My response to that is: Iraqis should consider the big picture before saying “I hate America.” Their future is brighter now than it was under Saddam. Perspective = relief from emotional hatred.

I think we all understand each other’s opinions on this subject at this point.