Don't Argue with the Crazies

This past week there was a great deal of controversy surrounding one infamously charming redhead's comments on the CMC Forum about gays, the sanctity of marriage, the disgusting homosexual lifestyle and just about every other right-wing, homophobic cliche you can think of. The editor in chief took it down, and such is his right as the proprietor of a private enterprise. But Red got huffy and started throwing fistfuls of proverbial shit all over the internet eliciting a massive backlash from the do-gooder campus liberals. And I don't mean to insult them when I say that because many of them are my good friends and some of them posted extremely eloquent, well crafted arguments on the Forum's website. But I have to say it:

Don't argue with the crazies. Please, don't argue with the crazies.

I don't know this kid personally but he is the kind of individual that I feel comfortable sizing up from a distance. He has perfected a skill that takes very little talent but draws a lot of attention: he offends people. He offends people on a deeply personal level and he does it because he feeds off of attention the way most of us live off of say, food. He does not say controversial things, he says sensational things. There's a big difference. He does not form well-structured arguments using factual information to back up his points, he spews unfounded opinions that are not only misguided but terribly unoriginal. It's shock value. He has the personality equivalent of a SAW movie.

I don't even want to mention his name because I'm sure this kid googles himself on a regular basis and does a little happy dance every time he shows up as the center of attention in some random person's blog. I don't want to mention his name because he is irrelevant. He is a caricature and he should be a joke... but he's not.

And this is where I must make my biggest criticism, and it does not lie with Archie. No, my liberal com padres, I must criticize you. Because every time you say anything to this kid, he wins. Even if you make a great argument and everyone can agree that you are in the right, and even if he can't convince one person that his opinions are superior and even if everyone stands in a circle around him patting each other on the back preparing to burn him at the stake, he wins. He wins because when you argue with him, you validate him.

His source of his power is not the strength of his arguments; it is his ability to offend you. This is not about winning, it's about controlling your own ego, because the only way to beat him is to deny him the satisfaction of being worth your time. If you want to fight for gay rights, do it on your own terms.

Never argue with the crazies. Choose your battles, some of them matter.