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Dec. 10, 2004 I am not a professional journalist, politician, researcher, or professor and have no other certified status that legitimizes my writings. My qualifications are simple: I had a post-graduate education more than twenty years ago and I've had my own unique life experiences since then. Because I don't consider myself smarter, better, or more literate than most people, my writings reflect humility and acceptance of differing viewpoints. If I do criticize, it is as rebuttal to those who are not humble and who are not accepting. I first visited Useless-Knowledge.com last week and was pleasantly surprised at how many of the articles did not live up to the site's title -- I expected trivial inanities at best and found lucid, thoughtful commentary. Unfortunately, several articles did rile me -- not for their overall slant or intent - remember I accept differing views - but because of their hatred, skewed logic, prejudicial omissions, or outright lies. I posted two rebuttals (a third must have been lost in cyberspace), pointing out those aspects and copied my posts directly to the author's email addresses as well. Neither replied directly or onsite. I was not surprised. Spewers of venom, liars, and distortion artists usually either shrink from the bright light of critical analysis of their bigotry, or simply ignore any other opinion no matter how plain and obvious its truth. One author, a frequent contributor to this site, Mr. Robert Paul Reyes, utilizes this latter strategy and as I continued to read daily postings from him, I felt the need to review his entire archives. I was taken aback by the consistency of his attacking nature, sophomoric analogies, and hyperbolic depictions of those he opposes. Funny thing, if the rage is removed from his writings, I agree with much of his ideology. However, because of that rage, I feel compelled to distinguish for you readers subjected to his onslaught, the difference between critical thought and just being critical. Here are only a few examples culled from his many articles on this site: * In "Jerry Falwell Should Keep Out Of Politics" 9/24/04 - he equates attending "mega-churches" with "sectarian zealotry and conservative activism", and "disdain for those who don't share your fundamentalist views". It sounds so ugly and smears a very wide demographic with no logical explanation. * In "Cat Stevens A Terrorist" 9/30/04 -- he describes the singer's music as "brain-cell destroying songs" that "left lasting psychological scars". Were they THAT bad? * In "SubservientChicken.com..." 10/2/04 -- he claims Burger King "see(s) consumers as subservient zombies" simply because they have a silly interactive website. And he plans to boycott their restaurants therefore. * In "Most Elderly Folks Don't Need A Hoveround" 10/4/04 -- he calls a couple of senior citizens in an advertisement "old birds who don't have the physical coordination or the mental acuity to travel from their bedroom to the bathroom without soiling their diapers" for no reason. They weren't even the subject of his anger, I'm sure he thinks of them as "collateral damage". * In "Got Jesus" 10/6/04 -- he was "filled with moral indignation at simple-minded folks who get in your face with their particular brand of religion" just because he saw a Got Jesus? bumper sticker. Quite a charge to levy at a complete stranger. What if the sticker was there when they bought the car? He probably shot the finger at them at the next red light. * In "Should you sue McDonald's" 10/9/04 -- his problem is attorneys, but he takes the time to call their overweight clients "lard-butts" and "whales", whose "hefty bulk resides in two different time zones". Has he never heard of class-action attorneys who specialize in filing these types of suits? It's never about the client, their damages are minimal, it's always about collecting attorney's fees for winning. I won't go on. These were the oldest in the archive and, if you notice by the dates, I'm not skipping many. There have been over fifty more since these and almost all contain similar wording. In particular, he seems to hate anyone religious, Republicans, advertisers, and overweight folks. And if you don't celebrate the glory of homosexuality, you're dead meat. My point is this, in many of his articles, I agree with his main point. The problem is that the point is obfuscated by his virulent tone, unnecessary insults to innocent bystanders, and character assassinations based only on innuendo, such as a bumper sticker or attendance at a "mega-church". If this man doesn't like the color of your front door, he burns down your house, and your neighbor's, and shoots the mice that crawl out of the flames. Robert Paul Reyes is not a critical thinker, he is just critical. There is no in-depth analysis to his writing, only anger and bigotry. He seems almost incapable of making an argument without degrading someone in the process. I suspect he's also a walking time bomb and in this age of Columbine, baby-killing mothers, and "going Postal", we need to recognize these tormented souls in advance and get them help. So, if you live in Lynchburg, Va.. Lest I sound only critical myself, I would note that in his "Ode to Patches", we finally sense some decency as he describes his cat's death. However, I suspect its death was suicide and not old age as he claims. ------------ About the author: Ron Lewis is a software salesman extraordinaire, albeit habitually unemployed, with no significant accomplishments at age 47 other than two wonderfully talented children who take after their mother. All his friends note his keen insight, bad eyesight, doggedly jaded disposition, and rugged bad looks. A third person seems to recall that he talks too much. Email: grnacres@direcway.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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