What’s the opposite of a fan? Well, I have one of those.
For the purposes of charity, we’ll give him a new name: Blake. A
year and a half ago, Blake sent me a polite email requesting that we
remove a picture that we currently had on our web site—a picture
of a happy family with three children. Blake insisted that, “by
showing two children in that picture, you present a sustainable future
for all children instead of an unsustainable nightmare for all
children.”
After a few more e-mails of this nature, I belatedly realized that
Blake had the wrong idea about our organization’s purpose. So I sent
him a polite e-mail, looking to set him straight:
Thank you for your thoughtful email.
I believe that there has been a misunderstanding to the purpose
of our organization. At PRI we do research in order to dispel what we
call the “myth of overpopulation.” We hold that the world
is not overpopulated, and population control efforts are a misguided
quest that end in demographic problems and often cause widespread
human rights violations, as well.
As a result of this e-mail, Blake became very angry, and
subsequently took it upon himself to preach the gospel of
overpopulation to me—whatever it took.
He began sending me articles, repeating tired arguments. He added me anti-natalist newsletters. And he began to insult me, berating me for my perceived stupidity.
“I’m appalled if you call yourself an educated man,” he
fired. “What is it that you don’t understand about a finite
planet? When do you think we’ll stop our sheer numbers?”
When that didn’t work, he made it a little simpler. “Just
read your latest bulletin,” he frothed, “What is your IQ,
how far did you not get through grade school, how did you miss and not
pass simple math, what do you use for a brain? Every time I read
another of your ridiculous and totally out of touch newsletters, I
vomit in my mind and puke emotional. It’s amazing such idiots like you
exist in the world.”
Unfortunately, I get e-mails from the Blakes of the world nearly
every day. Radical feminists, environmentalists, and population
alarmists seem to share one thing in common—they are all angry,
Angry and terrified, And, as far as they’re concerned, anyone who
isn’t just as angry and terrified as they are is either an abject
fool, or is deliberately deluding themselves. I would like to offer
this word of advice to these folks: your righteous anger is lost on
us. The pro-life position is a highly rational, scientific position.
If you have a rigorous argument for us, let’s hear it. If not, spare
us the lecture.
Frankly, we’re bored with these arguments. Say something
interesting for a change.
