When It Comes to Abortion, Rationality Goes Out the Window
Speaking in the first person once again: At night on my way to bed, I often listen to a certain radio talk show. It’s local to the San Francisco Bay Area, so the vast majority of our readers have never heard of it. The host of the show is a member of the Libertarian Party (of which I am not).
There’s something about this host that sets him apart from almost all of the talk-show hosts I’ve heard. He’s willing to hear people out. He rarely interrupts. Imagine how hard it is to be a talk-show host; you’re expected to be an expert on virtually everything and respond to sudden challenges instantly. But this host does not cut people off when he realizes he can’t defend himself. Rather, he might say, “I could be wrong,” or “I’ll have my assistant do some research on that.” He’s very intelligent and self-assured. He doesn’t shout at people, doesn’t get emotional or hysterical. He’s relentlessly rational. He’s also an avowed agnostic, but he’s not hostile to Christianity, as are several talk-show hosts in this area.
He states his case on this or that, and you can agree or disagree with him.
Sometimes, when an irrational bozo expounds at length, refusing to even hear anything the host says, he will finally cut him off, saying something like, “I have no more time for you.” After hanging up, the host might say, “That person is an idiot.” Is that ad hominem? Technically. But it’s also ad rem. The person really is an idiot.
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