Have you by chance ever happened across the writings of a guy named Robert Anton Wilson? He was an agnostic who wrote pretty extensively about what he perceived as fundamentalism in all areas of life, including coining the term "secular fundamentalism." He basically tried to argue that the impulse for fundamentalism…

At this point, this HAS to be intentional. I mean, it's like what, the 3rd time they've done something that's Holocaust-chic? I get that most of the people designing for them missed that period of history, but where else would the idea come from?

That's not wholly accurate. At most, if you were going to try to distill a common belief among Christians, it would be that Christian means somebody who centers their theological/moral beliefs around Jesus of Nazareth.

Indeed. The guy who killed George Tiller has schizophrenia. Does that make him not a terrorist? Heck no - it makes him a mentally ill terrorist.

I await with bated breath Bill Maher's inevitable call for all "moderate atheists" to stand up and condemn this vile act - and if they don't, we'll know that they stand with this vile terrorist.

Well what search terms did you use, exactly? I get that as a white male, you're not used to doing your own legwork, but you're sounding slightly incredulous, even for me.

But that was my point. A lot of people with autism WANT to go out, interact, lead their own lives. But they have issues with learning the HOW of doing that, or with confronting the hurdles to that. You're arguing against giving them the therapy that might help them do that, on the grounds that the therapy might be…

So your solution is that a person with autism should basically retreat from the world and not bother, since it might be hard for them?

I understand all that. However, as far as I understand it, part of the therapies for people with autism is that they need to come to understand that violence is not an acceptable method of self-expression. Ever. What you're basically arguing is that autistic people should simply be left alone to do whatever they want.…

So parents who get assaulted by their children deserve no sympathy? Your reaction is to automatically presume that if somebody gets attacked, they must have been antagonizing the person?

But what if what they say is accurate? My friend sees the fits, the screaming, all that. She's not describing how the person with autism feels, she's stating what she's observing and how it looks and how people react to it. I'm not really seeing an issue.

Certainly.

No, I'm afraid you've missed my point entirely.

Google is your friend, for starters.

I'm glad your stepdaughter has somebody in her life that cares that much about her. I wasn't suggesting that the anti-vaccine side is correct, but that arguing in favor of vaccines by trying to minimize autism is a lousy strategy.

But doesn't your statement proceed from the presumption that life, any life, is preferable to death? You do realize that there are people who feel differently?

But it often is the argument that "Even IF vaccines caused autism, autism is not that bad, so you should still take that risk." That treads close to minimizing autism. That's the point. The argument isn't the best one to argue with.

OH JESUS.

You're right - nothing justifies treating autistic people as less than. And I too felt so bad when Jenny McCarthy talked about her son as being "soulless." That must be a terrible thing to hear. I figured that she probably meant that his charisma or personality left, but still, what a terrible way to say it.

That's something I've never understood. People have done terrible things in the name of all manner of things. Almost every religious group has committed crimes because they felt their religion justified it. But that's not an attack on religion. Secularists have committed terrible acts in the name of their beliefs.…