Analyzing a Weird and Fruitless Conversation I Had on Twitter

Yeah, I still call it that. Sue me.

I rarely visit Twitter these days, but when I do, I manage to find someone to respond to. Recently, someone posted a tweet about their favorite R.E.M. song, and so I responded by saying “Losing My Religion” is probably my favorite. Call me predictable, but there it is. I do have other favorite songs: “The One I Love” and “Everybody Hurts,” to name two out of many more. But enough about R.E.M.

Today’s post is about how I sometimes get caught up in a conversation that goes nowhere. Is this a problem with the new, Elon Musk–owned Twitter and the people it attracts? I raise a question and it gets ignored or — and this is a favorite tactic for those who don’t know how to argue — the person deflects. I’ve had a few exasperating conversations of this stripe over the years, but today I thought I would document one of them.

So let’s begin. After rooting around a bit and responding to the person with the R.E.M. question, I saw this:

This is a peculiar meme. First of all, whenever I discuss my status as a godless heathen, I never break out into a rage. I don’t dye my hair (and wouldn’t choose green if I did), and I don’t wear necklaces of any stripe. Also, my non-existent boobs, such as they are, aren’t much to look at.

But before I continue with my analysis, permit me to point out that atheists will talk about religion. You might think that’s strange, but it isn’t. Or as I wrote in a Medium piece, “‘Ten Questions That an Atheist Can’t Answer’? — I’m Up for the Challenge,” a few years ago:

Why do atheists care if people worship God? Ricky Gervais once said that believers will sometimes say something like this to him: “For someone so against religion, you talk about God an awful lot.” To which Gervais replied, “Yeah, I know a detective who talks about crime a lot. Mad, isn’t it?” We don’t care if people worship God. Believe what you want. What we do care about are religious views intruding on the public square.

Returning to the illustration shown above, take a look at the angelic woman on the right. Yes, “angelic” is correct because the woman is depicted as having wings. As for her half-smile and raised eyebrow, is that a look of…bemusement? I don’t know what to make of this illustration. So here was my response to The Art of Purpose’s question:

And what does “Atheists talking about other religions” mean? It seems The Art of Purpose is suggesting that an atheist may diss one religion with green-hair–dyed rage but will speak fondly of another. If that’s what’s being implied here, that is mistaken. If an atheist criticizes an Abrahamic religion, he’s going to criticize all religions because, well, he’s an a-theist — with a hyphen for emphasis: There are people who believe in a god or gods (theists), and there are people who don’t believe in any god (atheists). Atheists are not going to speak admirably about any religion because atheists are not theists. What could be clearer than that?

But then I got this response in response to my response to The Art of Purpose:

Wait, what? “I don’t know if you’re a leftist”? What does that have to do with what I asked? And what’s that about Greg’s assumption that I’m pretending not to understand things? Why would I pretend to not understand something? I either understand something or I don’t, and if I don’t understand something, I’ll ask for an explanation. And what about that alleged double standard? I would still like an answer to that question.

Greg’s reply?

“Lol. Like I said”? Like he said…what? He didn’t say anything that pertained to my initial question, which is now a twofold question: What double standard are atheists allegedly deploying, and what do left politics have to do with my question?

That is correct. Ayn Rand, a deeply unpleasant woman, was an atheist who did not align herself with left politics.¹

To which Greg wrote, thinking he was clarifying matters:

The point? What point? Again with his bizarre assumption that I’m pretending to not understand something. Pretending to not understand… what? What is it that I’m pretending to not understand? I suppose I could pretend to not understand something in a comedy improv class as a way to have fun with my partner, but why would I pretend here?

Oh, maybe I’m not pretending, Greg avers. whew Great! Maybe now we’re getting somewhere. But where is the answer to my now-twofold question: What is the alleged double standard with atheists when it comes to discussing religion, and what do left politics have to do with my question?

What’s difficult for me is that he won’t answer my twofold question.

“I already explained it to you.” He explained nothing. Alluding to some mysterious unexplained “point” is not an explanation or an answer to my twofold question. After a request for another clarification he wrote:

That should be “alluding.”

I persisted:

To that, Greg went silent.

And so I remain in the dark because he never explained what it was that I was pretending to not understand and why it was necessary for him to mention that I might be a leftist. And I still don’t know what the double standard is.

Maybe I should just pose my question to Medium readers. Hello, fellow readers and writers. I have a question: What is the double standard that The Art of Purpose was referring to? And, if you feel up to it, can anyone tell me why my question was perceived as one that might’ve come with a political bias?

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

¹. I love this from Corey Robin’s book The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump: “Saint Petersburg in revolt gave us Vladimir Nabokov, Isaiah Berlin, and Ayn Rand. The first was a novelist, the second a philosopher. The third was neither but thought she was both.”

Barry Lyons lives in New York City. He’s written about the Second Amendment, the true meaning of “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” and, on the lighter side of things, the Indiana Jones movies.