Me and My Big Mouth

Over at John C. Wright’s blog, a reader writes that he has struggled for years with a harsh reply I once gave him during the thick of the Torture Arguments on this blog several years ago. This is another one of those Things I Feel Bad About moments. So, since the sin happened publicly (albeit I was unaware of the devastation it caused him at the time), it’s only fitting that I post this publicly too:

Dear Tom:

I saw your complaint on John C. Wright’s blog and would like to apologize for hurting you.  You are, it seems to me from what you write, obviously somebody of tender conscience who seeks to do what is right before the Lord.  It pains me to think that, in the heat of combat with a host of combox interlocutors who were deeply insincere (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2009/05/the-definition-game.html) and actively bent on rationalizing mortal sin while doing all they could to smear me (www.coalitionforfog.blogspot.com) I wound up, so to speak, shooting an innocent in my polemical gunplay with them.  It was, believe me, not my intent.  Please forgive my rash words and please take assurance from me that I want to retract the assumptions I made about your honest question.

As a token of good faith, I will also post an apology on my blog.  My entire purpose in fighting that fight against the advocacy of torture was that I loathed the abuse of people’s human dignity.  It saddens me that I abused yours.  Please know that it was not my intention and please know, especially, that whatever burden of shame and guilt I placed on your shoulder with my harsh reply to you should be allowed to roll off.  The fault was mine, not yours.  Please forgive me.