The Perversion of a Legend
I note a particular oddity in the ongoing debate about the legitimacy of the Hugo Award slate. For all the ink that has so for been spilled over it — including more than one libelous article hurredly retracted — no one is actually talking about it.
No one is talking about the merit of any of the works, mine or others, being judged.
Consider the irony of that for a moment. We masterminds of evil living in our villain lair in the cone of an extinct volcano in Antarctica are being accused of introducing politics and bloc voting into the Hugo Awards. Our main complaint is the the Hugo Awards in recent years have been a matter of politics hence not about the merit of the work. Our complaint is that meritorious works are being shut out; that the merit of the work is being ignored. And the response of our critics is …. to launch personal attacks, to attempt clumsy character assassination, besmirch and besmear our character, and never to talk about the merit of the works.
Point made; case closed.
I have so far found one and only one exception, and the comment is worthy of sustained and detailed mockery.
Here is the quote from the one and only one detractor who mentioned discontent with my work rather than badmouthing the author.
And even he only mentioned the writing in passing after several paragraphs of condemning me for badthink and thoughtcrime.
This is regrettable, but that’s what is to be expected when you recruit Vox Day for your side and champion John C. Wright, a guy who thinks there should be laws against sex outside of marriage.
(quoting me, emphasis his) I will gladly clarify: I am not a libertarian any more. I think the state has a right and a duty and a sacred obligation to enforce marriage laws, and put men in jail for adultery, for fornication, as well as to punish the johns and patrons of prostitutes with severe penalties: http://johncwright.livejournal.com/337756.html?nojs=1&thread=11474268
He also thinks that women must obey their husbands:
(quoting me) For her part, she must vow to love and honor and obey. And if you do not understand about that obey part, you do not understand women. She wants a leader, an alpha male, a chief, a Christ, and you must be willing to die for her as Christ was willing to die for you, or she will not feel secure in your love. If she does not swear to obey, you are not a couple, not a dyad, not a unit, but are still two sovereigns dealing with each other at arm’s length, not intimate, and she cannot trust you fully, cannot love you fully, not with a divine and self-sacrificing love. http://www.everyjoe.com/2014/07/16/politics/secret-to-the-most-mind-blowing-sex-ever/
And the less said about his views on LGBT people, the better.
But, you say, maybe he is a bigot, but they championed him because he wrote great fiction last year.
To which I say – try reading it without laughing at how bad it is. Believe me, it’s not easy.
Actually, no man not bereft of this wits says of me, maybe he is a bigot.
A sane man merely wishing to publish a libel or slander would invent a more credible falsehood and level a less absurd accusation, such as, for example, by saying I am an isosceles triangle seeking to overthrow the social order of the Polygons Flatland, and that I must be bound with the magical gossamer ribbon gleipnir before I eat the sun and moon, leaving the world in darkness forever.
Bigotry is defined as a man who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
The words utterly intolerant do not mean respectfully and with endless, easygoing, and jovial clemency, patience, charity and magnanimity welcoming any disagreement with those of differing creed, belief and opinion, while never losing sight of their innate human dignity ergo treating them with scrupulous fairness, dispassionate justice, and princely courtesy. It means the opposite.
Except when fellows like this use the word. In his world, tolerance is bigotry, bigotry is tolerance, war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
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