FROM SIXTY TO ZERO IN ONE BLOG BIT (Or, UHP! I’M AN IDIOT, AND A “LOSER” TOO!) Part 1 Of 2

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This is Part 1 Of 2:

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“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’.”

~ Jesus

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It has hardly been a habit of mine to use my blog installments to publicly criticize other bloggers. In fact, prior to today, I believe I’ve only done that to one other blogger - Loony Leftist Len Hart, author of the blog ‘The Excremental Cowboy’ ‘The Existentialist Cowboy’ : 'The Cowardly Cowboy Speaks But Only “Owns” The F-Word’ (Or, ‘The Existentialist Cowboy Practices Censorship!’)

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But Loony Len was begging for it –  the pseudo-intellectual, F-bomb-tossin’, censorship-lovin’, ten gallon hat-wearin’ Texas Liberal.

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Now, years later, I find myself posting a critical blog bit about another blogger, Susan Shannon (SS) of the blog ‘Short Little Psycho’ ‘Short Little Rebel’ (SLR). Ironically, I have come to think of Susan Shannon as the Conservative equivalent of Leftist Len – two extremists on opposite ends of the spectrum – but both of them tossing irrational barbs at anyone who dares disagree with them, and both of them not hesitating to resort to censorship in order to give the appearance of having vanquished their critics. The difference? Len argues for the Democrats; Susan argues for Jesus.

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It’s no secret that I don’t take a lot of crap from people: I am my Mother’s son and my Brother’s brother. So when Susan Shannon (SS), the Short Little Rebel, suddenly and shockingly turned on me and publicly slandered me, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that THIS blog bit was going to get written. I confess to being only a mediocre follower of Jesus, and when someone hits me, I hit back – and harder.

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Having admitted that, however, I want it clear from the start that this blog bit is only 6.66% (or maybe 66.6%) about revenge; the rest of it is about regaining my credibility by retracting my past praise for SS and distancing myself from her ‘Short Little Rebel’ (SLR) blog. In my recent 3-part series about Christ and Bible Study - an idea inspired by a post on SLR - I highly and prematurely praised SS and suggested that my readers also become her readers. But a couple of my friends said I was not like her. It took me awhile to realize it, but they were right... thankfully.

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Because it struck me as being so rare and refreshing, when I first discovered SS’s SLR blog, I was pleasantly surprised to see she seemed so bold, so fearless in facing off against the Socialists, Communists and God-haters. I was immediately impressed by her ability to silence her critics. Here’s one of the very first comments I submitted to her blog, on the post titled What Does a Christian Sound Like?:

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Stephen T. McCarthy says:

February 19, 2013 at 10:12 pm

SLR ~

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>> . . . “Even the rough edges that some of us have.”

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Ha! In all honesty I can say that if it weren’t for your “rough edge” I wouldn’t be following your blog. It’s the “rough edge” and the way you handle your critics that makes me come back here to this site.

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One thing I like about you is that you remind me of . . . me. 
: ) No, seriously. I think I may have become so notorious that the Libs won’t even fight with me anymore. *Sniffle* I miss ‘em sometimes.

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Do you know that Tom Petty song ‘I WON’T BACK DOWN’? That’s you (and me) and some of my other favorite followers of Jesus.

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In one of your other comment sections I said I’d be mentioning you and linking to your blog in an upcoming blog series about ‘The Bible And A Reading Plan’. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’ve already written the part where I mention and recommend your blog (so THIS particular installment of your blog did NOT influence in any way what I will be posting soon), and I essentially said that I like your writing because you ‘don’t sound like a Christian’ – the milquetoast Ned Flanders variety, anyway.

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Stay spunky or lose me.

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~ D-FensDogg
‘Loyal American Underground’

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She replied in a positive, respectful manner... but then I was praising and agreeing with her, right?

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On March 1st, I submitted a comment to the SLR installment Obama Wants Supreme Court To Overturn California’s Gay Marriage Ban- WHY? Later I questioned why my comment had not yet been posted (like I do on my blog, SS has the ‘Comment Moderation’ safeguard activated on her blog), and she responded:

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Stephen, the reason your comment was awaiting approval was the claim that Obama is gay. I wanted to read your link and to do a little research. It’s a compelling article. ... I will leave your comment, however, and let readers make up their own minds.

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Uhp! I’m an idiot! And that’s why her response to me there was only the very first time I got an inkling that something might not be quite right with SS. I did not care for the way she had twisted my comment and I tried multiple times (on various SLR blog bits) to post a correction but I could never get her WordPress blog to accept my submitted comment. (Incidentally, I believe the rejection was due to a buggy system; I never suspected SS of personally rejecting my submitted correction.) Here’s what I was attempting to post on her blog:

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SHORT LITTLE REBEL ~

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>> . . . “Stephen, the reason your comment was awaiting approval was the claim that Obama is gay.”

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“I did not make the claim that Obama is gay.

(Although having seen him throw a baseball, it's difficult not to have a great deal of suspicion about that. OK, that was a joke... sort of.)

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“But I always choose my words very carefully, Susan, and what I said was: "Obama’s support of homosexuality MAY indicate that he himself has a vested interest in it. There is reason to CONSIDER the POSSIBILITY that Obama himself MAY in fact be a homosexual."

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“My statement was not a clear, straight-forward (pun intended) declaration that Obama is gay - unlike the comment Bob Jones made, in which he wrote: "It’s not a very well kept secret that Obama is gay."

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“I myself would not make a statement like "Obama IS gay" until I KNEW he was and believed I had plenty enough evidence to support my knowledge in a serious debate with one of his worshipers.

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“On the other hand . . . I HAVE seen him throw a baseball.”

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Well, I figured SS’s remark was probably just an oversight; that she had simply not read my comment carefully enough and noted how I was implying a possibility rather than making a direct accusation.

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On March 2nd, I posted my 3-part blog bit and the following day, I left a comment on the SLR blog installment Facebook Censors Conservative Speech! There is Another Great Option! in which I said:

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“...the primary reason for this visit is to inform you that the 3-Part blog bit series I mentioned previously, which was inspired by your ‘May I Suggest A Bible & A Reading Plan?’ post, has now been published on my blog. Therein I acknowledge the inspiration I got from your idea and urge my handful of readers to check out your SHORT LITTLE REBEL blog.

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“In case you’re interested in taking a look, below is the URL for Part 1. There’s a link to the next installment in the series at the conclusion of each blog bit. Hopefully some of my readers will begin following your excellent blog as well.”

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Then, while waiting for the Short Little Rebel to acknowledge my post and at least (even if she disagreed with some of my content) say something like “Thanks for the nice compliments and for publicly supporting my blog”, I began responding to the comments left by my friends and my blog’s few ‘Followers’.

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Exhibiting incredible rudeness for a “Christian”, Susan Shannon never left so much as a peep or any indication that she had bothered to read even the first of my 3-part blog bit series.

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Some of my friends, however, having taken my advice (sorry ‘bout that, pals) visited the SLR blog and returned with some unfavorable impressions:

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HeFriend: 
She has some serious unresolved issues; it’s apparent in her posts and comments. ... I think she represents the biggest reason why so many people run away from the Bible, and reject the idea of getting to know Jesus. Who knows, she may be in for a rude surprise come judgment day. ... I don’t think she would understand honest compassion.

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I was greatly surprised by HeFriend’s comments and I replied: “Other than the ‘obvious’, I’m really not sure what the difference is between Short Little Rebel and me. ... I’m a bit mystified by why you seem to dislike her so. But I value your opinion enough to request and consider [more of] it.”

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HeFriend: 
It's amazing how similar [your blogs] are. Almost seems like fraternal twins on the surface. SLR is obviously very intelligent, well-versed, and she puts together an immaculate post. She seems to keep a short leash on her comment section, though. I would have liked to hear some of the comments that she didn't allow just so I could read what she considered unimportant, frivolous, and a waste of her time.
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I don't think of her as "feisty" so much as angry, and self-righteous. In one post, "Jesus Used FaceBook to Rebuke Me", it seems like she had a moment of self-awareness or clarity where she admitted that anger had gotten the better of her. Seems like a recurring theme. It amazes me how such an intelligent person doesn't have the ability to communicate in a manner that could actually further her cause. (If she actually has a cause). She would rather rant about her atheist attacks, or call Facebook or whoever "evil", instead of using her gift and accepting the challenge of stepping out of her comfort zone and actually trying to change the hearts and minds of people who aren't already in her Christian camp. What a wasted opportunity when someone with her ability continually tries to put out fire with gasoline. (Only you can get away with that!)
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It's not dislike; it's more like disappointment. It's her blog, though. Maybe it's just a way for her to vent, or kick up some dust, and nothing more. Admittedly, she's un-humorously entertaining in a way.
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You don't see where there's a whole lot of difference between you and her? Read between the lines. You'll never be like her; you're smart enough to realize that to catch a fish you sometimes have to put a little slack in the line. There's only two people who ever got me to crack open a Bible, and you're one of them. Smart as SLR is, she would never have accomplished that feat.

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I was truly WOWED! by the exceptional compliment from HeFriend (amongst my favorite compliments ever!) Meanwhile a SheFriend submitted some similar opinions:

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SheFriend: 
I tend to agree with HeFriend that often she [Susan Shannon] uses a sledgehammer to get her point across. ... She has a delivery that comes across more like, "This is it and you better believe it, or else". Certainly she stands up for what she believes, but your posts follow more... like, "Let those who have ears to hear, hear". ... She ... is hard to like. ... [S]he does bring up some interesting points, and follows up with good links, but her basic delivery, is... very different from yours.
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I've run into many people in my life who want to use The Bible and particularly the Gospel of Jesus Christ to beat you into submission, rather than open your heart to truth and understanding. BTW, I hope it wasn't a disappointment to you that I wrote that in an email as opposed to a comment. I'm reluctant to leave a public comment where I say something negative about another persons blog. I figure they have the right to say things in any manner they like and I have the right to read or not. Although, I doubt she would ever read those comments, because I doubt she bothers to read the blogs of others. She seems far too self-important for that. Your buddy described her perfectly with two words: ‘angry’ and ‘self-righteous’.
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She's starting to sound  a little crazy along with angry and self-righteous. ... I had not read the SLR post until you directed me there. Looks to me like she's starting to unravel. ... Anyway, she also openly states that she shuts her Facebook account down from time to time to keep liberals 'from pooping on it' (her words not mine). That's also a way to clean up your account and take down comments or discussions you don't like. I recognize there are lots of nuts in the world, but someone like SLR who SEEMS so confident and has ALL of the answers, sure does a lot to keep certain comments and discussions from the eyes of the public.
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Did I say she was hard to like? Add “hard to trust” to that comment also. I'm starting to think that she is someone who is, quite possibly, doing more harm than good to the cause of spreading the Word of God and Truth about the New World Order.

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Uhp! Being an idiot, I still really didn’t get where HeFriend and SheFriend were coming from – I thought SS and I were two birds of a feather. However, I felt a Voice inside me say, “Wait and watch”. So I kept monitoring the SLR blog, reading the posts and comment responses from SS. Meanwhile, I wrote to HeFriend:

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“I have been thinking about what you and my other friend wrote, and I have been reading some of Short Little Rebel's recent posts, and I have been running all of that through the 'Rinse and Spin Cycles' of my mind. ... I WILL be back here again, so please don't give up on me too soon, Brother.”

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Continued in Part Two. For Part Two, click HERE.

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy

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YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.

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