GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

My fourth blogiversary

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Today, marks my fourth blogiversary, just one month and two days after Bruce set up this blog.

To honor that, I quote words the great Albert Camus wrote just after World War II, words that I used to enter the blogosphere four years ago today:

Something in us has been destroyed by the spectacle of the years just past. And this something is the eternal confidence of man, which has always made him believe that one could draw human reactions from another man by speaking to him in the language of humanity. We have seen lying, debasing, killing, deportations, torture, and each time it was not possible to persuade those who were doing it not to do it, because they were so sure of themselves and because one cannot persuade an abstraction, that is to say, the representative of an ideology.

The long conversation of mankind has just ended. And, of course, a man whom one cannot persuade is a man who frightens us….

We live in terror because persuasion is no longer possible, because man has been delivered entirely to history and because he can no longer turn to that part of himself, as true as the historical part, which he discovers in front of the beauty of the world and of human faces…

The Century of Fear from “Combat,” November 1946 (my translation).

After four years blogging, these words have become ever more poignant, given the amount of hate-mail I have received and the number of hate comments this blog has generated. It seems that some on the gay left don’t want to be persuaded by their conservative peers, no, not persuaded to become conservative, but persuaded that we are not self-loathing oxymorons. They refuse to believe we reached our conclusions through extended thought about the role of government in civil society and with careful consideration for the circumstances of the situation at hand.

That we have failed to persuaded them of the sincerity of our views suggests a certain hardness on their part. Alas, we do not always draw human reactions from our critics.

Even though Camus wrote those words before many of those critics were born, he did understand the nature of their hate. Some of them hate, not because of what we say (their regular misrepresentation and ignorance of our ideas shows that), but because of what they feel. They seem to have cut themselves off from a certain part of themselves, the part that finds humanity in our differences.

All that said, if “suffering” their hatred is the price one has to pay for the success I have enjoyed in this endeavor, then it has been well worth it. As I experienced in St. Paul last month and here Saturday night, this blog has helped me meet other like-minded individuals and become a forum for gay people who had not previously had a voice in the media. And it has helped me find opportunities I might otherwise have missed.

So, Bruce, thanks once again for inviting me to join you in this project that has succeeded beyond your wildest expectations. And readers, thank you for taking the time to read my posts and consider my ideas. That means more to me than you can possible imagine.

—B. Daniel Blatt

Comments

  2. Dan and Bruce, you’ve made a difference in peoples lives – really.
    I’m sure the benefits that you have experience outweigh the negative big time.

    Keep up the good work, we need you out here.

  4. I have two quotes for you, Dan:

    Ann Coulter
    Then as now, liberals protect themselves from detection with wild calumnies against anybody who opposes them. They have no interest in — or aptitude for — persuasion. Their goal is to anathematize their enemies.

    And, from the New Testament
    2 Timothy 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these.

  9. Dan,

    I see the 4th anniversary calls for FRUIT and flowers as the “traditional” gift to give.

    Well you get plenty of fruit here! 🙂

    Sometimes I see you get some “nuts and flakes” as well.

    I have been so impressed with your involvement in the national political community. I am proud to tell my friends to go to gaypatriot.com

    I don’t plan on going anywhere so you’d better plan on being here for a long time too.

    OK, if Fox News call and offers you your own show I will let you go!

    We need your presence to give our collective voice an outlet. Gay conservatives are an important group of people and offer something special to the political landscape.

    Best of luck and keep up the good work….

    Jeb

  14. Happy Anniversary, Dan! We need voices like yours more than ever.

    I fear these are bleak, dark times for those who support free markets, truly free speech and the rights of individuals. While I am always, in the long run, optimistic – we may have to slog through some pretty awful circumstances until things get turned around.

    Thanks for continuing to be one of those who does what he can to urge efforts in the direction of freedom.

  16. Cool!

    Let’s all do our part and kick in a little donation to keep these guys on the air (and hope President Obama doesn’t suspend the First Amendment in the interest of Hope! And Change!)

  18. Congratulations on surviving 4 years in the blogsphere and providing a forum for like-minded people to vent.

    You say:

    “The refuse to believe we reached the conclusions with have through extended thought about the role of government in civil society and with careful consideration for the circumstances of the situation at hand.”

    Probably true in many cases and those of you who can present your positions rationally without an endless stream of drool against liberals should get the proper respect. But, I’ve rarely seen you offer anything vaguely resembling that kind of respect for LGBT liberals so what makes you think you deserve it?