From: Brian Holtz [brian@holtz.org]
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 9:31 PM
To: 'Gary Amirault'
Subject: RE: fair use

GA: Personally, I do not take PERSONAL email between myself and another and post them to the world.

If somebody who runs a Christian ministry website sends me email challenging positions I've defended on my website, I consider that fair game for a public response. 

GA: I know in personal emails, I usually do not edit. I have thousands of them to answer as do others.

You should write what you mean, and mean what you write. If you want to send more email than is consistent with this standard, that's not my fault.

GA: Things can easily get heated

Despite your personal attacks and unwillingness to defend them, I have no problem keeping things cool.

GA: and things can easily be taken out of context and used for mischievous purposes which, I believe you have done. I think it’s wrong,

I'm still waiting for you to give a single example of me taking anything you've said out of context. The only specific case I can think of is when you alleged that I misinterpreted your cryptic two-line email saying just "Oh, Lord, sic em! Get this dude." (Obviously, quoting the entirety of a two-line email can't be taking anything out of context.)

GA: I believe the government thinks it’s wrong,

They don't, as I already explained at http://humanknowledge.net/Correspondence/Gary_Amirault/2003-06-20.htm

GA: but you have an agenda, a dishonorable agenda

My agenda is truth. My hope is to challenge my beliefs by getting you to defend the beliefs of yours that contradict mine. If you are unwilling or unable to offer such a defense, then our conversation will not be very enjoyable for you. I don't see how this agenda is "dishonorable".

GA: and you will apparently stoop to very low levels to fulfill that agenda.

I'm not the one here making repeated unsubstantiated attacks on another's personal character and motives.

GA: NOW GET THIS. My emails to you are between you and me. Got it?

You think you can ignore my repeated requests for you to defend your various attacks on my character, and then issue edicts about how widely I may post my defense of my character?  That's hilarious. Your emails may be from you to me, but if they challenge positions I've taken in my public writings, then I'm well within my rights to post my responses.

GA: If that is not acceptable to you, then we can end the communication.

You're within your rights to stop emailing me at any time. Indeed, I don't understand why you continue to respond, since you ignore my rebuttals of your comments and are on notice that I will continue to post my responses.

GA: In my opinion, you are disingenuous.

"disingenuous n. lacking in candor; also : giving a false appearance of simple frankness : calculating"

I indeed choose my words with care, but I defy you to show that I've lacked candor or have falsely tried to appear frank.

GA: I would never post your personal emails on my site

I'm not surprised that it would make you uncomfortable for your site's visitors to see your behavior so far in this conversation. But it's never too late to (as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount) "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

GA: and I would especially not snip them to my advantage.

Again: can you give even a single example of me doing so? If the individual comments you make are easily rebutted, it's not unfair of me to rebut them individually. I don't bother quoting things that I either agree with or am not interested in disputing, but otherwise I simply quote seriatim the remaining comments as I rebut them. Any "advantage" I get from quoting you derives not from how I quote you, but from you having said things you can't or won't defend. By contrast, I'm happy to defend any sentence or clause that you care to quote from my writings .

GA: That would not be honest. Apparently you follow a different set of rules. There’s no point in continuing. Based upon your communication with me, I’m dealing with a man who will set aside his integrity to further his cause.

Another thing the Sermon on the Mount says is "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." This conversation is ultimately because of Jesus, and false accusations are indeed being made here. My honesty and integrity stand fully defended here, and my conscience is clear.