How I Lost My Commenting Privileges

I believe that the comment function was turned off at Culture Campaign after I opined on a post titled Activists Criticize Blood Banks For Discriminating Against Gay Men. The post concerned an AP story describing the efforts of the Red Cross, the American Blood Centers and the American Ass'n of Blook Banks to rescind an FDA rule requiring the rejection of blood from any donor who ever acknowledge having engaged in male-to-male sexual conduct. Based on advances in blood screen techniques, the blood organizations favored a one year prohibition on blood donation.

The Culture Campaign's had the following take on the this story: "Gay activists seem to be willing to go to any lengths to eliminate all reminders that homosexual behavior is not equivalent to heterosexual behavior - even at the risk of people's lives. Thank God the FDA is standing strong against this insanity." Contrary to the Campaign's paranoia (and despite being posted at FoxNews.com), the story did not contained the slightest suggestion that gay activists were in any way involved. According to the story, the blood services wanted the rules changed in order that they need not reject valuable blood donations.

Since the Culture Campaign had conjured the gay activists I asked a question along the lines of "Is it possible for you to read any story without seeing the bogeyman of the gay agenda.?" Although, I cannot say that this is the one that inspired the disabling of the comment function, I am sure that it is one of the last ones that I was allowed to post.

It seems to me that it would be very desirable for our culture if people could read a news item and limit the conclusions they draw from it to conclusions that are supported by the facts which are reported in it. I am not saying that anyone should accept a story uncritically and believe the facts as reported without question. Surely further research is in order if inaccuracies or bias are suspected. But, at the very least, someone who is seeking cultural improvement should avoid gratuitously inventing gay activist bogeymen with malevolent objectives and inserting them into stories about the Red Cross trying to maintain blood supplies.