The internet can be an intimidating place for women.
Between men sending unsolicited photos of their anatomy to men—often the same one—threatening you with sexual assault or violence for saying, "no, thank you," it's a lot.
Now enter the crusaders.
Men who slide into your DMs to educate you on how wrong you are on your personal life, political views or life in general.
The Facebook page Insufferably Intolerant Science Nerd (IISN) recently dealt with just such a crusader who decided to send them a completely unsolicited message.
But rather than hit delete, they decided to respond.
Their crusader began with the super friendly greeting of "you're a murderer."
The IISN blog's owner explained:
"For the past several months or so, I have received invitations to debate a forced birther on the 'science of life' and the ethics of abortion. Debating a forced birther does not appeal to me. At all."
"I would rather wax my genitals with a blindfold on than engage in a debate with the so-called 'pro-life' brigade."
"Since I declined the invitation, every once in awhile I get a nice message from the forced birth community. Some of them ask me why I am so scared of a 'friendly debate', others aren't as nice."
"This is one such interaction."
IISN shared screenshots of the exchange between themselves and the unidentified forced birth advocate.
Them:
"You're a murderer."
IISN:
"Excuse me?"
Them:
"You advocate murder. You have the blood of millions of unborn children on your hands."
IISN:
"Okay. So I'm going to gloss over the fact you called me a murderer for the sake of asking you a question. What happens next?"
Them:
"I don't understand why that matters?"
IISN:
"What happens next? Once you have succeeded in your quest to stop the termination of a pregnancy – disregarding the circumstances for why the woman or couple wants to terminate (failed birth control, rape, lack of financial stability, unsuitable environment, domestic violence, mental health issues, lack of employment, medical issues, lack of comprehensive sexual education) – what happens next?"
"Who pays for the prenatal or postnatal care? Surely not a couple working minimum wage who can barely afford their rent."
"Who provides healthcare and funds medical bills for single women with no place to live? Or a married couple who struggle to afford the children they already have?"
"Who assists the millions of children in foster care still waiting to be adopted? Who helps them when they hit the street at 18 with no money or life skills?"
"Will you and your ilk – the self-proclaimed 'pro-life' community help to fund comprehensive sexual education for teens? How about access to affordable birth control?"
"Why not promote a vasectomy as a viable option for men who don't want children? How about funding scientific research so men can have more birth control options than just condoms?"
"Is your community going to help pay for healthcare and education costs?"
"Once you have succeeded in stopping the termination of a pregnancy, what role will you have in ensuring a quality of life for the foetus you so desperately wanted to save?"
Them:
"That's the parent's responsibility."
IISN:
"And there's the money shot. Here's a wakeup call – you don't get to come into my inbox and sh*t all over my Sunday with your over-inflated Messiah complex with your Facebook profile filled with delusions of superiority declaring yourself to be on the side of 'life', when in reality your compassion stops just inside the vaginal canal."
"Don't embarrass yourself and pretend that you give a flying f**k about what happens once a foetus is born, or about the people who aren't equipped to raise them."
"Don't pretend you give a sh*t about children when you aren't prepared to do a damn thing about the millions of struggling families on welfare, or the millions of children in foster care."
"Don't pretend you give a sh*t about life when you would rather just sit by and smugly proclaim women should 'close their legs' because it's less energy to do so, than it is to lobby for resources that would make it easier for people to become parents."
"Go away."
People appreciated IISN's handling of the situation.
As IISN stated in their post about the exchange:
"Pro-life doesn't mean 'pro-quality of life'."
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