The Old Man is tempting me.

As I logged on this evening to get a little work done (real work, not blogging), I discovered 11 new hostile messages from the SNAP crowd in my Inbox related to my October 13, 2005 rant about the clergy abuse plaintiffs' bar on clerical abuse cases, plus a (rather benign, but inviting) comment from the new occupant on my post about Holy Trinity.

Ooooh, how much fun it would be to answer each and everyone on of those email messages! How much fun it would be to compile bits and pieces from each of them, including this little gem from another, an "ex catholic and survivor of abuse by Jesuit priests" :

Mr or Ms curmudgeon.. is a pathetic example of the slime of the catholic church.. the insane thinking of them and their refusal to accept responsibility and accountability for the crimes against humanity and the planet inflicted by THEIR church, religion and relgious authorities.. it is this very laity who i see as co rapists and co molestors of the millions of children and adults abused by catholic teaching and clergy through out history...

Yes, an honest man! He's not "seeking justice" against the abusers themselves, he's out to get all of us Catholics and destroy Holy Mother Church! Here's my first-class ticket to heaven! A man who would martyr me!

But it's the Old Man tempting me, isn't he? My new most frequent sin . . . wasting time on the internet. The Old Man is saying, "C'mon Curmudgeon, he called you a 'co rapist and co molestor'--just a few minutes to have a little fun with that remarkable line--after all, your work isn't anything you can't hammer out first thing in the morning, and your wife is doing just fine with the kids while you are upstairs tilting at virtual windmills."

OK, I'm going to resist. I've got to get some stuff done for work in the morning. Later in the week, I've got to help out Mrs. Curmudgeon as we get ready for our Christmas marathon, and I've got to get to bed at a decent hour. I've got to help a family member out with a business purchase she's in the middle of. I've got to get back to praying at least Vespers or Compline before bed in the evenings. In short--I've got to stay away from the blog--or at least avoid any time-consuming semi-substantive posts until at least next week. Neither can I spend time in lengthy corresondence with the invincibly ignorant until then.

But OH, it's so hard!

Yes, I'm going to try! At least for a few days more, the barber's basin comes off my head, I leave Rosinante in the stable, and I attend to the mundane business of La Mancha.