Are 'Jehovah's' really a 'cult'? (updated)

The buzz today is that twice as many liberals as conservatives have blocked or "unfriended" a social-media contact because of political statements they've made. The inference, of course, is that the Left is less tolerant than the Right when it comes to differences of political opinion. That may be true, although I wouldn't fault a Facebook or Twitter user for 1) having the freedom to choose his or her friends, and 2) wanting to avoid reading things from their "friends" that tick them off. I have plenty of left-of-center friends on Facebook who see all my links to this blog, and nobody to my knowledge has "unfriended" me. Argued with me, yes.

But what gets me more about online intolerance is the slime that people fling in forums and in, say, comments on news stories -- and the cavalier attitudes about them among Web hosts who ought to know better.

Take, for instance, this comment underneath the RS' Ryan Sabalow's able reporting on Klamath Riverkeeper's threatened lawsuit over Dwinnell Dam and the apparent shrug that it has received by the site's moderators.

I`m evaluating which cult angers me more. The Jehovah`s or the Enviro`s. If these guys got together. Lock up the women and children gentlemen.

Now I've certainly had my moments of saying "No thank you" to Watchtower-peddling solicitors at my door, and I even engaged one in friendly debate. But if I were a Jehovah's Witness, I'd be deeply offended by the suggestion that my faith is a "cult" that presents a danger to women and children. Or maybe the commenter meant to insult all Christians; it's hard to be sure.

Now I don't mean to just single out Redding.com; I've seen plenty of the same types of offensive remarks by commenters on Fox News, sports blogs and the like -- all of which present themselves as inclusive. But think of what would happen if somebody posted, "I don't know who makes me angrier, the Jews or the Enviros." Or, "I don't know who makes me angrier, the blacks or the enviros." These comments would have been deleted within the hour, and depending on the site, the poster would be banned. But apparently if you happen to believe in Christ, or Jehovah, it's open season on you.

UPDATE: The comment in question at Redding.com has been deleted, as Bruce Ross explains below. Now if we could only get the folks at Fox News and the other sites to read my blog ...