A business magazine has just published a cover story on the evils of blogs. I’m not going to name the magazine, because I don’t think their bad behavior deserves attention. The same can not be said for what must be half of the other bloggers in the world, each of whom have written one or more posts criticising the magazine and the story, all of whom have done the magazine a huge favor by naming the magazine and linking too it.

The media, like a dog, or a small child, absolutely craves attention. Most conscientious dog owners and parents know that when a dog or a child acts out to get attention, often the best thing to do is avoid rewarding that bad behavior with attention, even going so far as to turn your back on the offender.

Gods are much the same. They can’t exist without a particular sort of attention called “belief,” and so, sometimes, they act out, they unleash famines, or kill the young and innocent. When god’s act in such a cruel and arbitrary manner, their followers reward their bad behavior by praying to them or offering them sacrifices when what they should be doing is turning their backs on their ill behaving gods.

All those bloggers should be turning their backs on “that magazine” right now. One can’t engage in rational dialog with an ill behaving magazine any better than you can with a dog, a toddler or an unruly God.