‘I know Robin Edgar…’

We had received this comment a couple of months ago, but hesitated to post it until we made some effort to check it out as best as we can.  Even so, we would not be surprised if Robin Edgar goes off on another one of his tirades, accusing us of ‘more moronic Big Fat U*U BS.’

Well, he can make all the accusations he wants.  Read the comment for yourselves, and decide:

Came across your website and read thru it. I know Robin Edgar from years before, none of this surprises me or others I know who know about him. I’m not Unitarian, or any religion for that matter, but I lived with him in a boarding house here in Montreal. He can come across as nice enough, but as you say he is indeed obsessive. Cameras, for example. He can’t just tell you he took a picture, he has to describe in detail exactly what camera he is using, even his technical opinion, showing off what a great photographer he thinks he is.

I was around when he had his revelation, and like everything else he gets fixed on, he could not stop talking about it. Was convinced he could start his own religious movement around total eclipses, that the Unitarians would be a good place to start. Then things started falling apart, and the rest you know.

You also got right how he handles criticism or disagreement. If you ever cross him, he goes halfcocked about you being crazy or stupid or immoral. It’s hot and cold with him, you are either totally with him or you must be totally against him. He keeps losing friends, either driving them away or going all ballistic on him, then he’ll deny saying what he said or how he yells at people, then when he’s cornered and shown yes he said X Y Z or lost his cool, he goes on justifying it because nothing is ever his fault. Also takes a lot of things the wrong way, sometimes twists it around in really bizarre ways.

Robin has driven away more friends than anyone I know, and he is downright oblivious to his own problems.  People have suggested he see someone, get counseling or learn how to deal better with people. Like you said, that is the worst, he will explode like an atom bomb, how dare anyone say he has any kind of problem. Just like before, running hot and cold, he can only think crazy or sane, and if you are crazy he sees it as a moral failing.

The way Robin behaves gets him in so much trouble, he has a very hard time holding down a job or living in any one place long enough. The few people he can still manage to relate with try not to bring up the Unitarian thing, or just humour him. The alternative of going thru the same old routine – blow up, attack people, deny he did it, be shown he did, then hear him justify everything he just denied – is not worth it for some, but most can only handle that for so long. The only thing unusual is how long he has obsessed with the Unitarians, I think because he figures they are the most convenient target so he can keep denying and avoiding his own problems.

Robin Edgar, we know you read this blog.  Rest assured, we did take considerable steps to have some background checked before deciding to post this.  You can continue to deny and lash out at us, but this is not a ‘Big Fat U*U’ problem.  This is your problem, and it is more obvious to those around you than you realize.  We have said it before, we will say it again, as apparently so many have said to you before: You need professional help.  Stop avoiding, denying, blaming and attacking.

The Ultimate Hypocrisy of Robin Edgar

Having discovered Twitter, Robin Edgar has used it to pursue Unitarian Universalists with manic, obsessive abandon.  The response of many UUs has been to block him from further rants and harassment.

His response?  Indignation, if not outright rage.  How dare anybody ignore Robin Edgar, aka The Emerson Avenger!

So once again he spirals into another blast of manic posts, lashing out at UUs refusing to indulge his immature need for absolute attention.

But here is the most pathetic – and hypocritical – part of this never-ending cycle in the life of Robin Edgar.  While he decries UUs, especially UU ministers, of allegedly being insulting and rude to him, he goes out of his way to behave in even more rude and insulting behaviour, then acts as shocked as Claude Rains in ‘Casablanca’ that they would respond the way they do.

Yes, of course, he has repeatedly tried to distance himself from his actions, often by claiming that it’s not really him who is so obnoxious, but his supposed alter ego, ‘The Emerson Avenger’.  Read this excerpt from a comment on his blog, dated Sunday, July 12th, 2009:

‘The Emerson Avenger is something of a “persona” aka an “act” and is often quite deliberately rude and “in your face” offensive’

The cycle continues.  He doesn’t like what a Unitarian Universalist says, either about him or anything else.  He considers it a deliberate insult to him, so he now considers himself justified in insulting, attacking and harassing the UU in question.  When called on the carpet for his behaviour, he attempts to distance himself: ‘That wasn’t me, that was my persona!’  And the reason for this ‘act’?  The big bad UU was mean to him, so that justifies his even worse behaviour.  When the victim of his obsessive lashing out realizes that responding to his juvenile antics only leads to more of the same, and decides to break the cycle by both refusing to respond and denying him from hijacking thier Twitter account or blog, guess what? Robin Edgar decrees that this is another ‘reason’ for expressing his rage.  How dare UUs ignore him!

Respond to him, and he lashes out.  Ignore him, and he lashes out.  You can’t win, break even, or even leave the game.

This is Robin Edgar’s ultimate hypocrisy.  He demands that UUs be perfect, and when they are not, then he proclaims them evil, stupid, and every other insult he can throw at them – while he, conversely, is blameless and righteous in all things, and more importantly, deserving of attention if not outright adulation and submission to his will.

You can’t have it both ways, Mister Edgar.  You can’t demand of others a standard which you yourself refuse to live by.  And no matter how many times you try to rationalize your ‘deliberately rude and “in your face” offensive’ behaviour, there is simply no excuse for it.  Even your pathetic attempts at distancing yourself from what you do is meaningless.  After all, you created your so-called ‘Emerson Avenger persona’, and are thus ultimately responsible for everything you attribute to that ‘act’.

A Robin Edgar Glossary

One of the biggest problems with trying to read Robin Edgar’s blog posts and comments is his use (or abuse) of language. His writings are riddled with all sorts of repetitive catch phrases coined or appropriated by him, and he often redefines words through the lens of his narcissistic obsessions. This is a guide to many of these, and we invite our readers to offer more examples of ‘Robin-Edgar-speak’

Abuse – any criticism of Robin Edgar by any Unitarian Universalist, however valid or constructive.

Ass, Asshole – a central fixation of Robin Edgar, possibly a symptom of projection

Asterisk – a frequently overused typographical symbol in Robin Edgar’s blog posts and online comments; even though he has shown himself quite capable of using boldface, italics and underlining, he continues to frame words with asterisks as a means of emphasis; considering his repeated commentary that the asterisk resembles a rectal sphincter, this may explain his obsessive overuse (see entry for Ass, Asshole); this in turn may provide meaning to his constantly abbreviating ‘Unitarian Universalist’ as ‘U*U’ (read ‘you asshole, you’); note also his spelling out the word as ‘Ass-To-Risk’

Big Fat U*U – Meaningless attempt at an insult by Robin Edgar towards any and every Unitarian Universalist of whom he disapproves; considering that he has never voiced approval of any Unitarian Universalists, and the incredible amount of repetition in his blog and online comments, an especially meaningless phrase

Censorship – refusing to publish any of Robin Edgar’s comments, regardless of how offensive or irrelevant it may be; even though no effort is made to suppress his use of his own blog (actually several) to publish his views, he considers others’ refusing to let him hijack their blogs and media outlets for his own purposes to be an affront to his rights

Cowardly – anybody who chooses to question or criticize Robin Edgar anonymously, for whatever reason; all too often assumed by him to be a Unitarian Universalist

DIM thinking – a term of art appropriated by Robin Edgar to describe any disagreement with, or questioning of, any of his actions or allegations; if you do not agree with his belief that Unitarian Universalism is riddled with ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’, and that he is justified in doing and saying whatever he wants in response (even when he makes unjust accusations, abusive statements, or behaves exactly as he accuses others of doing), then you are guilty of ‘DIM thinking’

Emerson Avenger – according to Robin Edgar, his ‘online persona’ for engaging in an endless crusade against ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’ within Unitarian Universalism; another way of rationalizing his outlandish statements and behaviour by claiming that he is actually a nice and reasonable person, and that his ‘Emerson Avenger persona’ is merely a ‘form of satire’ in response to Unitarian Universalists refusing to give in to his repeated demands for ‘justice’; the problem is, Unitarian Universalists have so rarely seen him behaving ‘nice’ and ‘reasonable’, making it hard to tell which is the real Robin Edgar and which is an act

Googe hits – justification for Robin Edgar’s belief in his own relevance, importance and self-righteousness

Hypocrisy – label attached to any Unitarian Universalist who does not always listen to, or agree completely with, Robin Edgar

Injustice – failure to punish any Unitarian Universalist who runs afoul of Robin Edgar

Insults – in the mind of Robin Edgar, a perfectly justifiable response to any criticism of his obnoxious, outrageous and offensive behaviour; since he views any such criticism as an insult (see also Abuse), he believes that he is in his rights to lash out at any Unitarian Universalist who disagrees with him, or even refuses to respond to his demands

Justice – Unitarian Universalists giving in to every complaint, demand and grievance of Robin Edgar, no matter how extreme or irrational

Kick in the balls – example of Robin Edgar’s frequent and repetitive use of violent imagery, in this case to exaggerate the importance or relevance of one Unitarian Universalist disagreeing with another, and often coupled with the bizarre claim that such disagreement justifies Robin Edgar’s outrageous behaviour and verbal attacks

Memory hole – final resting place for many of Robin Edgar’s more offensive comments on other people’s blogs (although he is notorious for printing them on his own blog, then accusing the other person of ‘censorship’); appropriated out of context from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

Peaceful public protest – real-time harassment of Unitarian Universalist groups and meetings, involving the use of handmade picket signs with bizarre statements; many times ‘documented’ by having Robin Edgar photograph or videotape himself; most frequent target of this tactic has been the Unitarian Church of Montreal, which terminated his membership after enduring almost two years of obsessive and outrageous conduct; also directed at perceived co-conspirators of ‘U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’, such as Quebec’s Crown Prosecutors for following up on requests filed for restraining orders against him

Some – Apparently a reference to 99.9999 percent of Unitarian Universalists, or particular groups of Unitarian Universalists; Robin Edgar frequently prefaces his attacks on UUs with this word, as if to make the claim that he does not despise all UUs; the problem, of course, is that he has lashed out at so many UUs since the start of his crusade against alleged ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’ that it is virtually impossible to know if he actually approves of any

Victim of U*U clergy misconduct – Robin Edgar; often phrased as ‘ALL victims of U*U clergy misconduct’

Robin Edgar Doesn’t Get Universalism

In Robin Edgar’s latest ‘Emerson Avenger’ blog post, he attempts to hijack Revered Fred Small’s words, all to justify himself.  In his mind, since Small proclaimed, in the Universalist tradition, that God’s love is infinite and unbounded, that this somehow means that God approves of Mister Edgar’s outrageous statements and behaviour.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mister Edgar, God loves you.  Many Unitarian Universalists love you.  We love you.  But that doesn’t mean that you are immune from criticism, or that God or any of us are giving you carte blanche to exercise vengeance (however lame and misguided) on those you disagree with or don’t approve of.  It certainly does not mean being thin-skinned and mean-spirited on your part.

As for your proclamation that our churches are ‘dead’, we just have to wonder, if that is the case, then why do you persist in beating a dead horse?

Mister Edgar, you just don’t get the message of Universalism.  It is not simply that God’s love is infinite.  It is that we, as God’s creation, should strive to act in love towards others – all of us, including you.

It means forgiveness, mercy, forbearance and honesty – qualities which we frankly find sorely lacking in your words and deeds.

It means moving on with your life, and doing something more constructive than repeating the same ‘peaceful public protest’ (read harassment) and sitting in a public library flaming UUs online in even the most irrelevant forums.

No, instead you pursue the practice of vengeance, even thinking up new reasons to lash out at Unitarian Universalists everywhere.  Your path is not about love, but anger.

We do love you, Mister Edgar, as hard as it is for you to imagine.  But do not love what you say or do.  We wish you could do better, but your failure to see this only makes us pity you all the more.

When All Else Fails,…

Once again, Robin Edgar has nothing new to report or discuss.  So once again, he rehashes the same old tired complaints and accusations.  ‘I don’t like how these people treat me! Forget how I treat them – they should always be extra-super-nice to meeeee!  And if they don’t, I’m gonna tell on them!!!’

Poor baby…

His latest rant is to single out three Unitarian Universalist churches for ‘inhuman’ treatment of others.  Of course, he doesn’t specify what exactly these churches did; in the case of two of them, we have to wonder if he has even visisted them.  (Not that we are encouraging him to do so, considering what a ‘visit’ from Robin Edgar usually means!)  Let us take a closer look, shall we?

Unitarian Church of Montreal – The central target for Robin Edgar’s endless rage.  Their crime?  They would not kowtow to his increasing demands, and they refused to put up with his childish, outrageous behaviour.  They were, in fact quite patient with him, having suspended his membership twice before finally terminating his association with the church. Not to mention enduring his endless picketing and lashing out.

First Parish in Norwell – The only reason we can think that this church is a target is that its minister, Reverend Victoria Weinstein, has been in Robin Edgar’s crosshairs for years now, searching for even the flimsiest excuse to lash out against her yet again. So why attack the congregation? Apparently, it’s based on a quote from Reverend Weinstein, supposedly describing some of her parishioners. Forget that it’s taken completely out of context.  After all, the only ‘truth’ Robin Edgar is concerned about is his own narcissistic view that ‘U*Us are all bad bad bad because they won’t agree a hundred percent with me me me!‘

First Parish Church in Northborough – Now this is a strange one, indeed. Again, the only ‘inhuman’ activity related here are the crimes of Reverend Mack Mitchell, for which he is currently serving a prison sentence. But what of the church itself? Considering that his own parishioners turned him over to the authorities, isn’t that reason to commend them rather than condemn?  Oh, not for Robin Edgar, who so loves the idea of guilt by association to ‘prove’ his tired old assertion that ‘U*Us are bad bad bad!‘

It is becoming clear that the only purpose for Robin Edgar’s antics is to make UUs look bad, all out of a disturbed ‘need’ for vindication and vengeance. As Dr. Phil McGraw would say, ‘How’s that workin’ for ya?’  Doesn’t seem to be.  He’s gotten nowhere with persuading anybody in the UU movement to follow him, and his ideas for interfaith celebration have since petered out.

As we’ve pointed out before, doing the same thing over and over, with nothing to show for it, cannot be healthy.  You need professional help, Mister Edgar – and we don’t mean a public relations firm.  You need to see a qualified psychiatrist– not somebody with a degree who will go along with what you think you want.  Please get the help you need, and get it now!

Robin Edgar’s “Certificate of Sanity”

On more than one occasion, Robin Edgar has mentioned getting a “certificate of sanity” from a Montreal doctor, in response to concerns about his psychological state.  Of course, he never provides the actual content of this “certificate”, or even the name of the doctor who issued it.

Some months back, one of our readers mentioned reasons to doubt the veracity of his claim, based on their exchange with a trusted psychiatrist.  We have now received permission from this psychiatrist – who is also a Medical School professor who teaches on legal issues and mental health – to post the following commentary:

I have checked the blog posts of the individual in question, and it is clear to me why his vague references to a “certificate of sanity” are put in quotes and otherwise qualified.

For one thing, “sanity” can have diverse meanings, dependent upon context and the individual using it.  The narrowest definition is that used for establishing whether a person is to be committed to a psychiatric institution against their will, specifically that the individual is not an immediate threat to themselves or others due to some form of mental illness.  More broadly, however, an individual may mean simply that they are “free from mental illness;” such a sweeping negative definition is extremely difficult to ascertain.  The median definition is that the individual in question is able to function in normative social settings.

I think it most telling that Mr. Edgar cannot produce the text of the “certificate” he alleges to have obtained.  For one thing, I cannot see a responsible physician, and especially a general practitioner without specialized psychiatric expertise, providing any sort of affidavit attesting that a patient is free from mental illness.  At best, a medical professional could assert that a patient is either not an immediate danger to himself or others, or is able to function in normative social settings.  This does not, however, dismiss the possibility that the patient is mentally ill in some fashion.  Individuals with obsessionial ideation, mood disorders, personality disorders and even certain delusions are capable of considerable functionality – yet they are still mentally ill.

No attestation of a given patient’s mental health status is of any meaning without a thorough evaluation by a qualified psychiatrist or psychotherapist.  Unless your Mr. Edgar can produce the detailed contents of his alleged “certificate,” and the means by which his status was evaluated, my professional opinion is that his assertions have little to no merit.

So if Robin Edgar truly wants to assure us that he is not mentally ill, then we suggest once again that he follow this advice.  If he feels that his “certificate” is enough, then publish its contents.  Until then, considering his prior history of distorting and even manufacturing evidence, we have no reason to trust his claims.

And What is Your Solution, Robin Edgar?

Seems that, whenever Robin Edgar runs out of ideas, he falls into the same tired old habits.  He finds one Google hit, which fits his incredibly narrow, fixated view that ‘UUs are bad’ for whatever reason he can come up with, then whips it into yet another lengthy rant about how – you guessed it – UUs are bad.

This time, he takes a single post, tracks it to two posts where others complain of negative experiences attending UU churches, and offers it as ‘proof’ that Unitarian Universalists are ‘un-welcoming.’

And does he offer any solution to this problem?  No, he doesn’t.  Which does not surprise us in the least.  It’s hard to get Robin Edgar to offer any practical solutions to any of the problems he complains about.  Considering how often he distorts and exaggerates these problems, and in a few cases manufactures them, we don’t see how he could find any such solutions.

Let’s also take a good look at his ‘evidence.’  One of the posts which he copies and pastes is close to three years old; the other is six years old.  For all he knows, the individual churches in question could have taken a good, hard look at themselves and made changes in how they greeted and interacted with newcomers.  Considering how the UUA has been developing programs over the past few years to help congregations address just these issues, you would think that he would look at the whole timeline and see that UUs are working on solutions to the problem.

Nope.  Robin Edgar needs a reason to complain, so why should he care about the facts?  Why should he do anything more than repeat years-old criticism like it’s yesterday’s news?  More important than that, why doesn’t he even bother with coming up with solutions of his own, instead of rehashing the same obsessive gripes?

At the very least, he could try starting his own independent spiritual community, open to all people, and ‘show ’em how its done,’ as they say.  Since he is listed as a contact for the breakaway American Unitarian Conference, why doesn’t he try starting a fellowship under their auspices?

No, Robin Edgar?

Apparently not.  He is too obsessed with accusing UUs of being ‘unwelcoming’ towards him that he is unable to be welcoming himself.

Not to mention the fact that the Unitarian Church of Montreal did welcome him as a member in 1993.  By 1997, his behaviour and demands had gotten so out of hand that the church’s leadership felt they had to suspend that membership for six months.  He responds with even more outrageous behaviour, both at church events and his picketing outside, not to mention his refusal to accept the written apology he demanded from Reverend Ray Drennan, that the UCM’s membership voted to expel him – after letting him give yet another lengthy, angry and almost incoherent defense of his actions (in which he actually compared the Board’s motion with the Spanish Inquisition, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and ‘ethnic cleansing’).

Robin Edgar was welcomed, and like an obnoxious party guest, he wore out his welcome.  He was told to leave, and told why.  But because he cannot accept that, and because the UUA will not punish the Montreal church as he sees fit, he now sees fit to punish all UUs for not conforming to his demands.

Well, Mister Edgar, if you want Unitarian Universalists to even consider your demands – whatever they may be – then we will repeat our condition for such: Go get professional help!  At the very least, you can dispel all the statements you so hate concerning your mental health.  At best, however, you could finally focus on the real problem here.

Unhealthy Obsession Indeed

One of our readers has reported that he has tracked the origin of Robin Edgar’s Internet activity:

the IP listed is Bibliotheque Nationale Du Quebec.

Indeed, this is the provincial library for Quebec, and their website shows that, like other public libraries, they offer free Internet service.  As our reader speculates:

if he’s accessing the internet through the library these days, that might mean he’s now unemployed- which would explain how he has time for all this. And why he’s been extra bitter lately, too.

Now, when most people lose a job, they devote their time to finding a new one.  Instead, Robin Edgar appears to be increasing his lashing out at Unitarian Universalist.  Does he actually believe this will get him gainful employment?

An alternative explanation is that he actually works at the library … and is doing his anti-UU blogging, commenting and web-surfing while on the job.  Not likely, however, as most large employers tend to monitor their personnel’s computer activity these days.

Either way, we have a question for Mister Edgar.   How can you continue to insist that you are not obsessed?  Only an obsessed individual would spend more time online lashing out in anger at so many individuals instead of finding gainful employment and moving on with your life.  Only an obsessed individual would engage in such behaviour while on the clock, placing their employment status in jeopary.

This is not the behaviour of a healthy individual.  You need to move on with your life, sir.  Rather than dwell on the ‘wrongs’ which you constantly allege have been done against you, or claiming to be some righteous crusader while behaving like a rage-filled stalker, the time is long overdue for you to let go.  You say that you are a spiritual man, Mister Edgar.  The great spiritual traditions of the world call for forgiveness of wrongs, whether perceived or real.  Why are you so unable to embrace this virtue?

Get help, Mister Edgar.  We implore you once again.  Putting this campaign of rancor and bitterness above earning a decent wage makes no sense, and cannot lead to anything good for you.

Anything New on the ‘Emerson Avenger’ Blog?

Not really.

Just more of the same angry rants from Robin Edgar.  More of his attempting to show how he is always right and ‘Big Fat U*U Ass Hats’ are always wrong.

Of course, he does not show how we, or any other UUs who question or disagree with him, are actually WRONG.  He even admits that he has no evidence that a UU blogger labeled all Republicans as mean people … and yet, he continues to say the same things, over and over, accusing anybody who dares to challenge his view of reality as ‘outrageously hypocritical,’ while wilfully ignoring his own hypocrisy of criticising others of engaging in the very behaviour of which he himself is guilty.

We have heard this all before, Mister Edgar, for years now.  Are you even capable of admitting to being wrong or mistaken about anything?  You keep demanding apologies from so many UUs.  Are you even capable of apologising for the hurt that you have caused, and continue to cause?  Or is your state of mind so warped that you cannot ever see it, and cannot even forgive?

The Latest Accusation from Robin Edgar

Robin Edgar has hurled a variety of accusations and epithets at his numerous targets.  His most recent, borrowed from another UU blogger, is passive-aggressive.

As usual, he makes no bones about diagnosing Unitarian Universalists he disapproves of, but easily launches into a tirade when anybody even dares to ask if he might have psychological problems.  Not to mention the fallacious reasoning behind his use of the label.

Passive-aggressive people refuse to do what they are asked to do.  UU leaders are refusing to do what Robin Edgar asks of them.  Therefore, in Robin Edgar’s eyes, UU leaders are passive-agressive.

Setting aside the fact that there are other, perfectly legitimate reasons why different people refuse to do things, he’s missing the point that passive-aggressive individuals specifically resist authority.  So Robin Edgar has it backwards … or is incredibly arrogant in assuming that he should have authority over Peter Morales, Gini Courtier, William Sinkford, John Buhrens and anybody else whom he accuses of ‘mistreating’ him.

Even more interesting is when we look at other specific symptoms of passive-aggressive personalities, and see how many actually match of the behaviour of Robin Edgar himself.

The passive-aggressive create chaotic situations, and make excuses for their behaviour.  They constantly complain about being misunderstood and unappreciated, and exaggerate their sense of personal misfortune.  They have few intimates, often pushing them away with continual anger and mistrust.  Most important of all, the passive-aggressive always blame others, and never take responsibility for their own actions.

Still, just as UU leaders are not passive-aggressive because Robin Edgar projects one major trait on them, Robin Edgar is not necessarily passive-aggressive just because he seems to share some passive-aggressive traits.  But his negativity, hostility, rage and narcissistic need for attention are definitely cause for concern.  He is right when he says that others do not understand when he behaves the way he does … not only because of how counter-productive his behaviour is, but because he has utterly failed to learn how unproductive that behaviour is after so many, many years of repetitive lashing out.

Mister Edgar, whatever reasons you give for rationalizing your behaviour, it has not worked, and it will not work.  You need to learn how to do things differently.  You need to learn to let go of your rage, and to put yourself in the position of those many individuals whom you have been attacking and hurting over the years.  But your recalcitrance has convinced us that you cannot learn this yourself.  You need help.  Please get that help, before it’s too late.