How to incite anger through logic

I have been left pondering a perculiarly recurring theme. Why is it that people so readily react with malicious retalliation to logic? Why is sensible thought treated by so many as a cause to react with venom?

I suppose the simple answer is that people are invariably fearful of their own flaws. Nobody likes to have their mistakes noted by others, even in the context of a relatively casual conversation when meant as nothing other than a non-inflammatory statement. I'm not even talking about an inadvertantly insulting comment. The provocative nature of such indiscretions I can fathom quite comfortably. It's the other instances whereby, for example, one may point out a hole in a plan or the hypocrisy of a statement (often simply in passing, although sometimes in an attempt to highlight the folly of the other in the pursuit of proving one's own point) that leave me confused and frequently angered.

I should probably put on record now that I occasionally (read- always) use unnecessarily flowery wording and syntax when I get into the swing of a ramble or rant. This is clearly an occasion of the latter. For as much as I am bound by logic, I am also increasingly burdened by it....or perhaps more precisely burdened by what I view as others' inability to grasp the very concept. I consider myself an astute reader of people. We're a pretty straight-forward little species. I "get" people. Spiders, not so much. Why do they need so many legs for fuck's sake!? As a rule, the majority of us folk are out for ourselves the majority of the time. Motives for our actions, be they positive or negative, minor or major generally follow a basic pattern. We are as we are; ruled by our own illogical choices and beliefs. For example, why did I choose to put a semi-colon in the previous sentence? I have never grasped the mechanics behind its proper placement, but it has to show up somewhere, right? There's method to my madness but the choice is hardly defined by logic.

Beliefs? The very notion of the existence of Santa Clause (sorry if I'm crushing any belief systems here) is to be deemed ridiculous once we reach a certain age and supposed level of awareness. However, if I were to put to the majority that the idea of God is equally as absurd, I would be greeted with considerable opposition. Really though, the argument that Santa is a verifiable construct of man is no more true than to say the same of God! Christians, to pick a religious banner I'm familiar with, base their faith on a book written by man. The more open-minded, or modern, among them are willing to question its previous place as an article of absolute fact and describe the contents as tales not to be taken literally but to be used in order to gather meaning and print upon one's life where appropriate. This very acceptance is to agree that "God's book" is a construct of man! People believe in such a deity because they feel that living the good life is worthy of reward in an after-life. What is the point in living well if there is nothing in death? I feel that we get one shot at life and we need live as good people in order to make the most of this glorious opportunity. This is not me being anti-Christian or any other religious group. Everybody is free to believe in what they want. This is my belief. If you think it is wrong, then to you it is wrong. Yet the logic in religious belief is suspect, undeniably. It relies on faith alone.

Lately, as some of you are aware, I have had greater experience of a world without logic and sense. Some of the people in my life don't necessarily appear capable of grasping simple concepts or standing by their own previously expressed beliefs any more. It has been and will remain difficult to deal with. There has been a great deal of anger and frustration expressed towards me, which I have mirrored with a substantial addition of exasperation. I am frequently left to make sense of things on my own that simply do not tally up. I have not had the benefit of being able to talk through such problems with those involved. As such I have attempted to bury my occasional resentment in the face of treatment I have sometimes felt unfair. I am well aware that I am not always right, even when it often feels that I am. To be met with open hostility, in a world without apology, on those occasions when I am undeniably right, however, slays me. On many instances, and these are the ones I abhor, I have been well aware that my antagonist knows that they are mistaken or otherwise out of order, and yet treat me as the guilty party. And we're not talking in a manner of passive accusation. I mean through attacking me in spite of the obvious fact that I've made the right call. Thankfully, such happenings are quite rare. Generally arguments aren't so cut and dry. Usually everything is in a shade of grey. As often as I am hard done by, I am the wrongful aggressor. I know this because it is only logical. There is no way I could be right every time.

But fuck me it sure feels like it right now!