Angry caller calls me a Nazi

Dear YourHub Editor,

I received a voice mail today from a “Private Number” that I think you should be made aware of:

“This call is for Mark Helgeson about an article he wrote that was handed to me.    Mark Helgeson doesn’t know what he is talking about.   I’m a member of the Monticello Jefferson Foundation, the James Madison Restoration, and Friends of Valley Forge, and Friends of Fort Ticonderoga,  and Ben Franklin.   I’ve traveled New England for eight years studying colonial history and founding fathers.   James Hitchcock would fit in with you, Nazi.   Stasi.   The orthodox Catholic Church today is close to fanatical and very close to Nazism and Fascism.   If Mark Helgeson is going to be pushing the Anthony Scalia and William Rehnquist view of things, you need to read the history of the Ustasi in the Ukraine, I mean the Balkans, prior to World War II.    Mark, if you believe this stuff, you make a good Nazi.”

I assume the caller didn’t like this article:  http://yourhub.denverpost.com/arvada/is-there-really-wall-separation-between-church-and/1Ro7uE1cwzhJUqTP0zM10H-ugc

I also believe this must be Jack Van Ens calling me because I criticized his article in my article.

The caller also attacks James Hickcock whom I quoted in my article.  A quick web search shows that James Hickcock is a PhD at Saint Louis University where he has written several books on religion and society.   He appears to be well regarded by his students and the faculty at this Jesuit University in St Louis  where he has taught for many years.   

I wonder why judicial opinions issued by supreme court justices, Scalia and the late Rehnquist, would make them Nazis also.   

What’s the saying about losing an argument when you have to resort to ad hominem name calling and personal insults?    From his comments, I think Jack must be an anti-Catholic bigot which is not very kind of this former Episcopalian minister.

I hope you will take these ad hominem attacks into consider prior to publishing articles by Jack Van Ens.

Mark Helgeson

LtCol,USMC (Ret)
Westminster, CO