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Responding to them as Jesus the Christ would.
Yep, it's true. I've driven many a poster on both left and right blogs to frothing insanity simply by refusing to descend to their level. Answer the most foul language and abusive posts with calm, level headed logic and a polite tone and it just drives most of them completely around the bend. They will go to any lengths to get you to respond to them in the manner in which they attack you and when you don't it frustrates them to madness.
The sort of people who use personal insults, foul language and abuse have no other arrows in their quiver. By refusing to play their game you leave them utterly defenseless and you can skewer them with polite wit, facts and logic at your leisure.
Personally I like it when my opponent descends to abuse and foul language, it says far more about them than it does me and I know the lurkers (about nine to one over posters) get the point when I don't respond in kind.
I remember watching an old black and white western movie when I was a kid, lo these many years ago. The protagonist in the movie was an eastern educated dandy and he got challenged to a shootout by a tough cowboy. The dandy chose to have a battle of words with the cowboy rather than a battle of guns. The cowboy sputtered and fumed and called the dandy many nasty things (for the day anyway). After the cowboy got done, the dandy proceeded to skewer him verbally without ever using any kind of foul language at all.
That movie made quite an impression on me and I have since tried to act in the way the dandy in the movie acted. I've never been sorry for my decision.
Oh, by the way, I'm what many would call a radical atheist and yet I find the message of Jesus the Christ to return love for hate to be a very powerful tool.
