This week's online discussion about an idea as harmless as flat hot dogs (bologna, several witty readers pointed out) brought out a segment of wild-eyed folks who give the child-free movement a bad name.

The people on the "Bratfree" chat board (some of their content is objectionable, and their comments about Moms Are Talking About are hostile, so you'll have to Google them on your own) proudly call themselves child-free.

But that doesn't seem to be their true raison d'etre. They really seem to be about trolling news sites, reposting content, and saying repulsive things about women and children.

They call moms "Moos," "breeders," and some other less-friendly names.

In this forum, news stories where children are injured or killed are showcased as a celebration of natural selection. There is much ranting about breastfeeding in public, and lots of garden variety, badly spelled misogyny.

The Bratfree folks also seem to dislike, in no particular order, taxes, President Obama, and immigration. And mom blogs. They really don't like mom blogs.

They don't have the slightest clue, though, about the folks they loathe so much.

So, chatboard creeps, FYI: Most people have children because they feel biologically and socially compelled. Not because they think parenthood makes them morally superior, wanted a tax deduction or enjoy wiping backsides and noses. It's generally less of a choice than an inevitability. (Don't believe me? Ask the "Moo" and "breeder" who brought you into the world.)

Now, the genuinely child-free -- people who have, after great deliberation, managed to resist the suffocating social pressure to produce offspring, are very brave folks. It is way harder to be child-free than child-full in our culture.

And adults who wanted children, but made the sacrifice to bypass parenthood so they could better share their spiritual, professional or artistic gifts with all of society -- well, those folks are downright awe-inspiring. The world is richer for them.

But what about these anonymous internet poseurs, whose, er, gifts, are of a rather subtler nature?

Calling people offensive names is not socially redeeming. Neither is making fun of small children or cutting and pasting stuff on a chatboard all day long.

But, well, I guess everyone needs a hobby. The rest of us have something useful to do.

Members of the child-free community, what do you think? Do these folks have a point? Leave us a comment, or drop an email to enoonan@globe.com