Atheism Plus/Free Thought Blogs (FTB)

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s_pepys said:
i also think trolling a+ is not a good idea for reasons outlined eloquently above. also, we would be giving them more ammo about atheist trolling etc... not to mention just common decency of not trolling people trying to converse.

best just sit back and watch the whole thing eat itself on its own.

lxxx
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Or you could just talk about trolling the place and then see if they end up pulling a Conservapedia.
 
Orphia Nay said:
What makes Coyote underprivileged?
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Sorry, I was unclear.
I meant 'Ignoring the mod(s) who seem to be rampantly trampling all over anyone they feel like while protecting their favourites, and ignoring complete d***heads like Coyote who are trampling all over whoever they feel like with complete and utter impunity' ... there are people there in real pain.
 
chillzero said:
Sorry, I was unclear.
I meant 'Ignoring the mod(s) who seem to be rampantly trampling all over anyone they feel like while protecting their favourites, and ignoring complete d***heads like Coyote who are trampling all over whoever they feel like with complete and utter impunity' ... there are people there in real pain.
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What you are saying is that the crazies are in charge of the loony bin. Couldn't agree more and these are the people who think A+ is a kinder, gentler, more inclusive form of atheism. :boggled:
 
The real question is: What is Atheism + doing now? Only a forum?

So far, besides the forum, which is one disfunctional place, I have not seen anything concrete done by that group. Jen has left a while ago, Greta is sick, PZ is ambivalent, Rebecca is on the conference tour. Only the mods are running the show.
 
WillyWonka said:
The real question is: What is Atheism + doing now? Only a forum?

So far, besides the forum, which is one disfunctional place, I have not seen anything concrete done by that group. Jen has left a while ago, Greta is sick, PZ is ambivalent, Rebecca is on the conference tour. Only the mods are running the show.
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And how are they actively making any contribution to anything apart from as individuals doing things they would normally have done anyway?

Illegally tearing down posters put up by a men's group? Sadly no. Those people just happened to be posting at A+, which is a shame because at least then we'd have had some A+ activism to discuss.

Copyrighted T shirts?

And I'll bring this up again... no-one at that forum seems qualified to provide a safe space for genuine victims. It is a legal train wreck.
 
Hokulele said:
Agreed, which is why I believe it would be more useful to post constructive criticism in places such as the JREF, rather than posting additional provocation. If, and sure, it's a big if, there are people who are trying to get a clearer idea of what happened and why, it would be nice for there to be caches of reasonable dialog on A+ specifically, as well as atheist-centered activism in general.
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Good point. Here is my advice for everyone at A+, inspired by something I posted a short while ago. Make of it what you will.

Learn to say this: "You don't get it. I don't expect you to, because you have not had my experiences. I forgive you."

If you cannot say that, then you don't get it either.

Respectfully,
Myriad
 
s_pepys said:
a what? not familiar with that [Conservapedia]?

lxxx
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Summary critique and history of conservapedia on skepticwiki, sounds just like our favorite A+ forum in many ways.

As a result of its extremist wingnut views, the site has attracted many parodist and vandalism-only accounts. Because of this, the site has enacted various forms of censorship, abuse of the "checkuser" function, and groupthink-style "rationalizing." New users, therefore, are almost always blocked shortly after editing for some perfunctory reason.
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Myriad said:
Good point. Here is my advice for everyone at A+, inspired by something I posted a short while ago. Make of it what you will.

Learn to say this: "You don't get it. I don't expect you to, because you have not had my experiences. I forgive you."

If you cannot say that, then you don't get it either.

Respectfully,
Myriad
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There's a kind of brash assumption about the good life of being a white male that is based on the rosiest assumptions possible. You're a white male, so everyone listens to your opinion. You're a white male, so you never need to be scared of being attacked.

There's a level of faith in the good life of maleness and whiteness that makes it sound like pure paradise. Hence the reaction to the homeless man. OK, he has some financial and housing issues, but he can still wallow in that male white privilege!
 
"Privilege" goes off the rails the moment it stops being used as a useful guide to thinking about how various social groups interact in society and starts being used as a measuring stick for individual members of those groups to tally their misfortunes and blame them on other people.
 
Marquis de Carabas said:
"Privilege" goes off the rails the moment it stops being used as a useful guide to thinking about how various social groups interact in society and starts being used as a measuring stick for individual members of those groups to tally their misfortunes and blame them on other people.
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I think there's a lot of benefit for people who are wealthy, well educated and from a stable family background in recognising that these things may have not been entirely coincidental in ensuring their current position in society. The trouble is that it's so often used as a way to kill objective discussion of any issue.
 
Looks like nothing better than a weird, culty, in-group beat-down arena.

Freethinking my ass.

Check out their list of banned users.
Childish and vindictive in the extreme:
ht*p://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1258

(Sorry, I cannot yet post links. Replace the * with a t, or perhaps someone could repost the link. Thanks)
 
westprog said:
I think there's a lot of benefit for people who are wealthy, well educated and from a stable family background in recognising that these things may have not been entirely coincidental in ensuring their current position in society. The trouble is that it's so often used as a way to kill objective discussion of any issue.
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Looks like someone else is self-destructing in the Forum Matters subforum like you did. Is it clear what link the mods have to A+ aside from being the first folks to register the website?
 
Foster Zygote said:
I feel the same way. While I do happen to be an atheist, this label only applies to my lack of belief in gods. I also happen to be a guitarist and a motor-sport fan. I don't refer to myself as an "atheist" when describing my positions on things like social issues, ethics or politics. My lack of belief in gods certainly influences my positions regarding a number of issues, but the term "atheist" is inadequate to define me.
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Wow, you sound so interesting ;)
 
Krikkiter said:
And how are they actively making any contribution to anything apart from as individuals doing things they would normally have done anyway?

Illegally tearing down posters put up by a men's group? Sadly no. Those people just happened to be posting at A+, which is a shame because at least then we'd have had some A+ activism to discuss.
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There will be no activism from this crew. Activism would require leaving your safe place and going into an unsafe place (i.e., the real world) where your victim status may not be recognized and may not entitle you to deferential treatment.

The real world is a scary place full of theists, vomiting pumpkins, MRAs, republicans, old white men, gender traitors and potential rapists (indeed, that last category includes about half the population in their version of reality). Better to stay at home in front of your computer monitor.
 
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theprestige said:
I'm late to the party. What was the mission? How did you measure its success?
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What I was thinking was how the mission of the atheist movement creeped into the forms of social activism proclaimed for A+. Atheism is making inroads but I would not throw up a "Mission Accomplished" banner. I have not perceived any positive success of the A+ movement. Have you? They are an embarrassment.

The hostility of the A+ proponents towards mainstream atheists is a threat to atheism in general. Anti-atheists are cackling with schadenfreude that we are turning against each other. The exaggerated claims of aplussers that mainstream atheist skeptic meetings are replete with dangerous sexual predators (AKA white men) confirms theists' fallacious claims that, lacking moral compasses, we would have sex in the streets if it were not for fear of the angry god of the old testament.
 
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Verklagekasper said:
Most articles about privilege suddenly make sense if you replace "privilege" by "awesomeness".
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Indeed, lol.
Good post.

The small window for me to be swayed by articles about "privilege" would be if they were written by your average black sub-Saharan African, or their comparative equal in other parts of the world.

As far as I've seen, almost all of this bleating about "privilege" has come from rich, college-educated, 'first world' types who have no idea what to do with their lives and are seeking a moral role to give them some meaning.
The dominant materialist undercurrent in their "education" drives them towards focusing on material matters and objective comparison of such, in order to squeeze some meaning from their lives.

Surprise, surprise.
Material comparison and squabbling is not meaningful in and of itself. Hence the frustration and endless argument and bitching.

They need to look for something beyond it. But would have to change their education/belief system to effectively do so.
Probably won't happen in this life.

Hey presto! They are finally victims! They just don't yet know from what provenance.
 
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