• Due to ongoing issues caused by Search, it has been temporarily disabled
  • Please excuse the mess, we're moving the furniture and restructuring the forum categories
  • You may need to edit your signatures.

    When we moved to Xenfora some of the signature options didn't come over. In the old software signatures were limited by a character limit, on Xenfora there are more options and there is a character number and number of lines limit. I've set maximum number of lines to 4 and unlimited characters.

JREF a Gay Organization?

dglas

Banned
D
Joined
Apr 11, 2006
Messages
2,308
So, with D.J. Grothe becoming the next president of the JREF, is the JREF a gay organization? Seems to me we need a policy statement from the JREF publicly confirming or refuting that.


Reposted here in a new thread for greater visibility, rather than just being buried, deep in another thread. I posted the above to my Facebook status recently - the results were, shall we say, interesting...
 
Are you saying that Randi is dull and boring?
 
This will make recruiting so much easier!
 
Or, we could say, pointless--like the question.

I have never understood the fascination some people have with trying to position people's private lives as somehow relevent to their job duties. I neither know, nor care, what Phil Plait or James Randi's taste in music are; what colors they prefer; whether they are left- or right- handed; or what their ethnic heritage is. Such issues are immaterial to the JREF and its activities.
 
jasonpatterson said:
Is this a serious question? If it is, it's absurdly stupid, and if it's not, well, it's still absurdly stupid. Are you 9?
Click to expand...

I assume it's a joke, similar to all the people demanding to know if JREF is specifically an atheist organization because Randi is atheist.
 
jasonpatterson said:
Is this a serious question? If it is, it's absurdly stupid, and if it's not, well, it's still absurdly stupid. Are you 9?
Click to expand...

I think it is a parody of a thread about the JREF being an atheist organization thread.
 
Look, there's a difference between having to be a Nazi to join the Nazi Party and having to be a critical thinker to be in the JREF. Actually, maybe not. Oh well, Godwinned; let's have another thread.
 
Well, at least the whole population of San Francisco is gonna be with the JREF.
 
...other non-profits of the same gender.

No more getting jiggy with the lady non-profits.
 
For those of you assuming the OP is a joke, it is not.

I am asking this question in dead earnest. There's a reason for it. There's a point to it.

Now that you know it is NOT a joke, here it is again.

"So, with D.J. Grothe becoming the next president of the JREF, is the JREF a gay organization? Seems to me we need a policy statement from the JREF publicly confirming or refuting that."

You pretend to be participants in an "educational foundation." Show some acuity and make an effort.
 
I would say give it some time and if the sexuality of the JREF's president becomes a regular topic for attacking the work the JREF, if it is used in high profile media outlets to personally attack the character of the president and so on, then I would suspect that they will probably end up with a few blog entries mentioning that the sexuality of any member of the JREF has nothing to do with the work they do.
 
Last edited:
dglas said:
For those of you assuming the OP is a joke, it is not.

I am asking this question in dead earnest. There's a reason for it. There's a point to it.

Now that you know it is NOT a joke, here it is again.

"So, with D.J. Grothe becoming the next president of the JREF, is the JREF a gay organization? Seems to me we need a policy statement from the JREF publicly confirming or refuting that."

You pretend to be participants in an "educational foundation." Show some acuity and make an effort.
Click to expand...

Right. And a policy statement that its not a male organization, or a perso-with-facial hair organization, or a short-men organization...

Demonstrate that you are posting in the JREF forums because you are interested in promoting skepticism, critical thinking, and science, rather than seeing what points you think you are score off of people.
 
By the way is the new president bloke gay?

If so then I would say that the opening post of this thread provides the evidence that at least some people will be willing to use his sexuality to try (in their minds at least) to "discredit" the JREF. It's a shame that such bigotry still exists and I hope it won't cause the JREF too much of a problem, it's akin to Randi's atheism; some people have tried to use that to "discredit" the JREF and what he has done (albeit that the discrimination faced by homosexuals is of a different type to that shown towards atheists even in societies like the USA).
 
dglas said:
You pretend to be participants in an "educational foundation." Show some acuity and make an effort.
Click to expand...

Can I keep my 'Dull day' settings for the forum?
On a more seriuos note: Was the JREF an astronomers organisation under Phil Plait?
Was the JREF a magicians organisation under James Randi?

Why don't you show some acuity and educate me about what would change if it was a gay organisation?
 
dglas said:
For those of you assuming the OP is a joke, it is not.

I am asking this question in dead earnest. There's a reason for it. There's a point to it.

Now that you know it is NOT a joke, here it is again.

"So, with D.J. Grothe becoming the next president of the JREF, is the JREF a gay organization? Seems to me we need a policy statement from the JREF publicly confirming or refuting that."

You pretend to be participants in an "educational foundation." Show some acuity and make an effort.
Click to expand...

Ok, you're asking it straight, I'll give a straight answer. No, and no. As GG said, does it seem to you we need policy statements confirming whether other characteristics of the president are shared by the organization?

I'll respond even more seriously. Why would you think that the sexual orientation of someone makes anything they become president of, an advocacy group for their orientation? Why is that a default assumption that needs confirmation or refutation?
 
dglas said:
So, with D.J. Grothe becoming the next president of the JREF, is the JREF a gay organization? Seems to me we need a policy statement from the JREF publicly confirming or refuting that.

.... I posted the above to my Facebook status recently - the results were, shall we say, interesting...
Click to expand...
That is an absolutely incredible co-incidence. I had posted the exact same thing to my facebook status. I too got ‘interesting’ feedback.

46 % said I was a homophobic jerk. 38% said I was a ignorant cretin and the reminder said I obviously had sexuality issues that would be sorted once I lost my virginity.
 
gnome said:
Why would you think that the sexual orientation of someone makes anything they become president of, an advocacy group for their orientation? Why is that a default assumption that needs confirmation or refutation?
Click to expand...
Oh! Oh! I know that one, I know!

Ahem. If one were seeking to give another excuse to nutcases to hate JREF, then one way would be to suggest that it's "controlled by gays". Once the meme is out there, it will have a life of its own.

Attempted sabotage, in other words.
 
Shrike said:
Can I keep my 'Dull day' settings for the forum?
On a more seriuos note: Was the JREF an astronomers organisation under Phil Plait?
Was the JREF a magicians organisation under James Randi?

Why don't you show some acuity and educate me about what would change if it was a gay organisation?
Click to expand...

We'd all have better fashion sense?
 
Darat said:
By the way is the new president bloke gay?
Click to expand...
He is gay, yes. From an article he co-wrote:
One of us (DJ Grothe) had more of a problem with his family when he "came out" as a nonbeliever than when he came out as gay years previously.
Click to expand...
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/grothe-dacey_24_2.htm

He also mentioned it in passing on the episode of Point of Inquiry (a podcast that he hosts) that I listened to today. The episode is called "Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism" (and perhaps other episodes but that was the first time I've listened).
 
Not gay, just merry. Oh wait, I thought we were talking about JEFF!
 
I would like to get a confirmation or denial about whether the JREF will become an organisation for people whose last names begin with a "G". I, for one, am furious about this possibility.

Oh dear, I have to take a nap to calm down now.
 
JREF is an organization that supports critical thinking. If various members of that organization and this forum choose to use critical thinking to promote a heterophobic agenda, that is simply a personal issue. Please note, I am referring to "normal" members, not staff.
 
I would like to get a confirmation or denial about whether the JREF will become an organisation for people who like dance music. Come on, the president's name is DJ Grothe. I, for one, am furious about this possibility.
 
dglas said:
So, with D.J. Grothe becoming the next president of the JREF, is the JREF a gay organization? Seems to me we need a policy statement from the JREF publicly confirming or refuting that.


Reposted here in a new thread for greater visibility, rather than just being buried, deep in another thread. I posted the above to my Facebook status recently - the results were, shall we say, interesting...
Click to expand...



First of all: Why do you hate gay people? :confused:
 
Shrike said:
I would like to get a confirmation or denial about whether the JREF will become an organisation for people who like dance music. Come on, the president's name is DJ Grothe. I, for one, am furious about this possibility.
Click to expand...

I suppose it depends on the exact form of dance music in question. Some good Trance with a solid, futuristic-sounding anthem I find to be rather uplifting. And Big Band is sometimes thought to fall within the dance category -- that's not too bad either. But I'm not really into Drum & Bass, and Happy House generally makes me want to choke cute little bunny rabbits with pink cotton-candy rays of sunshine.
 
daSkeptic said:
I suppose it depends on the exact form of dance music in question. Some good Trance with a solid, futuristic-sounding anthem I find to be rather uplifting. And Big Band is sometimes thought to fall within the dance category -- that's not too bad either. But I'm not really into Drum & Bass, and Happy House generally makes me want to choke cute little bunny rabbits with pink cotton-candy rays of sunshine.
Click to expand...

See my avatar :D

<----------
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom