Atheism Plus/Free Thought Blogs (FTB)

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Stout said:
Last week someone over there started a thread on North Korea. The thread got a few responses before being shut down by ceepolk with a curt NO ! then, hours later the thread was black bagged.
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Of course dealing with fallout from japanese colonialism is too complex for a+.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Of course dealing with fallout from japanese colonialism is too complex for a+.
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Unless they misuse the novel "zi/xi, xir/zir, ze/xe, xer/zer" etc. *shrugs*

If they're going to be changing the vowel, why bother with the pseudo-neutral pronouns to start with? I found my own eyes aching abit from trying to read a specific post where it was xir and zer every other word. I suppose it is just my privilege kickin' in? erhm...
 
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ponderingturtle said:
Of course dealing with fallout from japanese colonialism is too complex for a+.
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I'd be interesting to see if they'd go there. I've never seen it in an SJ conversation as they usually center around NK being the way they are due to, well, America. Then SJs usually derail into "Just look at that USA incarceration rate !!"

Yet I've never heard of one SJW even expressing interest in visiting NK as a tourist ( yes, you can do that ) they could go see what an oppressed society is really like, first hand then come back and either make an argument that it's all media hype and the place really is free or go "Holy Crap, here's some serious oppression to add a little context to our discussions. "

I'm wondering if they don't do international because it would mean bringing up a bunch of questionable sources and lead to whether being critical of Press TV as a source is racist.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Of course dealing with fallout from japanese colonialism is too complex for a+.
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I suspect white guilt is one of the engines of A+ and SJW ideology. Interested in Japanese imperialism and colonialism? Read about the Nanking MassacreWP. Read about Comfort WomenWP. Their rape culture makes that of Europeans look like coffee invitations.
 
Mr. Scott said:
I suspect white guilt is one of the engines of A+ and SJW ideology. Interested in Japanese imperialism and colonialism? Read about the Nanking MassacreWP. Read about Comfort WomenWP. Their rape culture makes that of Europeans look like coffee invitations.
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I would be interesting to have a thread on "Comfort Women" on A+forum. I know a bit of the Japanese culture (it has been referred as a matriarchy by at least one author). Modern Japan is still not that welcoming to women esp. in the workforce (O.L. (office lady) is still commonly used in companies).
 
Mr. Scott said:
I suspect white guilt is one of the engines of A+ and SJW ideology. Interested in Japanese imperialism and colonialism? Read about the Nanking MassacreWP. Read about Comfort WomenWP. Their rape culture makes that of Europeans look like coffee invitations.
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How dare you criticize them? They are oppressed brown people you bigot! If you just took courses in feminist post-colonial gender studies you would know that whatever fault they committed was inspired by white Europeans! Hence the blame is properly given white European males.
 
I think the reasons for not engaging with problems in countries other than America (which, incidentally, makes it a very specific safe space. The internet is more or less global and we have, for example, posters on this board who live and were born and bred in Africa. It seems that they would not be welcome on A+ because nobody would be allowed to respond to their posts) are twofold. Firstly, there are some countries out there where the value of life is nothing. There are some people out there who live very short, very miserable lives, and there's nobody who can or will help them. This makes the claims to victimhood on A+ seem a little weak in comparison.

Secondly, learning about other cultures requires effort and it requires thinking. Those don't seem to be high on the agenda over there.
 
Someone has responded to Richard Carrier's recent video here and then a response to Carrier's response here.

"Cluster ****" is what comes to my mind. I wonder how this will all evolve.
 
Humes fork said:
Someone has responded to Richard Carrier's recent video here and then a response to Carrier's response here.

"Cluster ****" is what comes to my mind. I wonder how this will all evolve.
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Those two, perhaps a bit long responses really struck home. For someone who has idly watched the whole FTB/A+ debacle from the sidelines, John Bullock's responses resonate quite well. Polite and to the point.

PS. Every time someone mentions 'atheist community' and 'atheist movement', I get the feeling they're referring to some kind of exclusive club in the US or UK (or perhaps only the English speaking folks), and not the global whole of atheists, which, by definition, an atheist community ought to mean. And all the talk about misogyny, sexism... Ok, I'm from Eastern Europe, we are one of the most irreligious nations in the world, and in the top five atheist countries in Europe (might be a few years old data). I find it just absolutely ludicrous to generalize attitudes in "atheist community/movement" based on elevatorgate, donglegate, online trolls, and some improper conduct cases at TAM. Hell, none of them were even related to any atheist activity or convention in particular. TAM is a skeptics convention and donglegate is about what happened in PyCon, a programming convention. Globally, it's just so embarrassing and irrelevant to extrapolate some misogyny and sexism into 'atheist movement/community' (whatever that may even mean) based on the few prominent non-events.

Now, I'm not denying there may be sexism or misogyny in atheist movement (but I hardly believe any more than in the general population, perhaps even less), and I agree it should be fought against, no matter in which community it exposes itself. But just that all the reasons , as well as the divisive, illogical and offensive methods A plussers and their associates are using, that have propelled feminism issues, rape-culture, privilege and all those soundbites into social media limelight, are the wrong ones (Coffee invitations, dongle jokes, online trolls? puh-lease!) and maybe more damaging than helpful.
For example, the more I hear about "sexual abuse" from the A+ feminist side, the more incredulous I am to its meaning, since any well-meaning remark or blokey banter can now be sexually offensive and considered an abuse. Misogyny to me now just means being anti-radfem. The more I hear 'old white men' label, the more it sounds just like another racist, ageist, sexist slur. The more I hear about privilege, the more it sounds like cartoonish rhetoric. Every rape-culture bulleted list I've seen from their side have been ridiculous fantasy with maybe 3-4 coherent points that we as civilized society should really consider. And they've managed to somehow tie it all to atheism and skepticism. Good lord. Not only does it smear the communities, it diminish the actual, very real issues. Well I guess I'm just another data point showing the damaging effect that FTB/A+/RW/Carrier/PZ and all the various gates are having to the credibility of atheism, and social issues.

Had to get it off my chest. :)
 
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It is also worth noting that all these bloggers and personalities are actually pretty much total unknowns outside a tiny, tiny US-centric internet community. Despite what they would love to think, they are but tiny blips on the radar.

The majority of actual real world atheists have never even heard of them, let along read their blogs or seen them at conferences.
 
GraculusTheGreenBird said:
It is also worth noting that all these bloggers and personalities are actually pretty much total unknowns outside a tiny, tiny US-centric internet community. Despite what they would love to think, they are but tiny blips on the radar.

The majority of actual real world atheists have never even heard of them, let along read their blogs or seen them at conferences.
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A lot of them seem to be Canadian. Sorry about that. Sorry.
 
TeapotCavalry said:
I find it just absolutely ludicrous to generalize attitudes in "atheist community/movement" based on elevatorgate, donglegate, online trolls, and some improper conduct cases at TAM. Hell, none of them were even related to any atheist activity or convention in particular. TAM is a skeptics convention and donglegate is about what happened in PyCon, a programming convention.
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Is the "A" in "A+" disappearing?

Donglegate was instigated by someone who is not an atheist, skeptic, or critical thinker. Adria Richards says she's Jewish, prays, and goes to a chiropractor. I suspect she's included in the discussion because she's another fair weather feminist in the news. She seems like a nice person, but her narcissism gives me the heebie-jeebies.

From her YouTube video "Surround Yourself With Positive People Birthday Wish" "About" section:

When I was going through a hard time six years ago, I used to pray for God to help me surround myself with positive people. I named the qualities I wanted in these people and imagined how they would be my support network. I had no idea how I would accomplish this and left it in the hands of God.
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In this video, she chants about being "black and Jewish" (time stamp 0:51):

 
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Humes fork said:
Someone has responded to Richard Carrier's recent video here and then a response to Carrier's response here.

"Cluster ****" is what comes to my mind. I wonder how this will all evolve.
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Admittedly without reading the whole thing, all I have to say is that it seems rather petty. Who cares if someone downvotes a video on YouTube? And what is or is not a "legitimate" reason for downvoting something? Surely anybody can downvote anything for any reason? Downvoting a video because you don't like the tie the person is wearing is entirely legitimate. As is upvoting it because you do like their tie.

And, really, who cares what morons on YouTube think?
 
TeapotCavalry said:
I find it just absolutely ludicrous to generalize attitudes in "atheist community/movement" based on elevatorgate, donglegate, online trolls, and some improper conduct cases at TAM. Hell, none of them were even related to any atheist activity or convention in particular. TAM is a skeptics convention and donglegate is about what happened in PyCon, a programming convention.
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There's enough overlap that the Aida Initiative (whose example convention policy and anti-harassment guide were adopted by PyCon organizers for their code of conduct) works to get that same policy adopted by "science fiction conventions, fan conventions, computer game conferences, and skeptic/atheist conferences" as well as open tech/culture conferences.
 
Mr. Scott said:
Is the "A" in "A+" disappearing?

Donglegate was instigated by someone who is not an atheist, skeptic, or critical thinker. Adria Richards says she's Jewish, prays, and goes to a chiropractor. I suspect she's included in the discussion because she's another fair weather feminist in the news.
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That's right. I wonder why I associated her and the donglegate fiasco with atheism/skepticism. Did A+ feminists jump in to defend her?
 
IMP: Time for honest branding. RadFem + (the plus is a suggestion not a requirement)
 
RandFan said:
IMP: Time for honest branding. RadFem + (the plus is a suggestion not a requirement)
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Does anyone know what "IMP" means? I sure as hell don't. :o

I'm inclined to go with "I Blame the Atheist Patriarchy".
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I like it, those who want can have an addendum (especially Dawkins and the other three horsemen).
 
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