Atheism Plus/Free Thought Blogs (FTB)

[Marquis de Carabas]

How do I factor in the fact that, with appropriate surgery, all women are potentially men?

And all men are potentially women, which means a woman should keep in mind that any man she sees could one day be a woman and may very well be threatened by her potential-manliness, and so she should act to assuage his completely reasonable fears.

 

[Diogenes]

So you missed the best sellers "the god delusion" and "god is not great"?

Odd to then hear of atheism plus.

Heard of them, never read them.

I could part of a very small group. As I think I mentioned before I've followed PZ Myers via facebook for a year or two now just for biology and atheism commentaries.

 

[qayak]

Well if I were to pretend to be an A+ person I'd say that your comment is transphobic and you should feel ashamed for saying it.

No if you were a real A+ person! If you were a real A+er you would have said

Your comment is transphobic and indicative of your privileged position in life and your misogynistic douchbaggery. YOU ARE THE PROBLEM! Your behaviour systematically reduces women to being nothing more than a life support system for a vagina. You are a ***********, a *******, a **********, and racist! (Did I mention "douchbag?)

Your comments have been deleted and you are banned! ASSHAT!

And then the other A+ minions would have piled on.

It is a subtle but important difference in language and I only make the correction for the sake of accuracy.

 

[Wildy]

No if you were a real A+ person! If you were a real A+er you would have said

Your comment is transphobic and indicative of your privileged position in life and your misogynistic douchbaggery. YOU ARE THE PROBLEM! Your behaviour systematically reduces women to being nothing more than a life support system for a vagina. You are a ***********, a *******, a **********, and racist! (Did I mention "douchbag?)

Your comments have been deleted and you are banned! ASSHAT!

And then the other A+ minions would have piled on.

It is a subtle but important difference in language and I only make the correction for the sake of accuracy.

Well I wasn't assuming that I was a mod when I wrote that.

 

[Axiom_Blade]

The idea that privilege is static seems to be at the heart of the concept. ... The concept isn't valueless. There's no doubt that there are benefits accruing to being a heterosexual white male. However, they aren't exactly as portrayed.

It turns social justice on its head. If you ask the average person what they think of when they hear the word "privilege", they'll probably tell you that it's something that, by definition, some people have and others don't (e.g. your boss at work has more privileges than you do).

I think that what social justice should really be talking about is rights. After all, you don't want to take privilege away from anybody, you want to extend that privilege to everybody. The question should be "How do we help people?" not "How do we hurt the privileged people?" (Or, more often, "How can I use this concept of privilege to win some petty argument I'm having?")

 

[squealpiggy]

I see from Twitter that Rhys Morgan Rebecca Watson and Teek are all despairing of the way A+ has gone.

https://twitter.com/rebeccawatson/status/255685705999728641

No if you were a real A+ person! If you were a real A+er you would have said



And then the other A+ minions would have piled on.

It is a subtle but important difference in language and I only make the correction for the sake of accuracy.

Needs more porcupines.

 

[WillyWonka]

It turns social justice on its head. If you ask the average person what they think of when they hear the word "privilege", they'll probably tell you that it's something that, by definition, some people have and others don't (e.g. your boss at work has more privileges than you do).

I think that what social justice should really be talking about is rights. After all, you don't want to take privilege away from anybody, you want to extend that privilege to everybody. The question should be "How do we help people?" not "How do we hurt the privileged people?" (Or, more often, "How can I use this concept of privilege to win some petty argument I'm having?")

You are quite right and most people serious about social justice would agree. Unfortunately, if your way of thinking is that privilege is static, you thus can forever be a victim, and blame society for your condition.

It is interesting how this concept is used: if you ask, they (A+, etc) tell you that it apply to group of people (mostly while guys) and not to individuals (basically born with the original sin). However, if you disagree with someone in an argument, they will remind about YOUR individual privilege.

 

[westprog]

You are quite right and most people serious about social justice would agree. Unfortunately, if your way of thinking is that privilege is static, you thus can forever be a victim, and blame society for your condition.

It is interesting how this concept is used: if you ask, they (A+, etc) tell you that it apply to group of people (mostly while guys) and not to individuals (basically born with the original sin). However, if you disagree with someone in an argument, they will remind about YOUR individual privilege.

There is a tendency, especially in the USA, but prevalent everywhere, for people to claim that they achieved whatever status they reached in society purely by their own efforts, as if their private education, wealth, security and culture had nothing to do with it. It's often coupled with an implied rebuke to the person who failed to surmount the obstacles of poverty.

However, the doctrine of privilege tends to obscure the individual case by assigning point benefits to things that provide little advantage in themselves. Far more of the rich and secure tend to be white, but if you happen to be born into a broken home in poverty, the advantage simply isn't there. That's not to say that there are no benefits to being white, regardless of financial circumstances. A black person will be treated differently from his white peer. However, poverty trumps race under most circumstances.

As for the advantage of being male - for every advantage, there's a corresponding disadvantage. Indeed, this holds to such an extent that the advantages of being female have had to be redefined as not privilege at all.

 

[devnull]

Heard of them, never read them.

I could part of a very small group. As I think I mentioned before I've followed PZ Myers via facebook for a year or two now just for biology and atheism commentaries.

Oh, you lucky duck. Get. Read. Enjoy.

 

[dasmiller]

Well I wasn't assuming that I was a mod when I wrote that.

Now, now, the mods work hard at protecting . . umm . . some people . . . from . . . umm . . . stuff. Poking fun at them is snarky and inappropriate and, therefore, not funny. It's just a coincidence that coffee happened to be sprayed all over my monitor as I read that post.

 

[Mr. Scott]

I see from Twitter that Rhys Morgan Rebecca Watson and Teek are all despairing of the way A+ has gone.

https://twitter.com/rebeccawatson/status/255685705999728641

I'm floored by this incredibly narrow-minded statement from Rebecca:

the bulk of people disagreeing with you [with us, the a-plussers] are giant bigoted *********.

 

[Beelzebuddy]

You know, I hope this incident has been educational in demonstrating to westprog that the bulk of atheists, especially in this forum, are fully capable of recognizing when logic gets replaced by dogma, and will happily toss eggs when those who aren't get suckered in.

I recall "atheists as groupthink-driven cult" being his favorite thing to harp on as of a few months ago.

 

[Stout]

It turns social justice on its head. If you ask the average person what they think of when they hear the word "privilege", they'll probably tell you that it's something that, by definition, some people have and others don't (e.g. your boss at work has more privileges than you do).

I think that what social justice should really be talking about is rights. After all, you don't want to take privilege away from anybody, you want to extend that privilege to everybody. The question should be "How do we help people?" not "How do we hurt the privileged people?" (Or, more often, "How can I use this concept of privilege to win some petty argument I'm having?")

Curiously, being an attractive woman with all the power that comes with it has never made it on to the list of privileges.

Social justice types have already won the rights argument. Everybody has the same rights now.

What SJ advocates are all about now is perpetuating collective guilt and wallowing in a pit of victimhood. Mental illness seems to be a prominent factor at play as well.

I've always wondered what type of porn these male feminists have on their hard drives.

 

[WillyWonka]

However, the doctrine of privilege tends to obscure the individual case by assigning point benefits to things that provide little advantage in themselves. Far more of the rich and secure tend to be white, but if you happen to be born into a broken home in poverty, the advantage simply isn't there. That's not to say that there are no benefits to being white, regardless of financial circumstances. A black person will be treated differently from his white peer. However, poverty trumps race under most circumstances.

Interestingly, where I come from, speaking English, or being born from an English speaking family, was providing privilege, whether you were a man or woman, I was not.

However, more than poverty, coming from a broken family with little social support is a greater predictor for future success.

The reduction of the privilege doctrine to simple sound bites by some groups makes a disservice to social justice since it redirects efforts towards esoteric issues that has nothing to do with the human condition.

 

[Axiom_Blade]

I'm floored by this incredibly narrow-minded statement from Rebecca:

Also amusing:

See, now I think it's going to fail because it's concentrated on internet forums, which are by definition awful.

Yeah, I'm sure that A+ would succeed as a blog or podcast. Or a newspaper. Or a carrier pigeon. Or a small pony. Yes, that last one.

 

[Foster Zygote]

Also amusing:


Yeah, I'm sure that A+ would succeed as a blog or podcast. Or a newspaper. Or a carrier pigeon. Or a small pony. Yes, that last one.

Can we name him Mighty Little?

 

[westprog]

You know, I hope this incident has been educational in demonstrating to westprog that the bulk of atheists, especially in this forum, are fully capable of recognizing when logic gets replaced by dogma, and will happily toss eggs when those who aren't get suckered in.

I recall "atheists as groupthink-driven cult" being his favorite thing to harp on as of a few months ago.

Oh yeah, I remember that. Of course, a degree of flexible rephrasing is required to come up with that one. I think I actually used the words "lunatic conspiracy" or possibly "anti-life gang of thugs". Something like that anyway.

 

[Mr. Scott]

Also amusing:


Yeah, I'm sure that A+ would succeed as a blog or podcast. Or a newspaper. Or a carrier pigeon. Or a small pony. Yes, that last one.

Yes, Rebecca's statement, "internet forums, which are by definition awful," is laughably illiterate. By definition? A hallmark of phony intellectualism.

 

[ShadowSot]

Yes, Rebecca's statement, "internet forums, which are by definition awful," is laughably illiterate. By definition? A hallmark of phony intellectualism.

She's probably still sore about not being to popular on "her" forum, the SGU board.

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

I've always wondered what type of porn these male feminists have on their hard drives.

HGTVS&M

Yes, Rebecca's statement, "internet forums, which are by definition awful," is laughably illiterate. By definition? A hallmark of phony intellectualism.

At least she didn't say "which literally are by definition awful".