Atheism Plus/Free Thought Blogs (FTB)

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rustypouch said:
Yep. Men's Rights Activist.

A group who often focus on equality for men and women in the legal system, particularly in family and divorce courts.
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The antithesis of Men's Rights Activist is Women's Privilege Defender (my coinage).
 
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I kind of disagree with some of the comments about A+ forum mods. In their frame of reference, they are doing a very good job.

A+ forum is not there to discuss issues. It is there to be a support group for people who perceived that they have been mistreated by a misogynic society. No disagreement allowed.

I think that their mistake was to associate their "movement" with atheism.
 
WillyWonka said:
I kind of disagree with some of the comments about A+ forum mods. In their frame of reference, they are doing a very good job.

A+ forum is not there to discuss issues. It is there to be a support group for people who perceived that they have been mistreated by a misogynic society. No disagreement allowed.

I think that their mistake was to associate their "movement" with atheism.
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That runs contrary to their FAQ. In particular:

What if I think this is a bad idea?

Those who oppose the existence of Atheism Plus are welcome to their opinion, but a substantial number of atheists have already opted in. A forum for discussion has been set up, an #AtheismPlus tag on Twitter has come into use, a Facebook group has been created, a subreddit has been started, and a number of respected atheist writers and speakers such as Greta Christina, Matt Dillahunty, and Adam Lee have already come out in full support of the venture. Others such as Massimo Pigliucci, Ronald A. Lindsay, and Hemant Mehta have offered helpful critiques and words of encouragement from the sidelines. <snip>

Those who oppose the goals of Atheism Plus (eliminating misogyny, racism, homo/bi/transphobia, ableism and other such bigotry inside and outside of the atheist community) are also welcome to their opinions, but repeated interactions with them on blogs, forums, and social media has shown that they tend to derail the conversation.
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and,

Isn’t this making a religion out of atheism?

Atheism Plus is a collection of like-minded people using safe spaces to hash out ideas. There is no dogma, just a general consensus among participants that the particular social justice issues it focuses on are important to them. There is no hierarchy, just a number of people whose words have proven helpful in clarifying the need for such a movement, and whose consistently enlightening contributions have engendered a certain level of trust. There are no membership requirements beyond a commitment to taking seriously the need to have and maintain spaces where social justice issues can be discussed by atheists without interference from those opposed to the whole endeavor.
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They seem to have taken they highlighted part to heart while dropping all pretense of the rest.
 
westprog said:
Can you imagine being in a situation where people like that had power over you? Having one of them as a supervisor, say? Or a judge in some legal dispute?

They have it pretty well sewn up now. Speaking out against the immoderators means expulsion - so people either leave or bow the knee. Less and less dissent, more and more self-congratulation.
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Until they have rid themselves of all dissent, then they will turn on themselves.
 
Stacko said:
That runs contrary to their FAQ.
They seem to have taken they highlighted part to heart while dropping all pretense of the rest.
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Exactly. They should had updated their FAQ. Matt Dellahunty is still named as "respected atheist writer".
 
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Mr. Scott said:
Men's Rights Activist

I guess men don't deserve rights.
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The Men's Rights "Movement" is basically a reactionary response to what some heterosexual men see as the excesses of feminism and favoritism towards women in society and the court system, especially in family court in cases related to divorce, child support and custody issues.

As used by some gender feminists, accusations of being a MRA is just easy way to demonize anyone, male or female, gay or straight , who disagrees with them.
 
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devnull said:
This comes from Pharyngula Im sure. PZ loves doing this too :)
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What did you expect from PZ?

Absolute Law

I AM THE BOSS, and don’t you forget it. I have sole and absolute power here; I can ban you, I can destroy your comments, I can shut down whole threads. I am a being of caprice; I don’t have to justify anything I do. So when I tell you to stop doing something, stop. Don’t argue with me. You don’t like that I banned your friend? Tough. Don’t complain to me. I will do as I will to make this place the kind of party I want to attend, and that’s all that matters.

This law supercedes all other rules.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/08/06/the-new-rules
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PZ recently shut down all comments and viewer ratings on his You Tube channel. The reason? The commenters were "stupid and repetitive." (See video.)


 
Mr. Scott said:
The antithesis of Men's Rights Activist is Women's Privilege Defender (my coinage).
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I like it.

That sounds like the type person so says "awww, teh poor menz" when discussing examples of men being forced to pay child support for children who aren't theirs.
 
rustypouch said:
I like it.

That sounds like the type person so says "awww, teh poor menz" when discussing examples of men being forced to pay child support for children who aren't theirs.
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Someone was torn apart for suggesting that he might prefer not to pay support for a child he didn't actually father. The idea was that because he was fooled, he should be glad to pay for the child he loved, and if he didn't want to, he was some kind of monster. Not that he'd have any other rights apart from paying for it. Naturally if he were to father another child he'd be responsible for that as well, even if it were a one-night stand and he didn't have any kind of relationship with mother and child.

Now, there are arguments to be made for either, or even both these points of view. I can even see people vehemently disagreeing to the point of personal attacks. However, on A+ disagreement gets threats of bans for disagreeing - or, indeed, for complaining about personal attacks.
 
Walter Ego said:
What did you expect from PZ?




PZ recently shut down all comments and viewer ratings on his You Tube channel. The reason? The commenters were "stupid and repetitive." (See video.)


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I hold the PZ did that in an attempt to get the YT viewers to go to his heavily moderated blog comment section mainly in an attempt to drum up ad revenue for himself on Fftb. But I could be wrong.
 
bedlin88 said:
I hold the PZ did that in an attempt to get the YT viewers to go to his heavily moderated blog comment section mainly in an attempt to drum up ad revenue for himself on Fftb. But I could be wrong.
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More lucre in PZ's pocket is IMHO just an added benefit. The real reason is that he is completely intolerant of any opinion except his own.
 
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Walter Ego said:
More lucre in PZ's pocket is IMHO just an added benefit. The real reason is that he is completely intolerant of any opinion except his own.
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I have no problem with someone imposing stringent conditions on their own website. In fact, I've no problem with a website imposing any conditions if that's what they want. Or rather, I might have a problem with it, but I can't really complain if that's what they decide to do. What is unacceptable about A+ is that they have a set of rules, and they simply ignore them. Look at their ridiculous list of expulsions, and see how few of them are for actual breaches of rules.

There might be decent people posting there, but it's made almost impossible to retain self-respect without getting banned. Keeping quiet about bullying - or else actively supporting it - is necessary for survival.
 
Walter Ego said:
PZ recently shut down all comments and viewer ratings on his You Tube channel. The reason? The commenters were "stupid and repetitive."
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When VenomFangX (creationist) allowed only favorable comments on his videos, several people simply mirrored his videos on other channels to provide an opportunity for real comment. I have a feeling PZ wouldn't generate enough interest to make such a tactic worthwhile, but I honestly haven't seen any of his YouTube videos.
 
Apologies if this has already been posted.

Not sure but is this A+'s first attempt at being active in the community?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jz63_lGuSE

ETA: Well done westprog on your foray into the A+ forums. It was enjoyable and enlightening but the end result was not even slightly surprising.
 
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westprog said:
They have it pretty well sewn up now. Speaking out against the immoderators means expulsion - so people either leave or bow the knee. Less and less dissent, more and more self-congratulation.
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heh ... you "outwore" your welcome :boggled:
 
Krikkiter said:
Apologies if this has already been posted.

Not sure but is this A+'s first attempt at being active in the community?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jz63_lGuSE
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I don't think that was an A+ thing. But one of the people who did it is a member of the A+ forums.


If you would like some more Atheism Plus drama I present to you:

A+, reclaiming our image?

In which we learn things like posting things you think is important is an example of "privilege" and trying to talk about what could be done to improve their image is also "privilege" because it usually means the "poor oppressed people have to do all the work" and that the OP should have done something (side note, trying to do things is not welcomed). Also, saying that you shouldn't yell at new people for trying to be helpful is "questionable content".
 
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