Archive for October, 2010

Have at it, homies.

Is This about Me or You? Imagine this conversation: Woman 1: So, anyway, at the end of the argument I just told my husband I thought he was wrong. Woman 2: I can’t believe you said that. Aren’t you afraid he’ll hit you? When I put myself in Woman 1′s place, I have two immediate thoughts: 1. Not in a million years would I be afraid my husband would strike me for any reason short of his own self-defense if I went violently insane. 2. How long was Woman 2 abused? Is she still being abused? I wouldn’t expect Woman 2′s comment from a woman who has no history of abuse whatsoever. I suppose I could imagine a situation where someone was under a mistaken impression I was being abused, and was concerned for my safety? But as a general rule, that question would not be raised in seriousness by a woman who is not or has not been in a situation where she’s been battered. The question, while aimed at Woman 1, actually speaks volumes about Woman 2, and tells us nothing at all about Woman 1. Language, questions and comments aimed at others actually carry within them information about those who are speaking. Even the most innocent language does this. If I see a friend making a Lasagna, and I see her using cottage cheese, and I ask “Oh, you don’t use Ricotta?” I’ve just said, “I don’t use cottage cheese when I make Lasagna, I use Ricotta.” We spend our conversational time telling people all about ourselves, often without even realizing we’re doing it. What Pascal’s Wager Tells Me about You When we think of Pascal’s Wager, we generally think in brief of someone asking “What if you’re wrong?” The stakes generally are “something bad” if you’re wrong (that you’re risking), and either gaining reward or simply avoiding the “bad” if you’re right. The Wager itself has a host of problems. But that’s not...
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The rabble are banging away at Martin’s post with torches and pitchforks, demanding to know: when, oh when will there be a new non-guerilla episode? Wonder no more! The first new “official” Non-Prophets Radio will air LIVE this Saturday, October 23. It will feature Matt, Denis, and me… and if all goes according to plan, a special phone-in mystery guest. (I’ve been known to make these claims before and look foolish later, so apologies in advance if the guest can’t make it. Forget I ever said anything! What guest?)

Well, here it is at last, gang. Probably the last of the guerilla episodes, as the regular series is set to resume, I do believe, this coming weekend! Gia Grillo, Chris Conner and I reteam, and end up spending a lot of this episode wagging our fingers at some of our fellow heathens, expressing our dismay at the way some people in the atheist camp got caught up in the wave of Muslim-bashing that arose around the Park51 controversy. While none of us likes Islam, naturally, most of the rhetoric was simple hate speech from the Fox News wingnut camp that grossly generalized all Muslims, even those who are peaceful and loyal U.S. citizens, under the “terrorist” banner. That some atheists actually fell into that trap of emotion-clouded unreason is something we hate to see. Then we smack around Phil Plait a bit for his “Don’t Be a Dick” speech, and talk about accommodationism vs. confrontationalism. Not to be a whiner, but holy hell balls this one was tough to edit. But I think the mix is superior to 9.6, even though our different mics and the fact we were basically recording a three-way Skype call means it still isn’t audiophile material by any means. (I apologize for my harsh S’s.) I hope you all enjoy it, and I’m off for a nap. If you’d rather wait for the iTunes feed, Matt tells me he’ll do the necessary admin stuff to get it up on the feed either tonight or tomorrow, so you won’t have to wait days and days like last time. And if you want art for your iPod, download the above graphic and stick it in yourself. With 9.6 Russell told me I inadvertently changed the art for the whole feed by embedding it in the episode beforehand. Durp. Consider the comments to be an open thread on the episode.

“Hi name is not important. I have a comment. I saw your videos on youtube. I don’t like your attacks on the christian faith. I think your program is full of shit. The Atheist Experience just what the hell is that means. As for prove, you don’t need prove to believe or haven’t you figured that out. Let me tell you something. Atheist is the devils work. So go ahead bad mouth god. Your community will be blowen up as long with you garbage or what ever happens. The christian faith is not to brain wash people. That’s just you people spreading lies. Your community is dedicated to nothing and that how it’s going to be. The man” Fortunately, messages like this aren’t all that common. We obviously don’t think this represents the bulk of religious thought…but it does demonstrate the results of insular indoctrination and poor education. While this sort of thinking isn’t the norm, it’s not yet completely relegated to the cast-of-”Deliverance”-minority…but someday, it will be.