Month: June 2012

Schroedinger's Threat

Greta Christina107 Comments

So as some of you may know, Ophelia Benson at Butterflies and Wheels posted this to her blog a couple of days ago:

I got email threats about TAM today, so I’m not going.

One less thing to worry about.

Today she posted a follow-up, saying that the threat in question seems not to have been intended as a threat — it seems to have been a sincerely well-meant warning, worded in a clumsy, hyperbolic manner that made it indistinguishable from a threat. (Content of both emails is posted in the follow-up.) And, of course, she’s getting comments from people trivializing the entire matter, and saying that Ophelia should never have treated the email as a threat. Mostly she’s getting empathy and support: I want to spell that out right up front, for people who are feeling battle-worn about this whole conflagration. But she is also getting some of the “Oh, that wasn’t a threat” response.

And I’ve seen this “Oh, that wasn’t a threat” trope before: not just from trolls, but from intelligent, thoughtful people who I generally consider allies.

So now seems like the time to say something about threats, something I’ve been thinking about for a while.

Here is the thing about threats, veiled threats, joking threats, references to threats, and warnings about threats that are indistinguishable from all of the above:

They’re all Schroedinger’s Threat. Continue reading “Schroedinger's Threat” →

Schroedinger's Threat
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Why I Have Hope: Atheism, Sexism and Blowing Up The Internet

Greta Christina65 Comments

Megaphone
I want to stop being a rabble-rouser for a moment, and take on the role of cheerleader.

Conflagrations like the ones we’ve been having in the last couple of weeks can be very disheartening. I’ve seen more than one person say that they’re giving up on atheism/ skepticism, or are on the verge of giving up on atheism/ skepticism… because these conversations about sexual harassment at atheist/ skeptical conferences have gotten so ugly, and have revealed so much nasty, hateful misogyny among so many atheists and skeptics.

And I can understand that. I, too, get disheartened when what seems like an absurdly obvious proposition — the proposition that sexual harassment sometimes happens at atheist/ skeptical conferences, and that the people it happens to don’t always feel like they can speak out about it or name names (especially when the perpetrator is famous), so therefore these conferences should have sexual harassment policies and reporting procedures in place to make the harassment less likely to happen in the first place and to have a plan in place for dealing with it if it does — is met with venom, outrage, hyper-skeptical goalpost-moving demands for absurdly high levels of evidence that this harassment has even taken place (to the point where you need more evidence to convince some people of threats or harassment than you would to convince them of homeopathy or Bigfoot), no-win Catches-22 in which not naming names gets seen as gossip-mongering witch-hunt but naming names gets seen as character defamation, and “Yes, but…” derailments of the conversation into topics so far afield they might as well be on Mars. Yes. It’s frustrating, and enraging, and disheartening.

But in the face of this conflagration, I still have hope. In fact, I’m going to go further than that. The very fact of this conflagration, and other conflagrations like it, is giving me hope.

I know. You’re all going, “???” You’re going, “I knew Greta was a cockeyed optimist — but really? These conflagrations are making her feel good about our future?” I’m serious. Hear me out. Continue reading “Why I Have Hope: Atheism, Sexism and Blowing Up The Internet” →

Why I Have Hope: Atheism, Sexism and Blowing Up The Internet

Greta Interviewed on "New Books in Secularism" Podcast, on "Why Are You Atheists So Angry?"

Greta Christina5 Comments

Why Are You Atheists So Angry? cover
There’s a cool podcast interview with me on the New Books in Secularism podcast, talking about my new book, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless.

In the interview, we talk about atheist anger — duh! — the positive uses (and the limitations) of anger in social change movements, the connection between atheist anger and atheist compassion, the source of morality without God, the magnificence of the atheist and materialist viewpoint, the unique harm caused by religion, the problem with progressive religion, why we have a moral obligation to care about the truth, why I decided to write the book in the first place, and more. Check it out! (Here’s a direct link to the MP3.)

And here’s ordering information for the book — currently available on Kindle, Nook, and assorted formats on Smashwords, and soon to be available in both physical print and audiobook. More announcements on that coming very soon. Woo-hoo!

Greta Interviewed on "New Books in Secularism" Podcast, on "Why Are You Atheists So Angry?"

Welcome Aron Ra to Freethoughtblogs!

Greta Christina2 Comments

Freethoughtblogs has a new blogger: videoblogger Aron Ra, now blogging at The Ace of Clades!

Aron Ra is one of the “YouTube atheists” and an advocate for rationalism in science classrooms. He grew up in an exclusively creationist environment where he felt like a lonely outcast just for understanding evolution, let alone accepting it. Being raised in a mostly-Mormon family encouraged him to explore other denominations and eventually non-Abrahamic spiritualism before rejecting faith-based beliefs altogether. He was drawn into activism when the Religious Right dominated his state’s Board of Education, and began undermining education in history, health, science, and social studies. His videos often focus on evolution and the evidence indicating an interrelated tree of life. His series summarizing the ‘Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism’ and his subsequent series, ‘Falsifying Phylogeny’ (including the Phylogeny Challenge’) have been mirrored, featured, referenced, and recommended by many professional scientists, secularists, and educators, and has attracted more than 60,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel.

Please welcome Aron, and go say howdy!

Welcome Aron Ra to Freethoughtblogs!

The Clergy Project: Do Atheist Clergy Change The Religion Game?

Greta Christina15 Comments

This piece was originally published on AlterNet.

A burst of media attention has been focused on atheists of an unexpected stripe — clergy members. Could non-believing clergy change how we see religion?

What happens when a clergy person — a minister, a priest, a rabbi, an imam — realizes they don’t believe in God?

And what happens when they say it out loud? What happens when they find each other: when they support each other in coping with their crises, when they help each other with resources and job counseling and other practical assistance? What happens when they encourage each other to come out?

Could this affect more than just these clergy people and their followers? Could it change how society as a whole thinks and feels about religion?

That’s what the Clergy Project is finding out. In recent months and years, atheists have been all over the news. But over the last few weeks, a burst of media attention has been focused on atheists of an unexpected stripe — clergy members. And in particular, attention is going to the Clergy Project — an online meeting place and support group that exists specifically for these unexpected additions to the ranks of the godless. Continue reading “The Clergy Project: Do Atheist Clergy Change The Religion Game?” →

The Clergy Project: Do Atheist Clergy Change The Religion Game?

I'm a Horsewoman of the Feminist Apocalypse!

Greta Christina8 Comments

In the midst of the discussion about misogyny in the atheist/ skeptical movement, one comment thread has turned to the question of women who could be considered horsewomen of the feminist skeptical apocalypse… and which My Little Pony character they’d be riding into battle astride.

embertine decided to draw them.

And I’m one of them! Wielding a whip, and riding Rainbow Dash.

I love it. Have a few fashion issues with the harlequin tights — I doubt highly that I’d wear them, they’re definitely not age-appropriate — but the whip more than makes up for it. And I love how fierce Rainbow Dash looks. Be sure to check out the rest.

Oh, and for the record: This is actually the second time I have been drawn with a My Little Pony theme.

Greta Equestina

Oh, and for the record: I love the Internet.

I'm a Horsewoman of the Feminist Apocalypse!

"I have never once seen the victim go without being called a liar": Guest Post by Amanda Marcotte

Greta Christina99 Comments

“I’ve been working the feminist beat for years now, and have seen lots and lots of stories about sexual harassment and rape. I have never once seen the victim go without being called a liar. Not once.”

In the recent comment thread on the topic of sexual harassment at conferences, “Holy. Fucking. Shit.”: An Attempt to Discuss the Actual Issue, Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon made a comment that I thought was very important and very pertinent. With her permission, I’m posting it here as a guest post, and am letting it stand on its own. Trigger warning: description of violent rape, and of rape victims not being believed.

*

I’ve been working the feminist beat for years now, and have seen lots and lots of stories about sexual harassment and rape. I have never once seen the victim go without being called a liar. Not once. And that includes a case where there was a video of the assault where the victim was clearly so intoxicated as to be unable to move—some people thought she was dead—and the rapists assaulted her so badly she peed herself. That girl was called a liar and the usual cries of “more evidence needed” were issued, resulting in at least one and possibly two hung juries before they could get a conviction. Women are considered guilty until proven innocent, and the trick is that there’s no level of proof sufficient to win the argument with the “skeptics”.

Our culture starts from the assumption that women’s natural state is lying. How that obvious untruth got so ingrained is hard to really account for, but that’s true of many stereotypes that, no matter how ludicrous they are when you really look at them, are nonetheless widely believed. It’s also cross-cultural, thus the Muslim religious rule about rape not being believable without four male witnesses.

Of course, the problem is that disbelieving accounts of rape and harassment as your initial stance is basically giving permission to rapists and harassers. Most of them know well enough to wait until they’re alone with the target to get aggressive. They know that when both they and the target walk away, the person whose account is given the benefit of the doubt—even past the point of ludicrousness—is theirs.

"I have never once seen the victim go without being called a liar": Guest Post by Amanda Marcotte

Ophelia Benson Has Withdrawn from TAM

Greta Christina40 Comments

Ophelia Benson of Butterflies and Wheels was scheduled to speak at TAM. But she got email threats about her attendance there, and has decided not to go.

I am sick and sad, and furious.

I am sick and sad that bullying sometimes works. And I am furious at the culture, institutional and otherwise, that makes it possible for bullying to work, and for bullies to get away with it.

I’m currently finishing up a post on why, in the face of ugly internet conflagrations, we should still have hope and keep plugging away. I still think that. But I don’t have the heart to post it today. Right now: Fuck the world.

Ophelia Benson Has Withdrawn from TAM

Atheists in LGBT Pride Parade This Sunday – Location Announced!

Greta Christina3 Comments

The gathering location has been announced!

The atheists are going to be marching in the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade again this year, Sunday June 24. And the location where we’re gathering has been announced. We’re assembling on Beale Street, very close to Howard Street, between Howard & Mission. We’re Contingent #180. We should gather at 10:30 AM. If you don’t see us, ask someone in charge where to find contingent #180. Assembly locations can be modified at the last moment, so knowing our contingent number is crucial. The Parade says we should be ready to march by 11:00 AM.

This was a barrel of fun last year, and if you can possibly make it this year, you should definitely not miss it. This is open to folks of all sexual orientations, and straight supporters are welcomed and encouraged to participate.

Details are at the Meetup page. Here are some pictures from last year’s event, to get you in the mood. (Pics below the jump.) Continue reading “Atheists in LGBT Pride Parade This Sunday – Location Announced!” →

Atheists in LGBT Pride Parade This Sunday – Location Announced!