Archive for September, 2011

I suppose you could all celebrate Blasphemy Day, but it’s not such a big deal for me. As far as I’m concerned, every day is Blasphemy Day. All right, Rebecca Watson does a good job of getting into the spirit of Blasphemy Day. “> I’ll try to do my part. I’m out here in Cleveland tonight (“Hellooooo CLEVELAND!”) to talk to some humanists, and looking over my speech, I just realized it is pretty damned blasphemous. I sort of took it for granted, so I just noticed. Let’s hope I’m not arrested — Ohio doesn’t have one of those laws, does it?

Wow. It’s just like science. I wouldn’t say I know all that much about porn. More than the average guy for sure but there is a whole other level of porn aficianado out there that dwarfs mine. It’s the guys who have been following porn for 20+ years and have tens of thousands of posts on sites like Adultdvdtalk and planetsuzy.com and run blogs about porn who are the real experts who have helped educate me. It’s kind of like what Newton said about standing on the shoulders of giants. I’ve completely missed out on that kind of education — I’ve wasted all those years studying mere biology. The weird cluelessness is compounded when you consider that Newton died a virgin, and proud of it.

(via GrindTV) (Also on Sb)

Be warned. This is a horrific story. Anthony Navarro Jr. is a righteous fundamentalist who is opposed without reservation to divorce. His brother, Dave Navarro, decided to leave his marriage — so Anthony Jr. stalks and harasses his own brother, threatening him, harasses people associated with him, lies about him, contacts his clients and basically destroys his business, all because he will not tolerate the fact that a man and a woman can decide to dissolve the bonds of matrimony. He has a religious belief in an absolutely insoluble form of marriage, which he insists on imposing on others (Anthony Jr.’s wife is apparently trapped for life). Anthony Jr. writes a letter to Dave. Psalms 69:5 O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. Jeremiah 3:25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” Brother, no matter how fast you run, you cannot run from your sin, nor its penalty. Come back to the light, come back into the circle of blessing. You need not continue to live like a fugitive… Like a coward. Adultery is the greatest sin addressed in the bible. Realize, Dave, that you are committing adultery… Against your wife, Alison; against your children, and against God. You are guilty of the same sin as our mother and it cost her her life in the end… It cost her her soul. Her selfishness was her downfall. Do not fall into the same trap… The same spiral… The same death… The same eternity. Why do you not even talk? Are you so ashamed? You can turn back to the right path, and you can be forgiven. It’s not too late. Yet. -Anthony That’s a scary letter. That’s a letter written by a demented fuckwit. But you haven’t heard the worst of it yet. What happened to Dave and Anthony Jr.’s mother? Their...
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Rebecca Watson takes a moment to vent about the internet bile aimed at her, and it’s a depressing read. Who would have imagined a mild admonition to “guys, don’t do that” would turn into months of seething hatred and demonization? As she documents, there are whole sites and ongoing threads dedicated to trashing her and anyone associated with her. I took a quick look at some of her links, and found this treasure on one thread committed to hatin’ everything Watson: “freethoughtblogs” has become a spiteful ghetto built on a river of bile for insecure gutter-fascists. That is supernova-grade irony. Rebecca Watson has my support as an appreciated and valuable member of the skeptical community, who has made many contributions and has also been an entertaining and informative face for skepticism. The saddest part of this whole contemptible witch-hunt, though, is that several of the people who are still spittle-spewing ranters against the Skepchicks were also appreciated members of the skeptical community, who have unfortunately done a fine job of isolating themselves with their obsessive hate-mongering and slander. Let it go, people. Grow up, move on, shed the misogyny. And make no mistake, you have exposed yourselves as irrational misogynists.