Article on leaders of the New Atheist movement spreading white nationalist ‘Great Replacement’ myth. (Link)

“The Great Replacement” is the white nationalist myth that whites are being replaced by minorities, either through a conspiracy, or because declining birth rates among whites. It’s embodied in the infamous Charlottesville chant, “Jews will not replace us.” EIYNAH at OnlySky recently posted an article about some leaders of the New Atheist Movement promoting this “theory”:

 

One of his books, The Strange Death of Europe (guess what is causing this ‘death’: Muslim mass migration and low birth rates) Received praise from neo-Nazi group Generation Identity, it was also recommended on white nationalist hate-site Stormfront and has made an appearance on other racist and white nationalist reading lists. If that wasn’t enough, it was also promoted on Facebook by far-right Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, and also received high praise from Sam Harris (“wonderful,” “very witty,” “fantastic book,” “beautiful read”).

Harris is not only a long-time defender and promoter of Douglas Murray but has contributed to the normalizing of great replacement themes through his own content as well. I was once a fan of Harris’s and have spent the past few years feeling terrible about that, a fact I explore in a miniseries in more detail. But to sum it up, once I started feeling uneasy with some of his content and associations, I hoped that much of it could be chalked up to ignorance or his not having the time to delve into some of the characters he was promoting.

I could not have been more wrong.

It’s a long post, but worth reading. I agree with her that atheism doesn’t make a person immune to racist or sexist thinking. Many atheists expect religious followers to speak out against their toxic leaders. We shouldn’t be afraid to do the same to the prominent faces of atheism.

It’s a theme I also touch on in my latest novel.

I just started following Eiynah, and I look forward to her future posts.

My book series, The Bolingbrook Babbler Stories, is now available on Amazon and elsewhere. For book updates and a free ebook, sign up for my newsletter.

Proud Boys end ‘blockade’ of Chicagoland’s UFO Bases (Fiction)

By Reporter X

The Proud Boys announced Sunday the end of their “blockade” of Chicagoland’s UFO bases.

Peter Z. Easton, a spokesperson for the group, said: “We left after we sent a clear message to all space aliens that if we don’t like you, we’ll find a way to beat you and blame you for starting it.” Easton also added that his local chapter is currently focusing on “combating drag shows, and intimidating school boards.”

According to Easton, the boycott began when the Proud Boys chapter heard rumors of aliens disguising themselves as humans. The members decided it was a form of drag performance. “Our new orders are to go after anything that’s gay. Drag is gay and that’s not OK. Especially if you’re a non-western space alien! Just between you and me, I only liked Milo Yiannopoulos because he triggered the libs.”

Despite claiming victory, officials at Chicagoland’s three UFO Bases denied the Proud Boys intimidated visitors or disrupted flights. 

An official at Clow UFO Base claimed a Proud Boy member tried to leave a bag of dog poo near an entrance. The Men in Blue “reminded” the man that the Proud Boys are still banned from Bolingbrook, and escorted him to Romeoville.  

An employee at Palatine’s Rob Sherman UFO Base accused Proud Boys of shooting at UFOs. He said: “Their guns can’t penetrate shields, so most of our visitors didn’t know they were shot at.  But one crew was able to capture a bullet and shot it back at the (Proud Boy’s) truck. I never knew one remote controlled bullet could do so much damage. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and we covered up the shootings as one of those mysterious booms.”

A former Proud Boy member, who asked to be called Dee, said he was abducted by aliens while looking for Peotone’s base. He said: “They taught me that biology isn’t black and white but a spectrum. I also learned that women don’t like to be bossed around by men, and being a virgin doesn’t make you stronger. I couldn’t call myself a Proud Boy after learning the truth. So I’m going to learn how to make a sandwich and strive to be a good man. I hope I can convince my former comrades of the truth.”

The mayors of Peotone and Palatine could not be reached for comment. A receptionist for Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta said: “Are you sure you want to write about the Proud Boys?”

In the background, a man who sounded like Trustee Michael Carpanzano said, “Absolutely not, Charlene.”

A woman who sounded like covert social media operative Charlene Spencer replied: “You don’t even offer an affiliate link on any of your sites?”

“Just because I urge residents to have a weather radio doesn’t mean I’m profiting off of them.”

“Expecting a donation then?”

“Don’t make me carp you again!”

Also in the Babbler:

Editorial: LGTBQ+ people need our support more than ever
Russia launches two weather attacks against Chicagoland
Image of Christopher Hitchens appears near DuPage Unitarian Church
God to smite Bolingbrook on 7/27/22

Note: This is a work of fiction. All opinions expressed are my own. They do not reflect the views of any organization I work for or of my employer.  

My book series, The Bolingbrook Babbler Stories, is now available on Amazon and elsewhere. For book updates and a free ebook, sign up for my newsletter.

Elon Musk survives meeting with Maritan Colonial delegation at Clow UFO Base (Fiction)

Elon Musk

Bored billionaire Elon Musk minutes before his negotiations with the Martian Colonies broke down. (“Elon Musk” by dmoberhaus is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

By Reporter X

A summit meeting between Elon Musk and a Martian Colonial delegation at Bolingbrook’s Clow UFO Base ended in a brawl. No one died, and no one was arrested, but Clow’s medical teams had to re-attach Elon’s head to his body.

Following the incident, Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta addressed the interstellar press: “Elon will be back to his normal self. For that, I apologize to humanity and the rest of the solar system.”

Alexander-Basta then thanked the Martian Colonies for not invading Earth or incinerating the surface of the Earth. She stated: “The Martian Colonies demonstrated that they are truly the most advanced civilization in the Milky Way. Their restraint  is admirable and appreciated.” Basta then picked up a piece of paper, and read aloud: “This is why we welcome the Colonial peacekeepers stationed in Bolingbrook, and we appreciate that they are using their superior technology to disguise this base as an Amazon Fulfillment Center. If they want to build a space elevator—” She then looked backstage and said, “Can we talk about this without getting annihilated? No?”

Clow officials then showed security holograms of the events leading up to the brawl. It started with Musk demanding 420 square kilometers of Martian territory for his future base, and access to the “Qzist.” When asked why, Musk replied, “You have information about every human on Earth. I could use that to humiliate my enemies and defend my freedom.”

“You mean dominate other humans and not be dominated yourself?” Asked a Colonial delegate.

“Exactly. Accessing the Qzist would be cheaper than buying Twitter.”

Later in the meeting, Musk promised to build a hyperloop to connect his colony to the Martian Colonies. A delegate was not impressed. She pointed out that Musk promised to build a starship, but instead built a spacecraft that has yet to orbit the Earth.

“You seem to promise more than you can deliver, and what you have delivered you’ve bought from others.”

Musk protested and said things would be different on Mars. “Sometimes I come up with ideas, and my engineers quit rather than build them. I even moved to Texas, and promised to pay the travel expenses if any of their girlfriends needed abortions. All I wanted in return was their undying loyalty to me. That isn’t working. But on Mars, I’ll have total control of the air, food and shelter. No unions. No liberals. I will have the freedom to make them do what I want. I think I’ll call my first colony Space Texas.”

The negotiations became more heated until Musk threatened to call them a type of sex offender. A delegate activated a droplet drone. Musk smiled and said, “My robots will protect me.” Instead, the robots started dancing. Musk frowned. “I guess I’ll have to flame all of you myself.” Musk pulled out a flamethrower and the hologram footage stopped.

When asked to comment on Twitter, Musk blocked this reporter. 

A receptionist for Basta said she was busy and could not be disturbed.

In the background, a woman who sounded like covert social media operative Charlene Spencer said: “Sheldon, your campaign is in crisis, and I’m here to help.”

A man who sounded like Trustee Sheldon Watts replied, “Crisis? How can there be a crisis when the election is still eight months away? It’s too early to think about it.”

“Too early? Have you seen Mayor Mary’s fundraising numbers? This month she raised $32,500 for her campaign fund. That’s more money than the total funds for both opposition parties combined, and she’s not spending it on lunches, cars, scholarships, or batteries.”

“It takes more than money to win a campaign.”

“But it does take money to be viable, and we won’t be viable after Ms. ‘Proudly sponsored by Weathertech’ floods our mailboxes and social media platforms with ads for her trustee candidates next year. I have to take drastic action if you want to avoid another third place finish.”

“I’m afraid to know what you have in mind.”

“Okay. Let’s just say that there are people out there who don’t like the Egyptian government, and would love to make their favorite US mayor—”

“La! La! La! I can’t hear you! Jesus loves me. S.T.E.M. is good.”

Also in the Babbler:

Wheaton College to host ‘Is Richard Carrier a myth?’ conference
Governor Pritzker to promote Rep. Kinzinger by running ads against him
Interstellar Commonwealth threatens to raise abduction quota if US Democracy ends
God to smite Bolingbrook on 7/14/22

Note: This is a work of fiction. All opinions expressed are my own. They do not reflect the views of any organization I work for or of my employer.  

My novel, The Rift: A Bolingbrook Babbler Story, is available now. For book updates and a free ebook, sign up for my newsletter. Visit my author site for more information about all my books.

Another Rift Review (Non-Fiction)

The Rift is here!

Siggy posted a fair review of The Rift: A Bolingbrook Babbler Story.

Now there are a few issues inherent to the redemption arc. For one thing, it turns a jerk into a hero, just because he learned to be less of a jerk. I’m not sure there’s any avoiding that. But perhaps it’s less of a redemption arc and more of a wish fulfillment fantasy, where our wish is to persuade an MRA that he was wrong all along, and for feminism to win in the end. It seems rather optimistic, but I can dig it.

I appreciate the feedback from all the reviewers so far. That might change if Goodreads trolls decent on it, but so far, so good. Regardless, people have a right to love, hate, or have mixed feelings about any work. I’m happy that The Rift is engaging enough to have writers provide their thoughtful reviews of it.

Satan reviews ‘The Rift’ (Great American Satan that is) (Non-fiction)

The Rift: A Bolingbrook Babbler Story will be released on July 13, 2022.

Freethought Blog’s Great American Satan posted the most in-depth review of my upcoming novel, The Rift. It’s an honest and fair review and if you’re undecided about buying it, I’d strongly urge you to read this review.

Even within that subculture, the book could lose audience from its concept alone. As I mentioned, the progressives burned by the IRL conflict may have very little interest in seeing a redemption tale play out. Hopefully, the ten years since the furor began will help them get past that enough to read the novel. It handles the subject very well. Everything that starts to feel insensitive, or like a misstep, is ultimately redeemed through the story’s plot. It’s kind of brilliant at that, playing its hand with more subtlety than you might expect.

And all that said, maybe I’m not giving the average non-skeptic-culture reader enough credit here. If the price is right and you like the idea of a feminist sci-fi adventure in a tabloid UFO setting, give it a shot. And if you are in the book’s target demo – skeptic culture warriors – definitely pick this one up.

If you decide to pick it, it’s available on Amazon, and other retailers. You can pre-order the eBook version for $.99, or wait until the official launch date of on Wednesday (July 13).

Just to clarify, the novel is inspired by the web stories I’ve written over the years, but within its own continuity. It’s just like the difference between Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So you don’t need to be familiar with the web stories to enjoy The Rift.

The Rift is coming next week! (Non-fiction)

It’s only five days away from the release of my novel, The Rift: A Bolingbrook Babbler Story. The story of skeptic blogger Tom Larsen, how his determination to infiltrate the Humanist Heart congress compiles to work with his local tabloid, The Bolingbrook Babbler. This leads to him getting attacked by a weredeer, and waking up inside Bolingbrook’s Clow UFO Base. With his confidence shattered, and being thrust into the agendas of powerful beings and organizations, can Tom accept the unbelievable truth before it’s too late?

Here another excerpt from the novel:

“My God,” Tom heard himself say.

“Common reaction,” Robert replied bluntly. “Do you remember everything you read in the Babbler?”

Tom nodded.

“Not much has changed in twenty years. Clow is still the largest urban UFO base in the world—and it’s my base.”

Tom looked back at the landing bay. The Babbler was telling the truth, at least about Clow Base. He remembered all the times he’d debunked the base’s existence. The arguments were sound, yet here he was.

Robert cleared his throat.

“It’s like being in an Asimov novel,” said Tom.

Robert shook his head. “Not enough robots. Let’s go.”

It’s nice to see years of work finally coming to fruition. You can preorder the e-book for $.99 at these vendors, including Amazon until July 12. The book goes live on July 13. If you’re looking to buy a book next week, especially during Prime Days, I hope you’ll consider The Rift!

Highland Park Community Shooting Response Fund and misc. (Non-fiction)

The Highland Community Foundation has set up a fund to help the victims and survivors of the Highland Park shooting.

To help those directly impacted by the mass shooting in Highland Park, the Highland Park Community Foundation has established a July 4th Highland Park Shooting Response Fund. All contributions to the Response Fund will go directly to victims and survivors or the organizations that support them. We hope you will contribute as generously as possible.

Here’s a list of organizations promoting gun control you can also donate to.

If there are other groups that should be added, please let me know in the comments.

Finally, Rabbi Adam Chalom of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation was at the parade during the shooting and recounted the experience on WGN.

Village sends eviction notice to zombies inside Bolingbrook Commons (Fiction)

As part of a recently announced renovation of Bolingbrook Commons Shopping Center, the village sent an eviction notice to current zombie tenants. The village will also end its “Adopt a Zombie” program after three years.

“Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta has generously allowed our undead residents to exist rent-free for years,” stated a press release from Bolingbrook’s Department of Paranormal Affairs. “Now the village can no longer simultaneously subsidize them, maintain both the Bolingbrook Golf Club and Clow Airport.  The zombies have to go back to the afterlife.”

Under the terms of the agreement, the village will use the sales tax generated by the first $6.5 million of retail sales to pay for the removal and/or extermination of the zombies. In return, the owners, the Hinman Company, will spend between $10 Million to $12 million to both renovate the mall and add zombie traps. DuPage Township will offer free burials or cremations to the resident zombies.

Trustee Troy Doris personally delivered the eviction notice to the zombies. According to eyewitnesses, Doris cautiously entered one of the abandoned storefronts when out of sight of an anti-zombie SWAT team. Less than a minute later, Doris leaped out of the building and dashed back to the SWAT Team in the parking lot. Once safe, Doris showed a cell phone video to an attorney of him serving the notice to a zombie.

An eyewitness who wished to remain anonymous said: “Troy stated it was an eviction notice. Then he threw it at the zombie and ran away. The lawyer said it looked like the notice stuck to the zombie, therefore it was legally served.”

Lawyer Patricia X. Blake, who claims to represent the zombies, announced that she will challenge the eviction notice: “My clients are decent undead residents of Bolingbrook. They are not revenants, like The Crow, and they are not spreading a zombie plague. Mayor Basta’s obsession to best (former Mayor Roger) Claar has gone too far. She’s brought garbage toters to our yards. She’s allowed cannabis businesses to apply for business licenses, and now she wants to be known as the mayor who fixed Bolingbrook Commons. Well, not over my clients’ animated dead bodies!”

Alexander-Basta could not be reached for comment.

A receptionist for DuPage Township said Supervisor Gary Marschke was in a meeting and could not be disturbed.

In the background, a man who sounded like Marschke, said: “I find it quite odd that ComEd suddenly informed us that we’ve had an outstanding bill for over ten years. Since my administration has been paying our monthly bill, ComEd has had our billing address. Now we got them to waive the late fee, but the bill is still close to $1000. It’s almost as if someone hacked into ComEd and created a fake bill. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you Charlene ?”

A woman who sounded like covert social media operative Charlene Spencer replied, “Maybe.” 

Also in the Babbler:

Editorial: We need more than thoughts and prayers
Resident arrested after hitting UFO with an illegal firework
Man hospitalized after biting weredog
God to smite Bolingbrook on 7/9/22

Note:  This is a work of fiction. All opinions expressed are my own. They do not reflect the views of any organization I work for or of my employer.  

My novel, The Rift: A Bolingbrook Babbler Story, is available for preorder. For book updates and a free ebook, sign up for my newsletter.

To life! (Non-fiction)

I didn’t attend the Fourth of July Highland Park parade and had no plans to attend. I did have friends and members of my humanist congregation who attended. Fortunately, none of them were injured during the shooting. Six people were killed, and 31 were wounded. I’m sad about the deaths and injuries, as well as shocked that I could have lost friends in an instant. And the reason could be that the shooter did it for the lolz.

Honestly, I’m still kind of processing it all. It’s one thing when shootings like this happen far away. It’s another when a neighboring community becomes a war zone.

I’ve been thinking about a scene in one of my planned books. In it, the main character says mourning and remembering the dead is important, but that it is also important to live your life and make the most of the time you have. That scene now has a new meaning for me. L’chaim!