Blag Hag Grab Bag 9/10/13


Today’s theme is how elated I am to not be officially involved with the atheist movement anymore:

Comments

  1. says

    “I look forward to the day the atheist movement stops being so horrible.”

    The best choice, IMO, is to always look forward, never back. The atheist movement is so deeply flawed with arrogant patriarchy (and its accompanying misogyny) that it will likely never be worth the effort.

    Push forward with Atheism+ as the current best alternative.

  2. says

    I look forward to the day the atheist movement stops being so horrible.

    The “atheist movement” isn’t a movement. It is a disparate collection of people with the only commonality being a belief that they do not have.

  3. paul says

    On a brighter note, I am glad you are posting again. I had given up checking your page some time back, and missed your comeback.

  4. says

    I don’t understand why there needs to be an “atheist movement.” What does atheism have to offer that is worth organizing for? As a humanist who happens to be atheist, I’d much rather join a movement with a wider message that can be embraced by all who care about education, science, and tolerant, humanistic values.

    As a teen coming out of a very fundamentalist church, I was angry and very much an antitheist. I have matured and just don’t get it now. I realize I was being just as dogmatic and intolerant as the people I was criticizing for being dogmatic and intolerant. I’d rather be amongst good people, whatever they believe, than be bunched in with assholes because of what we don’t believe together. Silly, if you ask me.

  5. thetar says

    Why don’t you complete your disassociation with atheism and disband the atheism plus forum? You would be then be appreciated.

  6. Parse says

    What thetar @ 7 seems to be saying is, “If you don’t like something, go away and remove any trace you were ever there.” Perhaps they should consider following their own advice, when it comes to Jen’s blog?
    Personally, I appreciate what Jen’s started with atheism plus.
    As for the link dump, I had seen most of these stories individually, however there’s a sense of ‘oomph, that’s a lot to take’ when seeing them all together like this.

  7. says

    Why don’t you complete your disassociation with atheism and disband the atheism plus forum? You would be then be appreciated.

    Because, of course, Jen is so likely to be concerned with the sorts of people in the atheist movement that hate A+, and wants to be appreciated by them. It’s not as if they’re not the reason she disassociated from the movement in the first place, or anything.

    Sheesh.

  8. says

    Why on earth would the National Atheist Party want to change their name? It’s NAP! Everyone loves naps! But SPA? Come on, spas are expensive. I’ll take a good nap over wasting hundreds of dollars, any day.

  9. sambarge says

    Well, I don’t know. I DO like naps but I’m likely to get a pedicure at a spa. Hm….

    Voter fraud, on the other hand, I cannot get behind EVEN if I get a pedicure out the deal – and I strongly suspect that I’m not.

  10. thetar says

    @ Flewellyn: Ever wonder why none of the significant names of FTB never visit your shitty forum? They hate it as much as everyone else who isn’t a member of it does.

  11. see_the_galaxy says

    Why don’t you complete your disassociation with atheism and disband the atheism plus forum? You would be then be appreciated.

    I don’t know who you are, or what your problem is, but is this quote your idea of a constructive contribution? Because it’s not very original or very thoughtful. In fact, it’s just another bit of mindless internet noise.

  12. says

    I had written about the NAP over a year ago and how their goal was not to allow disagreement with theists, but to see if they can advance an atheist view in politics. When I tried to participate they were rather stubborn that the NAP would aim to bring on theists in their fold and vehement disagreement was not encouraged at all.

    Worst case of misplaced charity — my donation to their cause.

  13. StevoR : Free West Papua, free Tibet, let the Chagossians return! says

    @4. paul : On a brighter note, I am glad you are posting again.

    Seconded. Me too. :-)

  14. abusedbypenguins says

    Dawkins is a scientist and he makes mistakes or he is not doing it right. Is he learning?

  15. =8)-DX says

    Today’s theme is how elated I am to not be officially involved with the atheist movement anymore

    Not to derail, this list really makes for glum reading, but surely there’s plenty of good (including pro-feminist, pro-equality) stuff that “official” atheist orgs have been doing? And plenty of pro-feminist bloggers who are members of said orgs getting their voice out there?

    I’m not asking for a cookie for DJGrothe for not having acted bigotted all the time, but it seems odd how a few years back the movement looked so bright and open. We weren’t going to make the mistakes Churches make, weren’t going to suffer from the biases of religious belief.
    *tries to squeeze out a point*
    Darn it, the fact that these battles are going on – perhaps a few years down the line there will be more good stories to report than bad?

  16. theignored says

    Atheists, and humanity in general could use more people like Jen. We fight for nothing unless we fight to make everyone’s lives better, and yes: It does mean fighting more bad ideas (ie. misogyny, the tendency to put people on pedestals*) than religion.

    *that tendency is basically religion itself, mind you.

    At least we are starting to recognize our problems. No one should be beyond accountability, regardless of whether they’re on our “side” or not.

  17. nathanaelnerode says

    Gaaah. Yes, depressing.

    I’m also having the depressed “what, Dawkins is a jackass in a way I wasn’t expecting him to be?” reaction. I’ve never met Richard Dawkins, but I’ve met his wife, Lalla Ward. I’m fairly shocked by Dawkins’s rude, hostile, unmotivated blacklisting behavior towards Rebecca Watson… largely because I would have expected Ms. Ward, a very smart and extremely polite woman, to chew him out over such behavior.

    Dawkins is quite appropriately learning as he makes grotesque remarks and is shown that they’re wrong, but his unjustifiable antipathy towards individuals shows no signs of abating.

    Speaking of Douglas Adams, I suspect that Dawkins, in perpetuating bad and unacceptable social behavior, is falling into this ancient cognitive trap described by Adams, regarding :
    “• Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”

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