Atheists are planning to run bus ads in Spokane that say, “Are you good without God? Millions are.” I know, about as mild and inoffensive as they come…but still, local media are running polls to find out if people will be offended.
Would an Atheist Billboard Campaign on the sides of STA Buses Offend You?
It would offend me
16%
It would not offend me 84%
I’m not very sportsmanlike. I’m happy to run the scoreboard.
We could be gamers. Oh, wait … some of us are! If you want to see the very worst of raging, testosterone-poisoned sexism, look to nerd-dominated gaming culture; I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that a significant part of the current conflict in the skeptical movement comes from our large overlap with that segment of the tech-savvy, rather clueless collection of man-children who see all women as aliens who are fat, ugly, or slutty.
I’m not heavily into gaming, but I do play a little World of Warcraft, poorly (it’s easy, though, so my old-man reflexes can mostly cope). Mostly, I find the population of MMOs embarrassing. I’m on a server, Proudmoore, that has a reputation as gay-friendly, with several large guilds that combat gay stereotypes…but it is so common to get in a quick cross-server group and find myself labeled as the ‘fag’, and sometimes even getting kicked out on sight because of the name of my server (or more often, I leave as the gay slurs start to fly — I don’t play if it isn’t fun). Women players are very cautious about revealing their sex; some won’t speak on audio because they know as soon as their female voices are heard, the annoying comments will start to come in.
So, yes, skeptics/atheists are better than some cultures…but that’s not an excuse to avoid improvement.
We could be Christians. Answers in Genesis distributes a little quiz about modesty: I took it and failed. Most of the questions assume clothing is defined by God, that the purpose of clothing is to hide sexuality, and the focus is almost entirely on women — look at questions #9 and #10, for instance. That could have come straight from a Muslim handbook.
The Style Quiz
Take the following True/False quiz to discover what you really believe about clothing, and then compare your responses with the answer key below.
1. According to the Bible, the primary purpose of clothing is to cover the body.
2. There’s nothing right or wrong about particular clothing styles. It’s all just a matter of taste and personal opinion.
3. The Bible tells us what styles of clothing Christians should wear.
4. Since the Bible says God looks on the heart, what we wear and how we appear aren’t that important; it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
5. Our clothes and appearance reveal a lot about our values, our character, and beliefs.
6. What I wear is not really anyone else’s concern. I should be free to wear the kind of clothes that I like and that I feel comfortable wearing.
7. Modesty means dressing in a way that is outdated, dumpy, and unattractive.
8. If a girl doesn’t wear trendy clothes that are at least a little revealing, guys won’t notice her.
9. Except for guys who are “over-sexed,” most men are not really affected by the way women dress. Most guys don’t even notice how women dress.
10. I can’t help it if guys struggle morally because of what I wear. It’s up to the guys to control their minds. I shouldn’t have to change the way I dress just because they can’t control themselves.
11. Parents shouldn’t impose their standards or beliefs about clothing on their kids. They should let them make their own decisions, even if they don’t approve of what their kids are wearing.
12. Christians are free to dress as they wish, because we’re not under the law, but under grace. It’s legalistic for parents or youth leaders to establish guidelines or standards for the way young people dress.
13. Christian women should never wear clothes that are revealing or that look sexy (i.e., clothes designed to arouse sexual desire or interest).
14. There are some public settings where it is okay for Christian women to wear clothing that exposes their private parts (e.g., thighs, breasts).
15. A woman can be covered from head to toe and still be dressed immodestly. 16. A woman can wear modest clothing and still be an immodest woman.
17. Most girls and women do not understand the meaning, the power, or the benefits of true modesty.
Oh, you want to know the right answers? Look below the fold.
I had to include the video from this post.
(Last edition of TET; Current totals: 12,765 entries with 1,441,820 comments.)
We’re on the Ardent Atheist show this evening sometime. Tune in!
Now I’m sad. Robin Marie asked people at #TAM9 what the best argument for god was, and she didn’t get around to me.
My answer would be the argument from ignorance, because they all boil down to that, anyway, and because the only way I could ever be persuaded to believe in gods is if my brain gets scrambled by traumatic injury or Alzheimer’s or something. Being the one argument that could convince me ought to earn it high marks, I think.
You heard me. Now. She summarizes the state of sexism in the skeptical movement, with suggestions for change. It’s freakin’ excellent. And she uses this comic:
Read her four-point manifesto for change. If you can’t see the value of it, you are the problem.
I’ve taken a few pokes at the bad science of Rhawn Joseph and the Journal of Cosmology over the years — for instance, in this post summarizing an article that was little more than a thinly threaded excuse to show off pictures of women in bikinis, or this post about their claim to have found bacteria in meteorites.
I think my criticism must have stung.
Check out the bikini post at the Journal of Cosmology now. It’s been removed, with the disclaimer, “CENSORED This Article Has Been Censored and Removed Due to Threats and Complaints Received.” I am amused. I wouldn’t take all the credit, since I’m sure many people found that article ludicrous to an extreme, except…
Well, this is really weird. Notice in the header for the journal’s online page that it gives two URLs: journalofcosmology.com takes you to the various articles in the journal, but they also own cosmology.com. Allow me to show you the front page for cosmology.com. I’ll preserve it here since I rather expect it will be pulled in embarrassment at some time in the future.
Cosmology.com is For Sale
Sale Price:
$100,000.00
Price Based on Estibot estimated value.
Contact:
ForSale AT Cosmology.comInclude your name, address, affiliation, and phone number or your inquiry will be ignored.
In Honor of P. Z. Myers
Is P. Z. Myers a “frothing at the mouth lunatic” who raves about subjects he knows nothing about?
Absolutely not. There is no evidence of “frothing.”Copyright 2009, 2010, 2011 All Rights Reserved
Ah, yes…because nothing says you’ve got a property worth $100,000 like slapping photoshopped pictures of my face on obese women’s bodies.
And look! They have a whole page dedicated to my honor! I wonder what level of professionalism we’ll see there? Just in case that goes away, too, I’ve put a copy below the fold.
If only I could say the same for other members of the Democratic party.
