Several years ago, I engaged this blithering twit who called himself Armoured Skeptic. He was one of a faceless horde of cartoon avatars on YouTube who were making bank on whining about feminism (see also Thunderf00t and every response video to Anita Sarkeesian). Even now his schtick is to complain about Atheism+ and SJWs and self-righteously declare himself a crusader for Free Speech. I guess it’s a strategy that works, because he’s got almost half a million subscribers. Even back in 2015, though, it was obvious that he was a shallow incompetent who titled himself a “skeptic” because that was a shortcut to the claim of critical thinking that didn’t require actually, you know, thinking.
He’s still pumping out the crap, giving “skepticism” a bad name (as if it could be besmirched even more), and now he has appeared on Rebecca Watson’s radar because he, a so-called skeptic, gave credence to conspiracy theories that the Muslims set fire to Notre Dame.
It’s true. You can be a gullible, bumbling, pretentious goofball like Armoured “Skeptic” and gain a large following on YouTube simply by spitting on social justice.
Oh, and here’s another notorious YouTube skeptic/atheist personality who promotes racialist pseudoscience:
Here's a clip of Carl Benjamin that I don't think is getting enough attention. In talking about genetics and behaviour he says 'blacks are more prone to violence' and suggests that should be considered in letting them in to the country. pic.twitter.com/FQE2Kun25u
— Mike Stuchbery💀🍷 (@MikeStuchbery_) April 20, 2019
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of Armored Skeptic before- he’s got a long history of being a tool.
Yeah, he was also involved in the Mythcon debacle.
Hbomberguy’s vid on Bill Nye’s Netflix series has some choice quotes from Armoured Skeptic. My favorite is when he complains that the show made him angry. Facts don’t care about your feelings, dude!
Why would anyone want to cover up for Daesh anyway, they’re already are on everybody’s most hated list.
Even the Taliban and Al-Qaeda hate them.
Also, why would Daesh want a cover up?
There’s no point to covert acts of terror.
Actually, that might be a reason to hide acts of terrorism by the ones attacked. But it’s still extremely unlikely.
Watching what atheist youtube has turned into over the years (or perhaps revealing itself for what it always was) has been pretty horrifying. I am so glad I read this blog when elevatorgate went down, because I was not equipped for the levels of sleazy bullshit these idiots pull.
It’s not like creationism, which is fairly obviously bullshit if you have a good understanding of how evidence works. People like Armoured Skeptic, Sargon, Thunderf00t etc are particularly nasty, because the way that they misrepresent evidence makes it very difficult to tell that they are being negligent/dishonest* simply from watching their videos. You either have to be informed in what they are talking about, or put in hours of work checking their sources (most of which they haven’t even cited).
*Given some of the examples people like Hbomberguy and Shaun have pointed out, I find it very difficult to believe that at least some of it isn’t deliberate dishonesty, but I can’t deny the possibility that a lot of it isn’t just incompetence.
They don’t. That’s why “teh French” are covering it up, to deny daesh a “victory”.
Another ludicrous hypothesis is Marcon arranged for the fire so as to further delay his critical speech on the gilets jaunes (which he was do to give at almost the precise time of the fire). Having said that, he has arguably exploited the fire with his dubious “five year” deadline (which he’s since repeated, so it probably wasn’t just a emotional misstatement on the night); i.e., presumably wants to be seen as doing something…
The mildly deranged penguin’s theory is it was an ill gargoyle. Astonishingly, she admits to lacking proof, but says not to worry, she’s inventing some now.
I’ve described him and his ilk as right-wing talk radio for millennials before. I stand by that, but I find it a little frustrating how insistent they and their fans often are that they’re centrists or even centre-left. Carlgon in particular came out as a full-blown Trump supporter and is now running for European Parliament as a member of the UKIP, and I’ve still got people telling me how he’s totally a left-winger and only objects to the alleged SJWs that seem to encompass anyone even a degree left of centre.
The twitter link has borked. I just got a 404 when I clicked on it.
The irony is that these guys are way more dedicated to Atheism+ than anyone around here, it just turns out it’s Atheism + Steve Bannon-style racist conspiracy theories.
Did… did the armored skeptic rip off M. Choc’s style from “Tif et Tondu”?
The YouTube skeptics sure looked smart when they were debunking Creationist claims…until we realized that anyone can debunk Creationist claims with a few Google searches. Being smarter than a Creationist leaves plenty of room to still be a dumbass.
tbtabby @12: Especially when the majority of them were going after Ham, Comfort, and Hovind. It’s like doing a weight-lifting competition against a two-year-old.
Another choice blathering from the nutcase has recently been uncovered, Ukip MEP candidate blamed feminists for rise in misogyny:
The all powerful feminists are also the reason I ran out of butter this evening. Because, well, it’s obvious. Clearly.
Aronra came out of Youtube atheist, so at least Youtube atheism produced at least one worthwhile thing.