Friday Fishbait — Anti-Darwin Fish

It's been awhile since I've posted a fish, but this one was too good to pass up.

Cannot say that I really blame Christians for defacing our logos defacing their Logos. 

Penultimate post on #AtheismPlus

Okay, yeah, so yesterday's post was a bit inflammatory and I get why some of you think it's just stirring the proverbial shit-pot. What possible point can there be in building a blacklist like that, complete with a mix of allegations spanning the entire spectrum from truth to half-truth to defamation?

Here's the point: Exclusionism is at the heart of the A+ movement. The most fundamental idea of A+ is to purge themselves of misogynists, racists, and other such privilege defenders and deniers, so as to allow others to be more comfortably included. I do not completely disagree with this approach. Some people are so irretrievably damaged (by circumstances quite beyond their control) that their personality has been warped beyond the possibility of learning to empathize with the Other. If someone comes into our spaces using sexist or racist or ableist slurs, we are justified in taking them out. However, we are also justified in talking them down, and I'd much prefer trying that approach first. Sometimes, there is a fundamental misunderstanding that just needs a bit of clearing up.

This latter approach doesn't seem to be much of a live option for the leaders of A+, who are so quick to detect wrongdoing (mostly sexism) that yesterday's list consists primarily of people who are on record for equality of the sexes, but have somehow failed to tow the line on some particular finer point of feminist theory or else failed to agree completely with the hard core of either FtB or Skepchick. In the mind of A+, disagreement with the leadership implies disagreement with their goals and values, which in turn implies some form of incurable bigotry or hatred.

Let me be perfectly clear on this: You can agree wholeheartedly with the goals and values of A+ while disagreeing with the leadership and their execution of the mission. This is so obvious that I shouldn't have to create an analogy, but just for the sake of clarity, consider this: The passengers on the Titanic all agreed with the clearly stated goals and destination of that voyage, but at some point they came to have legitimate doubts about those in charge of the ship.

#AtheismPlus - A Provisional Blacklist

It's not yet clear whether Atheism+ will turn out to be a growth movement or just another bright flash in the pan, but in the name of progress (the properly progressivist kind of progress) I'm going to propose a list of people who are clearly unworthy of breathing the same air as Greg Laden and thus unfit for the inclusion in this new project. This list will consist of real names only, because Lord only knows (by which I mean no one really knows) who all those hateful anons really are.

• D.J. Grothe (allegedly covered up alleged sex crimes)
• Richard Dawkins (Dear Muslima...)
• Sam Harris (racist shit stain) 
• Christopher Hitchens (sexist warmonger)
• Daniel Dennett (part of the problem)
• Abbie Smith (for obvious reasons)
• Justin Griffith (briefly supported Abbie)
• Harriet Hall (wears misogynist t-shirts)
• Justin Vacula (vacuous shitbag troll)
• Franc Hoggle (misogynist asshole)
• Jeremy Stangroom (misogynist asshole)
• Tony Ryan (misogynist asshole)
• Russel Blackford (hyperskeptic)
• Paula Kirby (convicted Godwin)
• Michael Payton (convicted MRA)
• Michael Shermer (jokes about ladyparts, admitted libertarian)
• Penn Jillette (climate change skeptic, admitted libertarian)
• Mallorie Nasrallah (confessed chill girl)
• Phil Mason (AHP skeptic)
• Maria Maltseva (gaslighted Greg Laden)
• Ed Clint (opposed the status quo)
• John Loftus (opposed the status quo)
• Kristina Hansen (mind-searingly vicious bully)

This is a living document. If you have more persona non grata (or crimes against the priesthood) to add to the list, please let me know in the comments.

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EDIT: Had to promote Kristina Hansen up from the comments section, on account of Ophelia's recent comments. Greetings, fellow FtB readers, and thanks for visiting my humble corner of cyberspace. If you can leave a comment without telling anyone to do unspeakable things to themselves with a porcupine, please have a go. (9/11/2012)

10 Commandments of #AtheismPlus

Since we've been in the mood for proposing new rules for the new movement, I've come up with my own list. It's not intended to be serious, unless you really want some of these rules implemented, in which case we can discuss that one seriously. Maybe.

1. Thou Shalt Have No Gods. Only the lords and ladies of Blog’s Highest Spheres are worthy of worship.
   
2. Thou shalt not question the values nor the priesthood of #AtheismPlus, nor retweeth those who do.
   
3. Thou shall not bring false jewellery as an offering, nor wear it upon thy bosom; neither shall thou grabbeth the ass.
   
4. Thou shall honour thy FtB and thy Skepchick, with one tenth of all thine page-views and mouse-clicks.
   
5. Thou shalt not creep, nor shall thou do that which seemeth creepy unto others.
   
6. Thou shalt not fail to stick the flounce.
   
7. Thou shalt purge the subhuman sewer dwellers, douche-bags, privilege-defenders and misogynists from amongst the congregation.
   
8. Thou shalt check thy privilege. If thou contends with one less privileged than thyself, thou shall yield the field posthaste.
   
9. Thou shalt always feed the trolls. Everything they say and do is perfectly serious and probably meant as a personal threat.
   
10. Kneel before P-Zod. Failing that, at least bow before Blag Hag.

#AtheismPlus, Atheism 2.0, and top-down reform

Just the other day, my lovely wife came home from teaching a group of medical professionals (about sickened penises, but that doesn't come into this story) and she was rather excited to share her thoughts on TED talk from Alain de Botton, which she had listened to on the ride home. After a bit of back-and-forth, I realized that I was more deeply annoyed with de Botton than I could really explain. After a bit more, it hit me that my annoyance with Atheism 2.0 was roughly the same size and shape and flavor as my annoyance with Atheism Plus. When it comes down to it, both of these projects are packed with really good ideas that I'd love to see more atheist groups try out, but I have serious doubts about the value of rebranding and profound reservations about the qualifications of those who have appointed themselves to lead these reformations.

Here is how I'd really like to see it done: Local activists leading the charge, without regard to the brandings and blessings and bromides reigning down from the highest levels of the freethought kyriarchy. Want to give atheists a chance to enjoy church music, as de Botton advises? Don't just preach or write books about it, reserve a table for 30 atheists at Gospel Brunch at the Boom. Want to give atheists a sense of calendar, as de Botton strongly advises? Then key your major group events to the solstices or equinoxes. Do you agree with de Botton that communal meals are a vital part of bonding a community together? Then organize weekly lunches and monthly dinners.

Want to give atheists a chance to show solidarity with the LGBT community, in the spirit of A+? Arrange for them to table at your local Pride Festival, or better yet, march in the parade. Want to give atheists a chance to show solidarity with those being denied civil rights? Pay for tables for atheists at the ACLU banquet, to raise money to defend those rights in court. Want to help out the hungry or the homeless? Then volunteer to do so, or raise money for the cause, or both. Want to fight against theocracy? Organize an annual legislative review and lobby the lawmakers to back off.

The thing is, the amazing members of my local group have already done all these things, we've been doing most of them for years, and we still recognize all sorts of room for improvement. We are actively seeking out new ways to diversify our group in every way, and we exchange ideas with local activist leaders in Ponca City, Stillwater, Lawton, Norman, Edmond, Tulsa, Wichita, Dallas, and even Springfield, MO. We don't need top-level bloggers and bestselling authors telling us how to rebrand and remake our local groups. The grassroots are going to continue to grow from the ground up, regardless of what's happening on the mountaintops.

If all you've done is take to the podium or the keyboard to share your wonderful ideas for reforming the movement, I'm not remotely interested. If you've actually done something, really changed something for the better in your community, then please, do step forward and tell your story. Meanwhile, we've got work to do.

#AtheismPlus - Three major campaigns

“I have reservations about A+ as well. But it hasn't done anything of substance yet.”

I’ve been seeing variations on this comment coming across both my Facebook and Twitter. If I bothered to check on Google+, I’d wager it’s over there as well. To those remarks, my initial reaction is always the same: Where in the ever-living hell have you been?

Wherever it was, it must not have had access to the Freethought Blogs. The leaders of A+ already have at least three relatively successful anti-sexist campaigns under their belts:

1. Campaign to persuade atheist/humanist/skeptic conferences to implement AHP.
2. Campaign to smear/replace Grothe and boycott (but mostly girlcott) TAM.
3. Campaign to remove certain offensive threads from Science Blogs.

These are listed in most to least recent, from most to least beneficent, and from most to least well-known, at least among those I’ve unscientifically surveyed. Of these three campaigns, the Zvan/Laden campaign to drain the slime pits was by far the most authoritarian in its goals (and downright Scientologist in its methods) but also the most successful in the short term. At one point, Greg Laden actually received an ovation from A+ leaders and supporters for his outstanding achievement in the 21^st century equivalent of book-burning. Of course, this being 2012 and all, you can't stop the signal, and the threads were quite recently reposted to another server.

The second campaign consisted primarily of an online tarring-and-feathering of DJ Grothe, the man who had previously palled around with leaders of A+ at events such as Skepticon III. I'm guessing he's persona non grata these days. If you didn't see it happening at the time, consider yourself profoundly blessed. As for DJ, I doubt he'll never forget what it was like to be accused of covering up voyeuristic sex crimes.

Finally, there was the campaign to implement anti-harassment policies at our conferences. This was actually a really good idea, even if the execution of the concept often lead to spurious accusations and mutual recrimination. 

Effectiveness and tactics aside, all three of these campaigns were clearly waged by the current leadership of the A+ movement for the sake of furthering the explicit goals of the movement. Let's not have any more utter nonsense about how they haven't done anything yet.