tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30032009746889465752024-03-13T08:08:01.923-07:00Musings of an intrigued nobodySoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-54169548511534147682013-11-11T06:09:00.000-08:002013-11-11T06:09:03.333-08:00Why we need more open dialogue about FGM in the UK (warning - graphic/disturbing image)Yesterday evening I finally found time to watch <a href="https://twitter.com/LeylaHussein" target="_blank">Leyla Hussein</a>'s C4 <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-cruel-cut/4od" target="_blank">documentary</a> on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the UK. I feel guilty about that "finally" because I should have seen it sooner, but in my defense I simply didn't know <i>until </i>I watched just how important it was that I - and everybody else - <i>should </i>watch it.<br />
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I believe I'm better informed about FGM than many Brits, certainly more so than most Brits who do not belong to one of the communities in which the practice is common. I'd <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/05/female-genital-mutilation-fgm-child-abuse-british-girls" target="_blank">read the news articles</a> (<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2461477/Waris-Dirie-fights-female-circumcision-receives-Woman-Year-Campaigning-award.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24765956" target="_blank">here</a> too, and many more), and the <a href="http://www.equalitynow.org/fgm?gclid=CNOW2PDs3LoCFfHItAodSVgAgg" target="_blank">websites</a> campaigning <a href="http://orchidproject.org/?gclid=CNaq1_Ds3LoCFbLJtAodflIARw" target="_blank">against the practice</a>. If asked, I could have told you what FGM is, including the three recognised sub-types, and even quoted facts and figures about its prevalence. I could have told you that it causes scarring (both physical and emotional), infections, difficulties with sex and in childbirth, infertility and occasionally even death. I knew FGM is often - even usually - carried out without anaesthesia and without basic hygienic procedures. I knew I was against FGM, knew it was a barbaric and totally unnecessary form of torture inflicted upon small girls with the aim of suppressing their sexuality in later life. In short, I thought I knew what I was talking about.<br />
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Not a bit of it. It turns out there is a WORLD of difference between knowing, intellectually, that FGM involves removal of the clitoris and clitoral hood, sometimes removal of the inner and/or outer labia, and sometimes the sewing up of the wound to leave only a small hole for urination, menstruation, sex and childbirth. Actually <i>seeing </i>it done (in oversized model form), and seeing - briefly - the results is totally different.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDx0kfg5vcyN7-8g2AInfltpixwTz33STcifu4UpAZeA1QPjFtYGaUqsz0nvIpr-oBjI6F51vOIt1rafnhSa311aZSQo1PbC8BZn_FAOE61fN0PoKOVHBbGKNl2eFFqxRVqdrwmIABahI/s1600/FGMResults.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDx0kfg5vcyN7-8g2AInfltpixwTz33STcifu4UpAZeA1QPjFtYGaUqsz0nvIpr-oBjI6F51vOIt1rafnhSa311aZSQo1PbC8BZn_FAOE61fN0PoKOVHBbGKNl2eFFqxRVqdrwmIABahI/s400/FGMResults.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I don't know about you, but I struggle to look at that - and that's been taken a <i>long </i>time after the woman pictured was mutilated, probably years. I can't even begin to imagine the agony.</div>
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In her documentary, Hussein investigated the attitudes of the British public by setting up a fake petition in defense of FGM as a cultural practice, and was understandably distraught when almost everybody she asked on a high street signed it. I would have been devastated too.<br />
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But although it's certainly true that there is some cultural relativism at play here, along with that fear of being thought racist that actually causes well-meaning people to <i>be </i>racist, there is another reason, I think, that so many people happily signed up to defend people's right to inflict this torture and mutilation on their daughters. <i>We just don't understand it, don't know enough about it</i>. However well-informed we may be on the cold facts about FGM, most of us I think lack the imagination to really understand what it really is, and what it does to people. In fact, that was made clear in the documentary by the seismic shift in the attitudes of some young men Hussein talked to about it; before her demonstration they were ambivalent about FGM or even in favour of it; understanding exactly what it meant horrified them, and to a man they turned against the practice. I know I didn't appreciate the horror until I saw images like the above; I know I probably still don't, because I will never have to live with it.<br />
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Now, there is a fine line to be trodden here. Do I think people who are not at risk of being mutilated need to have a better understanding of what it really involves, and what it means? Absolutely. Do I want to risk turning it into a freakshow, potentially stripping FGM victims of their dignity or causing them to feel ashamed of something that was done <i>to </i>them, before they were old enough to bear responsibility for it? Absolutely, categorically not. I don't know where that line lies, but I do think we all need to have a more empathetic grasp of what FGM is and what it means; all the statistics in the world, I think, can't bring it home to those of us who've never had to deal with it in our own lives.<br />
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Hussein has set up a <a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/52740" target="_blank">petition</a> to the UK government which needs 100,000 signatures to be considered for debate in the Commons. Please, please sign it; thousands of girls are at risk <i>in the UK</i>, right now, and the UK has never had a single prosecution for FGM despite the fact that it has been a crime here since 1985. If you've any doubts at all about the need to stop this practice, <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-cruel-cut/4od" target="_blank">watch the documentary</a>; this is abuse and torture that leads to lifelong suffering. It <i>can't </i>be allowed to continue within reach of our arms.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-49313388021847817082013-10-16T06:06:00.003-07:002013-10-16T06:13:58.110-07:00If the cap fits, Rowan Williams...Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, has said in an <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/christians-are-considered-homophobic-and-misogynistic-by-some-says-former-archbishop-of-canterbury-8881390.html" target="_blank">interview</a> that Christians in the UK can be subject to "petty harassment" and are considered by some to be "homophobic, misogynistic reactionar[ies]".<br />
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Now, I don't know exactly what counts in this context as "petty harassment", but to be fair to Williams he does argue and has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/15/rowan-williams-persecuted-christians-grow-up" target="_blank">argued against</a> the claims of some Christians to be "persecuted" when in fact they are made to feel "mildly uncomfortable"; he has said more than once that "petty harassment" should not be counted as "persecution". It's entirely possible that I fall into the "petty harasser" category IRL; the majority of my friends are highly educated and liberal in their values, so it tends to come as a surprise to me to learn that one of them is a Christian and I do often prod at it, asking questions to try to understand how they reconcile that statement with their liberal values.<br />
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The result, usually, is embarrassment on the part of the Christian friend, a sort of shamefaced acknowledgment that the religion to which they belong doesn't sit well with the direction in which they would like societies and ethics to move. But whether my asking questions and causing embarrassment would count as "petty harassment" for Rowan Williams isn't really the point; what matters is that Christianity has an image problem when it comes to social equality and human rights... <i>because it has a problem when it comes to social equality and human rights</i>.<br />
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The Church of England, to which Williams belongs, is often perceived to be rather <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyuhTwi_OE" target="_blank">benign and cuddly</a>, but that didn't stop it <a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/06/05/church-of-england-officially-gives-up-the-fight-against-same-sex-marriage-bill/" target="_blank">opposing marriage equality</a> until it was forced to admit defeat - and it <i>still </i>does not allow <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23222061" target="_blank">women to be bishops</a>.<br />
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One of the reasons the Church of England is generally considered harmless is that it is often considered against the backdrop of far worse mutations of Christianity. Its reputation is not tarnished by ongoing accusations that it <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24222951" target="_blank">systematically covered up child abuse</a>, for example. It does not oppose <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/3/kuhner-christians-must-oppose-obamacare/" target="_blank">fair access to healthcare</a>, either, or <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/17/westboro-baptist-church-cory-monteith-funeral-pick/" target="_blank">picket funerals</a>, or <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/18/african-children-denounce_n_324943.html" target="_blank">promote the murder of children by denouncing them as "witches"</a>. Only against that background could a church that openly opposes both gender equality and GLBT rights come out looking moderate and benign.<br />
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Christianity <i>is </i>both homophobic and misogynistic; <i>that </i>is why I am surprised when people who are educated and liberal tell me they're Christians. Christianity has an image problem because it <i>deserves</i> to have an image problem.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-32768193028751897682013-09-23T08:30:00.004-07:002013-09-23T15:05:28.202-07:00Stop pretending you can't see the elephant, Mr CameronThe past weekend has been a bad one, even by the standards of Islamist extremists. We don't yet know exactly how many innocent people have been slaughtered <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24193059" target="_blank">in a shopping centre in Nairobi</a>, or how many were <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24193734" target="_blank">murdered by suicide bombers leaving church in Peshawar</a>; the total, by current estimates, is probably around the 150 mark so far.<br />
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We learned today that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/23/nairobi-terror-attack-david-cameron-no-10" target="_blank">four Brits were among those killed in Nairobi</a>, having presumably been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/21/nairobi-shopping-centre-terror-attack" target="_blank">unable to answer the question "what was the name of Mohammed's mother?"</a>.<br />
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And what has been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/23/nairobi-terror-attack-david-cameron-no-10" target="_blank">David Cameron's response</a>?<br />
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<b><i>"These appalling terrorist attacks that take place, where the perpetrators claim they do it in the name of religion - they don't. They do it in the name of terror, violence and extremism, and their warped view of the world."</i></b><br />
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Are you FUCKING kidding me, Cameron?! You're going to sit there and pretend this mass slaughter had nothing to do with religion? The murderers selected who would die and who would live <i>based on a question only a Muslim would be expected to be able to answer</i>. Yes, these lunatics have a <i>deeply</i> "warped view of the world" - and why the fuck do you think that might be? You honestly think that has <i>nothing at all </i>to do with their belief in the holiness and divine mandate of a religious doctrine <i>notoriously</i> heavy on murdering unbelievers (apostates, gay people, women, adulterers, people who draw pictures of Muhammed...)? You don't think a person's faith - a faith so strong they are willing to <i>die for it </i>- in a violent and barbaric religious doctrine might be in <i>any way to blame </i>when that person acts violently and barbarically?!<br />
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Of <i>course </i>these despicable, murderous lunatics do not represent all Muslims, or what most people would recognise as Islam. But to try to pretend their actions had nothing to do with their religion is just... I mean, it's not even wrong, it's bizarre, it's nonsense of the most baffling order. This isn't an elephant in the room, it's an entire herd of pachyderms squashed into an airing cupboard.<br />
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I'm so fucking sick of this cowardice. And before anyone says it, no - I'm not picking on Muslims. We all know various religions have been the cause of endless horrors throughout history, from the Inquisition to the "Troubles" in Ireland to the Vatican contribution to the HIV epidemic in Africa and the Philippines. I don't actually care which religion is causing the problem because they're all just as ridiculous as each other. But anybody who tries to pretend Islam is not, right now, the most dangerous religion in the world is not paying attention - or they're hiding behind an ink cloud of paternalistic politically correct affronted liberalism.<br />
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And I <i>am </i>a liberal; Cameron hasn't lost my vote over this because I'd never have voted Tory anyway. But we liberals seem to be just as bad, or even worse; nobody can criticise Islam without being called "Islamophobic" or racist (as if all of Islam, from Indonesia to Somalia, were a race) by well-meaning people who are often, <i>where the religion in question is not Islam</i>, also outspoken against the privileged place religion holds in society.<br />
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We've no problem with blaming a person or a group's crimes on their <i>political </i>ideology; nobody worries about being thought racist or bigoted when they say Stalin or Hitler did what they did because of their insane and deeply nasty political beliefs. Why do we worry about pointing it out when it's <i>clear</i> that a person's lunatic beliefs have led them to commit crimes - just because those beliefs are religious rather than political? It's pathetic and cowardly and I'm sick of it. You don't pretend you can't see the elephant when it's trampling around killing people.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-85629417202853357142013-09-03T08:25:00.001-07:002013-09-03T08:38:07.571-07:00As if my reading pile (...well - heap, really) weren't big enough alreadyAs a few people on Twitter have pointed out, I have been seriously neglecting my blog of late. I mean to remedy that, starting now.<br />
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I've been doing a lot of reading lately on the sciences, but I find that my lack of any formal education in any scientific discipline gives me real problems with knowing where to go for good information. Lacking any sort of grounding in the basics, I dip in and out of subjects with various books, and never really know how broad a scope I gain from doing so. I can't be the only layperson to be frustrated by this problem, so I asked people on Twitter for their suggestions. I'm going to list these recommendations here along with some of my own, and I intend to keep updating this post in the hope that it might serve as a useful resource for people in a similar situation to my own. I've linked all the kind Tweeps who contributed below; please follow and show some love! Oh, and as always - comment below if you've any suggestions of your own, or comments on any of the books here recommended.<br />
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There is a (sort of) system here; if it's in bold I've read it; if it's not I haven't (yet!) and I'm passing it on based on somebody else's recommendation.<br />
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<b>Bill Bryson: <i>A Short History of Nearly Everything</i></b>. Great grounding in the basics and history of science, although upon rereading about a year ago I noticed a few bits among the physics stuff that's now out of date. Recommended by lots of people!<br />
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R. Barker Bausell: <i>Snake Oil Science</i><br />
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George Hrabovsky: <i>The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics</i><br />
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<b>Terry Pratchett (with others): <i>The Science of Discworld</i> series</b>. This should only be half-bolded since I've only read some of them, but those I've read I enjoyed (and understood!) and you can never have too much Pratchett in your life<br />
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Stephen Hawking: <i>The Universe in a Nutshell</i><br />
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<b>Stephen Hawking: <i>A Brief History of Time</i></b>. One of those books I read avidly, more or less understood at the time although I had to read some pages twice, and now can't remember very well. A reminder to me to reread!<br />
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Christopher Lloyd: <i>What on Earth Happened?</i> and<i> What on Earth Evolved?</i><br />
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John Gribbin: <i>In Search of Schrodinger's Cat</i> and <i>The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of its Greatest Inventors</i>.<br />
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Peter Atkins: <i>Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science</i><br />
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<b>Armand Marie Leroi: <i>Mutants</i></b>. A beautifully written book on embryology and evolution, reads like classical literature but full of meaty science (and a few gory bits)<br />
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Brian Cox: <i>Wonders of Life, Wonders of the Solar System</i> and <i>Wonders of the Universe</i>. Lots of recommendations for these!<br />
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Thomas S Kuhn: <i>The Structure of Scientific Revolutions</i><br />
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<b>Lawrence Krauss: <i>A Universe from Nothing</i></b>. Brilliant and baffling. I got about ten pages in before going back to Amazon and ordering Krauss's <i style="font-weight: bold;">Fear of Physics </i>to read first<br />
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Sherry Seethaler: <i>Lies, Damned Lies, And Science</i><br />
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<b>Richard Dawkins: <i>The Greatest Show on Earth</i> </b>and <i style="font-weight: bold;">Climbing Mount Improbable</i>. Oh, and <b><i>The Magic of Reality</i></b>, which bruised my ego by forcing me to wonder why I hadn't wondered about these things before.<br />
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Hugh Aldersley-Williams: <i>Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements</i><br />
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Paul Davies: <i>About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution</i><br />
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<b>Charles Darwin: <i>On the Origin of Species</i></b>. OK, a bit obvious. And if you're anything like as impressionable as I am you'll speak like a Victorian for a week after finishing it. But it's fascinating both historically and scientifically, and a model for clarity of reasoning and expression.<br />
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Richard Feyman: <i>The Pleasure of Finding Things Out</i>. I want to bold this, but can't honestly do so. It's been on my bookshelf for months, but it's not doing me a lot of good there!<br />
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<b>Matt Ridley: <i>The Red Queen</i></b>. Another book I need to reread, dense but fascinating. And it's about sex, so there's that.<br />
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Matt Ridley: <i>Genome</i> and <i>The Rational Optimist</i>. Also on my bookshelf. I'm going to find time to read them, I swear.<br />
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Marcia Bartusiak: <i>The Day We Found the Universe</i><br />
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Ben Goldacre: <i>Bad Pharma</i> and <i>Bad Science</i><br />
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<b>Daniel Dennett: <i>Darwin's Dangerous Idea</i></b>. Dennett makes my brain hurt, but in a<i> good </i>way. <br />
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<b>Ullica Segerstrale: <i>Nature's Oracle: The Life and Work of W D Hamilton</i></b>. Reading this at the moment. Not wonderfully written, but fascinating and contains lots of weighty science in Hamilton's own words.<br />
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Brian Greene: <i>The Fabric of the Cosmos</i><br />
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Jared Diamond: <i>Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the last 13,000 Years</i><br />
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Murray Gell-Mann: <i>The Quark and the Jaguar</i><br />
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<b>Victor Stenger: <i>God: the Failed Hypothesis</i>.</b> Hesitated about recommending this one, because for my money it would have been a better book (albeit one with far fewer sales) without the God stuff. But the science is interesting and accessible, so recommended for that.<br />
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Jerry Coyne: <i>Why Evolution is True</i><br />
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<b>Michael Shermer: <i>Why Darwin Matters: The Caste against Intelligent Design</i>. </b>This one I found to be just a little <i>too </i>basic, although engagingly written; but it's interesting to know what the enemy is thinking...<br />
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Donald Prothero: <i>Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters</i><br />
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Martin Nowak: <i>Supercooperators: Evolution, Altruism and Human Behaviour</i><br />
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Carl Sagan: <i>Cosmos.</i> I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't read this one!<br />
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<b>Steve Jones: <i>Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated</i></b>. Clear, easy to read and entertaining.<br />
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<b>Sam Harris: <i>The Moral Landscape</i></b>. I find Harris heavy going, but his ideas and the information upon which he bases them are interesting so this is worth sticking with.<br />
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Adrian Forsyth: <i>A Natural History of Sex: The Ecology and Evolution of Mating Behaviour</i><br />
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Neil DeGrasse Tyson: <i>Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries</i><br />
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Stuart Firestein: <i>Ignorance: How it Drives Science</i><br />
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Chris Impey: <i>How It Began: A Time-Traveler's Guide to the Universe</i><br />
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Neil Shubin: <i>The Universe Within</i><br />
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...riiight. I spend my <i>entire </i>life with my nose in a book. I read in the <i>shower</i>, FFS. How can I have read so few of these?! In my defense, I have neither my bookcase nor my Kindle in front of me to remind me of books I <i>have </i>read, and I've also read an awful lot of science books I <i>wouldn't </i>recommend. But still, the paucity of bolded, "read" books in that list is pretty damning, I'm sincerely embarrassed by that. To Waterstones!<br />
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(And I may amend this post later when I've gotten home and looked at my bookcase, to make myself feel better.)<br />
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My thanks to loads of helpful Tweeps: <a href="https://twitter.com/IntenseGas" target="_blank">@IntenseGas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/One_Trick_Pony_" target="_blank">@One_Trick_Pony_</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/geoffsshorts" target="_blank">@geoffsshorts</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mart_brooks" target="_blank">@mart_brooks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KeefJudge" target="_blank">@KeefJudge</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/weyendrote" target="_blank">@weyendrote</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/Patricknising" target="_blank">@Patricknising</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/tauriqmoosa" target="_blank">@tauriqmoosa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GasDocGraeme" target="_blank">@GasDocGraeme</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NickSpellman" target="_blank">@NickSpellman</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/tcc300892" target="_blank">@tcc300892</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NotungSchwert" target="_blank">@NotungSchwert</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Patchlaythe" target="_blank">@Patchlaythe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/neilhanman" target="_blank">@neilhanman</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/neilenator" target="_blank">@neilenator</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/gomijacogeo" target="_blank">@gomijacogeo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Metamagician" target="_blank">@Metamagician</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JDofAndersonia" target="_blank">@JDofAndersonia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Andrew_Hulme" target="_blank">@Andrew_Hulme</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Graham_Gowland" target="_blank">@Graham_Gowland</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/thelandlord28" target="_blank">@thelandlord28</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/robhuntvarg" target="_blank">@robhuntvarg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Timlove_1981" target="_blank">@Timlove_1981</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/bobgeoghegan" target="_blank">@bobgeoghegan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkTBullets" target="_blank">@MarkTBullets</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Christo_77" target="_blank">@Christo_77</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Kyle_McEvoy" target="_blank">@Kyle_McEvoy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/heafnerj" target="_blank">@heafnerj</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Alexdurrant7" target="_blank">@Alexdurrant7</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MiguelOSilva" target="_blank">@MiguelOSilva</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeyM_101" target="_blank">@MikeyM_101</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/joatca" target="_blank">@joatca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ingStHawk" target="_blank">@ingStHawk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/talace" target="_blank">@talace</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MCGiorgi" target="_blank">@MCGiorgi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MrMRM513" target="_blank">@MrMRM513</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hitchfan1" target="_blank">@hitchfan1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ThejemR" target="_blank">@ThejemR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/bradparkin" target="_blank">@bradparkin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RLHyde" target="_blank">@RLHyde</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/tchrquotes" target="_blank">@tchrquotes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/bigrumdaddy" target="_blank">@bigrumdaddy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/willCpierce" target="_blank">@willCpierce</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/crash121ss" target="_blank">@crash121ss</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Christoph_er" target="_blank">@Christoph_er</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Shadow_ofaDoubt" target="_blank">@Shadow_ofaDoubt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/vomatt" target="_blank">@vomatt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/perisabil" target="_blank">@perisabil</a>SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-2885102540432034552013-05-30T07:13:00.001-07:002013-05-30T07:13:56.692-07:00The cowardice of being an "oppressed" majority.Today I learned on Twitter, through <a href="https://twitter.com/tauriqmoosa" target="_blank">@tauriqmoosa</a> (thanks, Tauriq), about an intriguing group of UK campaigners. Depending upon your viewpoint, you might find them controversial, challenging, psychologically and anthropologically fascinating, hilarious, infuriating... or embarrassing. Or possibly all of these things, actually. Check them out: <a href="http://straightprideuk.com/" target="_blank">http://straightprideuk.com/</a><br />
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Now, if you react as I did you're probably going to spend ten minutes convinced this <i>has to be</i> a parody. Part of me still hopes that might prove to be the case (and if so, I will confess myself taken in but take comfort in the fact that I have not been <a href="http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/anti-gay-twitter-user-demands-%E2%80%98straight-pride%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98normal-humans%E2%80%99160513" target="_blank">the only one</a>), but I don't really think it's likely. Based on the balance of what they're saying on their site, combined with their <a href="https://twitter.com/StraightPrideUK" target="_blank">Twitter feed</a>, I think they're serious.<br />
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The group's aims, as laid out on their page, are informative:<br />
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Personally I can't help finding this immensely funny <i>at the same time </i>as being revolted by it (and as I reread this I find myself unsure again that I don't think it's a <i>deliberate </i>joke), but I'm amused rather against my will and I can certainly understand it if other people are not.</div>
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I think my favourite bit may be that these lunatics reckon there is a need to "raise awareness of the heterosexual part of society and make sure ... their views are heard". This in a world where the default assumption of heterosexuality is so ingrained that a US basketball player made <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22341153" target="_blank">international headlines</a> when he came out as gay earlier this year. It's funny, but it's also sort of scary. There are straight people out there who <i>actually believe</i> their voices are drowned out by those of gay people; <i>this </i>is the sort of self-deception of which humans are capable when we try to reconcile nasty, bigoted views with our wish to think well of ourselves.</div>
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More than anything, I am reminded by this of the ludicrous complaints of oppression so frequently made by members of the powerful religions. Christians in the USA whose rights to practise their faith is protected by law but who complain bitterly that they are persecuted while their collective voice is enough to keep gay people from marrying in all but 12* states, and to make it practically impossible for a non-Christian to become President; Muslims who complain that they are victimised when the right they think they have to treat women like livestock is opposed.<br />
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There is one sense in which people like those behind the "Straight Pride" movement (I still can't quite believe this is a thing, but it seems to be sincere) could be said to be helping. Gay people seeking equality already have the support of many straight people, a fact that regularly makes me proud to think that - however far we still have to go in many areas - we humans <i>are</i>, in the broad sweep of things, becoming more compassionate, more given to choosing compassionate secular values over superstitious dogma, and more ethical. I think people like the members of "Straight Pride" can serve to remind us that the fight against homophobic bigotry is not yet over - in fact, if this <i>does </i>eventually prove to be a hoax, I suspect it will be one perpetrated with precisely this aim in mind. It may also sting more straight people into openly, actively supporting gay rights - I know I for one would never want anybody to imagine for a moment that the Straight Rights campaigners represent anything I want any part of.<br />
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I've been tweeting about this today, and more than one person has said they're reluctant to give such a loathsome movement a platform by publicly opposing it. People have every right to make that decision for themselves, of course, but for what it's worth my own opinion is that this group's claims to being oppressed are so transparently nonsensical that I don't see much reason to fear we might inadvertently give them legitimacy. They're not only bigots, they're cowards and hypocrites too; I could allow a <i>tiny</i>, grudging measure of respect for these people if they were at least honest about their obvious homophobia (terms like "<a href="https://twitter.com/StraightPrideUK" target="_blank">heterosexualy [sic] normal</a>" are a dead giveaway, guys). But by hiding behind this ludicrous façade of oppression they make themselves contemptible not only for their views but also for their cowardice. I think they can only galvanise the GLBT movement, so far as they can have any effect at all on a societal change that has gained such momentum over the last couple of decades - and for that I thank them.<br />
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*Actually <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States" target="_blank">not quite that simple</a>, but I don't think my point is affected.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-78761075061587298482013-05-20T04:40:00.002-07:002013-05-20T04:44:12.060-07:00Why marriage equality will make the institution of marriage MORE, not less, meaningful - and in a far better way.Yesterday I had a long conversation with a friend, stemming from the ongoing debate in the UK and elsewhere about marriage equality, about marriage as an institution. He and I both support the right of gay couples to marry if they wish, but we both confessed that we couldn't really understand why anybody - of any sexuality - <i>would </i>wish to marry.<br />
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This has long been the case for me. Although I understand that marriage is important to many people, and therefore support the right of any couple to enter into it regardless of their respective sexes or genders on principles of basic equality, it's not an impulse that seems to exist in me. I'm twenty-nine now, and many of my friends and contemporaries are married... but I don't really understand why they've bothered. I've lived with my partner for nearly six years now, and virtually nothing would change if we decided to marry; I wouldn't even need a new passport since I wouldn't change my name. If we wanted to have kids that would make being married a more sensible financial and legal choice for us, but even that, I think, is more an argument in favour of amending the UK's rather outdated laws than in favour of marriage.<br />
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Many opponents to marriage equality argue that allowing gay people to marry will render the institution of marriage meaningless. In fact, I suspect that the opposite might be true. I think marriage - at least in the UK and other parts of Europe - already IS pretty meaningless; certainly it's no longer necessary for purposes of respectability, or for recognition as a couple. And I consider that loss of meaning to be a good thing; it's <i>good </i>that I am not the property of my partner, that our sex life does not require a stamp of approval from the church, that my legal rights are not different to those of my (male) partner. But when true equality is achieved in the UK (and it will be, although I predict it'll take us a while to work out all the kinks resulting from the current, rather strange, laws) I can see marriage regaining some of its lost meaning - but in an entirely new and positive way.<br />
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Marriage could be reborn as a TRUE symbol of love - and also of acceptance, equality and freedom. Purified of the taints of religious bigotry, of outmoded notions of respectability surrounding sex, and of the hangover of gender inequality that cannot but be present in an institution requiring that participants be of particular sexes, it could become meaningful in a <i>positive </i>way for the first time, arguably, <i>ever</i>. As marriage in the UK currently exists, I feel not the smallest desire to enter into it; in fact, the more I think about its history, its archaic, exclusionary and arbitrary messages about what is and is not "acceptable" to society, and its ongoing, inbuilt homophobia and sexism, the more actively opposed I become to the idea.<br />
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But when any consenting adult can marry any other consenting adult, and when the <i>only </i>motivation to do so is love, <i>then </i>I will consider that an institution I can support, and perhaps even want to be a part of. <i>Then </i>it will carry meaning that is truly deserving of our protection.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-78033876597195314432013-04-23T03:51:00.000-07:002013-04-23T05:19:39.120-07:00Secular cowardice in the face of name-calling.Since taking part in <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/international-day-to-defend-amina.html" target="_blank">International Day to Defend Amina</a> earlier this month I've come in for heavy criticism for being "Islamophobic", "culturally imperialist", even plain racist for opposing the human rights violations that stem from Islam. You may or may not agree with these labels; I don't myself, but as the days went by I heard the same accusations repeated so many times I did start to wonder if I might be missing something. I also reflected that even IF the criticisms were in themselves unjustified it was still possible for the misperception to be so widespread as to render my actions counterproductive, even on mistaken grounds.<br />
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With this in mind, I emailed one of the administrators at the <a href="http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/" target="_blank">Council of Ex-Muslims Forum</a> to ask his advice on how people like me - who have never been Muslims - can best support ex-Muslims and other victims of the more vicious doctrines of Islam, and oppose threats arising from Islam to secular values.<br />
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He wrote back to me very swiftly, and acknowledged the difficulty that can arise both from supporting ex-Muslims and from criticising Islam:<br />
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<i>(I hope my distaste for organisations like the EDL goes without saying, but just in case; no, I absolutely do not want to ally myself with such groups.)</i><br />
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Having acknowledged the delicate balancing act, however, my correspondent went on to say the following, which I think is crucial:<br />
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On first reading my response to this was to think "I don't even have to be public and outspoken? What can that possibly achieve?"</div>
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But I've thought about it a little more since I received the email, and actually I think a very valid point is made. So often I say to religious people - most often to Catholics, but the principle can be generalised - that their personal acceptance of the fact that (for example) the use of condoms is beneficial in preventing the spread of HIV is meaningless if they continue to lend tacit support to the power base of the Catholic church. The Vatican is able to campaign against condom use in Africa and other places plagued by HIV because it is able to bring to bear the political weight of over a billion Catholics - if a significant number of those people stood up to oppose this monstrous policy (or, better yet, left the church - although I accept that this is not easily done), it could not continue.</div>
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The point is that numbers <i>do </i>matter.</div>
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I've written <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-knotty-problem-of-respect.html" target="_blank">before</a> on the duty I think atheists have to speak out against the evils of religion, and I don't think there's any excuse to shirk this duty when it comes to Islam - we must oppose such atrocities as "honour" killings, FGM, forced marriage, the oppression of women. We who have never been Muslims are in some senses better positioned to argue against Islam than those who have been because - generally speaking - the risks we take in doing so are less than those taken by former Muslims. Islam punishes apostasy harshly; the consequences of being known to have abandoned the faith range from ostracism and abuse to death. The worst <i>I</i> can reasonably expect to get for denouncing Islam as one of the greatest evils we face in this century is name-calling - mostly from others who have never been Muslims.</div>
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Well, I can live with being called an Islamophobe and I can even live with being called racist - if the alternative is to sit back and allow people who face far greater threats to stand alone. It's fairly clear why the accusations of bigotry flow so freely when Islam is criticised - they <i>work</i>. But ask yourself; when a Christian accuses you of being a bigot, of "persecuting" them when you oppose their (assumed) right to stop gay people marrying, do you accept the criticism and shut up? Does <i>their </i>accusation of bigotry prevent you from arguing against Christianity, or do you explain why you're not a bigot and keep arguing?</div>
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Why, then, does being called an Islamophobe shut you up? Why do you adopt the term and throw it at people like me? Would you call me a bigot, or culturally insensitive, when I tell Christians their religion doesn't give them the right to stop people getting married?</div>
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People who oppose Islam do so in the face of great adversity and even danger; to refuse to lend them your support out of fear of being called a nasty name is simply cowardice.</div>
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So visit the <a href="http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/" target="_blank">CEMB Forum</a>, follow them on <a href="https://twitter.com/CEMB_forum" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, lend the weight of your numbers even if you don't want to take a more active role in helping their work. Every person who supports those who fight Islam makes their task a little easier.</div>
SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-77375317996604294632013-04-17T07:39:00.003-07:002013-04-23T01:26:07.826-07:00The importance of arguing about things that don't matterIt occurred to me today, in the course of trying to explain to a friend my occasional reluctance to describe myself as a feminist, that the life of an atheist concerned with social issues is spent largely in arguing about things that don't matter.<br />
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The most obvious example of this is the whole "God" issue itself. Gods do not exist, meaning they are in themselves almost axiomatically irrelevant... yet I, like millions of atheists all over the world, find myself talking about them all the bleeding time. How many times have <i>you </i>been taunted about the time and energy you devote to arguing about God X, or to trying to prove it doesn't exist? Why do we do it? <i>Because other people believe gods matter</i>. And because the rest of us have been too damn complacent for too long about letting them justify nastinesses on that supremely nonsensical basis.<br />
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But it's not only gods. The life of a liberal is FULL of arguments about things that don't matter.<br />
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Look at sexuality. I don't give a toss about the sex or gender of the person or people you find attractive, and if you're reading this blog you probably feel much the same about me. Whether you're straight, gay, bi, asexual or undecided doesn't matter in the slightest to me... but I'm forced to argue about it, to blog and sign petitions and generally get angry about it because for reasons I will never understand it matters to other people.<br />
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Precisely the same can be said of arguments against sexism. When I took part in <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/international-day-to-defend-amina.html" target="_blank">International Day to Defend Amina</a> earlier this month, I didn't do it because she's a woman. In principle I don't <i>care </i>that she is a woman, don't consider it relevant to anything... but I care that she is abused, and the fact is that the abuse has happened because she is a woman. In a sense, I am forced to take a stance on something I consider a complete non-issue... because too many other people, powerful people, think it matters. If you're not up-to-date with what's happening in Amina's life after the protest, both <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnamazie/2013/04/16/amina-i-will-continue-the-struggle-in-tunisia/" target="_blank">Maryam Namazie</a> and <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/04/beaten-kidnapped-and-drugged-by-her-family/?wpmp_switcher=mobile" target="_blank">Ophelia Benson</a> have blogged on the subject.<br />
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<i>Incidentally, those who've taken an anti-FEMEN stance on this matter - who feel that we who protested Amina's treatment are (to quote one tweeter) "imposing white, Western feminism" on people against their will - might find it helps to stop thinking of Amina and others as "brown, Eastern women" and think of them instead simply as "people who are being treated really badly by other people for no good reason".</i><br />
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The same is true of arguments against racism, against xenophobia, against the various forms of prejudice based on the circumstances of birth, against a thousand other forms of bigotry and injustice. It's a little strange to reflect that those of us who <i>don't care </i>about race, sex, social class, gender, sexuality etc. are so often the people most engaged in arguing about such matters.<br />
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And that, I suppose, is why despite being entirely in favour of equality between men and women I'm often uncomfortable with the label "feminist". I'm not "pro-women" as the term has come (rightly or wrongly is a separate question) to suggest, in the same way I'm not "pro-gay" or "pro-transgender" or "pro-black people". I don't defend women because they're women, I defend people who are oppressed because they are people who are oppressed. I'm not <i>in favour of </i>gay people any more than I'm <i>in favour of </i>straight people, because I simply don't think the difference matters. I support the rights of gay people only because others oppose them, which makes me not "pro-gay" but something like "anti-anti-gay".<br />
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I suppose "anti-arsehole" might be the best term for the general principle here, if for no other reason than that "anti-anti-black people", "anti-anti-women" etc. gets confusing quickly.<br />
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Another challenge we meet over and over again - most commonly from other non-believers in my own case - is "why can't you just live and let live?". The truth is that I would <i>love </i>to stop arguing about all this stuff that is, at bottom, irrelevant to me. But the hard fact is that the world is full of people to whom such matters are <i>not </i>irrelevant, and those people collectively have the power to make miserable - or even to end - the lives of others. If <i>those people </i>could learn to live and let live, to stop caring about non-issues that are none of their business anyway, we would see an end to all sorts of injustices and abuses. If <i>we</i> are ever persuaded to live and let live, those same injustices and abuses will go unprotested, and their victims will have even less defence against them.<br />
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So if you ever catch yourself thinking "I wish these bleeding atheists and liberals would shut up and let people get on with it"... reflect on what the consequences would be if you got your wish, and think on.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-60197316983112052802013-04-05T13:05:00.000-07:002013-04-05T13:05:09.118-07:00International Day to Defend Amina<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3hcHImJS_DS5x5saNLuUk3FYg5mpDGKuSwirR0o5Pc5glO1I7C7ZvFNXwiZvNglIQcDbSlK_TVeAc_9Ue7Bne3uhkh-bs7jQC0vewSRcnLC0ZKqnIPYcjULZQTrucrV6fNjQ9TlKGx4/s1600/Amina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3hcHImJS_DS5x5saNLuUk3FYg5mpDGKuSwirR0o5Pc5glO1I7C7ZvFNXwiZvNglIQcDbSlK_TVeAc_9Ue7Bne3uhkh-bs7jQC0vewSRcnLC0ZKqnIPYcjULZQTrucrV6fNjQ9TlKGx4/s320/Amina.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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Yesterday I, along with <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnamazie/2013/04/05/our-day-defend-amina/" target="_blank">thousands of others</a>, took part in the International Day to Defend Amina. I was honoured to be painted by talented body artist Victoria Gugenheim (<a href="https://twitter.com/quirkathon" target="_blank">@quirkathon</a>), who also painted herself and the extraordinary Maryam Namazie (<a href="https://twitter.com/MaryamNamazie" target="_blank">@MaryamNamazie</a>) - follow both if you don't already!<br />
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We each started with our individual paintings:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehDJ3DKbOLcP-UIyhI62n9VXFyoGF2Apg-GD5tylQ5cVb7aFJ2R7FW4Dk3IAuOesjQgvwuEN7JtiDN95Wnlt-MWKEGnvU13p2NI8tCGaScp1lyg_xRrnjDIkCsId4MKIryj-eIPQaMo4/s1600/MeAminaFull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehDJ3DKbOLcP-UIyhI62n9VXFyoGF2Apg-GD5tylQ5cVb7aFJ2R7FW4Dk3IAuOesjQgvwuEN7JtiDN95Wnlt-MWKEGnvU13p2NI8tCGaScp1lyg_xRrnjDIkCsId4MKIryj-eIPQaMo4/s400/MeAminaFull.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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... and later in the day Victoria amalgamated the three into a single image:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQ5Hc-PKbeXIXBAi75uVplJxvec4l_WhObuuMZeSinXjwdBbCJMzFWDt2JD1TnFtWUDQg4yKVw9GCLw257ENAaZGAyvc0lhnL7cqV3V7lKyGgs8Rmj-1s1eohGDw5ucYbFm9UL7knLXw/s1600/AminaAvengersNoLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQ5Hc-PKbeXIXBAi75uVplJxvec4l_WhObuuMZeSinXjwdBbCJMzFWDt2JD1TnFtWUDQg4yKVw9GCLw257ENAaZGAyvc0lhnL7cqV3V7lKyGgs8Rmj-1s1eohGDw5ucYbFm9UL7knLXw/s400/AminaAvengersNoLogo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I don't know about either Maryam or Victoria, but for me the prospect of being seen topless by potentially thousands of people was nerve-wracking. I'll admit that when I received the photos I did consider chickening out of posting them, but reminding myself that - unlike Amina - I faced no danger in doing so was enough to make me do it.<br />
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If you're not well up on Amina's story, I recommend Maryam's <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnamazie/2013/04/02/why-an-international-day-to-defend-amina/" target="_blank">blog</a>.<br />
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Amina represents millions of women all over the world who do not share the basic freedoms I - and probably you - take for granted. Posting these images made me nervous, but not because I imagined for a moment that anybody might lock me away, beat me or threaten to kill me - as has happened to Amina for having the temerity to treat her body as her own property. As a woman lucky enough to live in a country where my rights are protected, I wanted to use my body both to show Islamists that their scare-tactics will not work <i>and </i>to remind other liberals, secularists and feminists that the fight is not over yet.<br />
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If you haven't already, please sign and share <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/petitioning-tunisian-government-amina-must-be-safe?utm_campaign=action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition" target="_blank">this petition</a> to the Tunisian government to ensure Amina's safety.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-24542472985004542052013-03-23T03:32:00.001-07:002013-03-23T03:43:04.588-07:00The dangers of unnecessary defence.A few days ago I retweeted this meme about sexuality tweeted by <a href="https://twitter.com/secularbloke" target="_blank">@secularbloke</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJXk0QITBK4iOvQBotvCULI1KixdTqWaqeKO4hfX368bVoyfC48JZd9Ermge6ACbS__TvbcpJfG_b2NitdSpSfv1GD-p8pF79gllh9wQVzyZYY0PCsselJ90PIv7V1bMvy0lHJ-LVVOgA/s1600/SexualityChoice.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJXk0QITBK4iOvQBotvCULI1KixdTqWaqeKO4hfX368bVoyfC48JZd9Ermge6ACbS__TvbcpJfG_b2NitdSpSfv1GD-p8pF79gllh9wQVzyZYY0PCsselJ90PIv7V1bMvy0lHJ-LVVOgA/s400/SexualityChoice.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now, I should say that I think this image has a good point to make; it's pretty clear that sexuality is not a matter of choice, and it can be worth pointing out to people that nobody is ever accused of "choosing" to be straight.<br />
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<i>However</i>, I've written before about the dangers we run into when we miss the point on various controversial issues; for example, when we attempt to defend abortion with the <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/conservatism-tradition-and-ownership-of.html" target="_blank">"what if she was raped?"</a> argument (as though there weren't plenty of other defences), or when we <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/how-media-misses-point-where-religion.html" target="_blank">defend a person's actions</a>, when they didn't do anything wrong <i>anyway</i>, by suggesting they may not have understood what they were doing.<br />
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I begin to think one or two of the arguments we make against homophobia may fall into the same trap. The meme above makes a good point, in response to the common (often, I suspect, rather disingenuous) misconception that being gay is a choice. Well, OK... but the question I think we're forgetting to ask ourselves is <i>why would my sexuality be anything to do with you if it WERE a choice?</i> The suggestion seems to be that if homophobes could be convinced that sexuality is not a choice they'll decide it's none of their business; I think this rather misses the more important point that, actually, it just <i>is </i>none of their business.<br />
<i><br /></i>Although it's slightly less clear-cut, I think one might make a similar case for the common argument that homosexuality is "unnatural". It isn't, there's good evidence for that fact, and very arguably the pernicious myth that being gay is unnatural ought to be challenged... but I think we might make a parallel argument that actually, why would it matter if it <i>were </i>unnatural? Who <i>cares </i>whether it's natural?<br />
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Humans do all sorts of things that are "unnatural" and against our biological purposes. Never mind the arguments about gay marriage, <i>marriage </i>doesn't happen in nature; my condition of shackedupness is more "natural" than the marriages of religious people who disapprove of me. I use birth control which is not natural (as do the majority of people), but nobody seems to want to tell me that means I'm not allowed to have sex, or that I wouldn't be allowed to get married if I happened to want to.<br />
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What's "natural" about wearing clothes, or doing calculus, or playing rugby?<br />
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To feel hurt and to defend oneself when called "unnatural" is very... well, natural. But perhaps another point we should be just as keen to make is "what's so great about being natural anyway?".<br />
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By arguing that sexuality is not a choice, however rightly, we risk implying that if it WERE a choice we would be doing something wrong by being gay or bisexual. By arguing that being gay or bi is natural, however rightly, we risk implying that if it WERE unnatural we would be as guilty and repellent as our detractors suggest. The fact is that sexuality is nobody else's business, and would not be even if it were a matter of choice. People's sex lives are their own concern, and that is true whether what they want to do is considered "natural" or not. I'm not saying we should stop making the arguments we already do, I'm just saying there is a danger when we defend ourselves against one point that we might unconsciously be conceding another.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-5097506829590042722013-03-05T10:36:00.002-08:002013-03-05T10:37:38.463-08:00You might be a religious hypocrite if...We're all familiar with the logical contradictions of religious belief; people being certain they've picked the one right god out of thousands, thinking the idea of an omnipotent being makes sense, calling Islam a religion of peace without falling over laughing...<br />
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But recently the hypocrisy has been bothering me more than the illogicality. A couple of days ago I asked people on Twitter for their most hated examples of religious hypocrisy. Many people replied, and I'd like to thank them for their help in compiling the following (far from exhaustive!) list for religious believers to think about.<br />
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<b>You might just be a religious hypocrite if:</b><br />
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You don't accept evolution but you take antibiotics.<br />
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You believe in the Young-Earth creation story but use petrol.<br />
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You credit an omnipotent, omniscient being with all the good stuff, but blame him for none of the bad stuff.<br />
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You believe in your god on the grounds that it can't be disproved, but think invisible unicorns, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and other deities are silly.<br />
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You've had life-saving medical treatment and then thanked God for your recovery.<br />
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You think you're exercising your right to free speech when you tell us we're going to hell and then scream persecution when we tell you your religion's a crock of shit.<br />
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You believe your magic book is the work of an infallible god, but think you're allowed to overlook the bits on slavery and genocide.<br />
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You call yourself "pro-life" while supporting war and the death penalty, and opposing gun control, state-funded healthcare and stem-cell research.<br />
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You claim to believe that God looks after you but you still lock your doors, use seatbelts and take medicines.<br />
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You tell your congregation homosexuality is an abomination and then turn out to be gay.<br />
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You think the idea of a loving God who'll torture you for eternity makes sense. (Actually, that one makes you not so much a hypocrite as a moron.)<br />
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You categorically disavow evolution despite not understanding its most basic principles.<br />
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You say the Old Testament is not to be taken literally... apart from the bits that are.<br />
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You use Leviticus to argue against marriage equality, while ignoring all the bits about tattoos and trimming your beard.<br />
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You believe in heaven, but oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.<br />
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You believe you'll go to heaven when you die, but you'll fight tooth and nail for that heart surgery.<br />
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You tell us science is a hoax or doesn't work ON FUCKING TWITTER!!!<br />
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You think God's rules are set in stone and must be obeyed on pain of being sent to hell, but you drive on Sundays and have kids out of wedlock.<br />
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You think a human foetus has more rights than a human adult.<br />
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You think other people need God's rules to be moral, but you ignore them yourself.<br />
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You thank God for saving one life in a disaster that kills dozens or hundreds or thousands.<br />
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You think people need the threat of hell to be moral, and think that makes YOU more moral than us.<br />
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You accept evolution but still believe in the original sin of two people who categorically never existed.<br />
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You accept all the benefits and perks handed to you on a plate by modern science, but cry like a little bitch when it shows up the ridiculousness of your religious beliefs.<br />
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You tell us that God is beyond human comprehension, then give us a list of his pet hates and tell us in detail what'll happen to us if we disobey the rules.<br />
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...I'm certain there are many, many more - if I've missed any that bug you, please add them in the comments.<br />
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<i>(My thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulADennett" target="_blank">@PaulADennett</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Cull58" target="_blank">@Cull58</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/paulsellick" target="_blank">@paulsellick</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/adamwt1978" target="_blank">@adamwt1978</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/danielsilas" target="_blank">@danielsilas</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Dianora_1" target="_blank">@Dianora_1</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/590409" target="_blank">@590409</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/LolloJames" target="_blank">@LolloJames</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/DJCSouthport" target="_blank">@DJCSouthport</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/WCHamilton" target="_blank">@WCHamilton</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/yanquetino" target="_blank">@yanquetino</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Graham_Gowland" target="_blank">@Graham_Gowland</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/richardsweet" target="_blank">@richardsweet</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/billyrunaway" target="_blank">@billyrunaway</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hookstonecol" target="_blank">@hookstonecol</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MrMRM513" target="_blank">@MrMRM513</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/OgreMkV" target="_blank">@OgreMkV</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/BobPowellUK" target="_blank">@BobPowellUK</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/westhamfool" target="_blank">@westhamfool</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianBuchbinder" target="_blank">@BrianBuchbinder</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ZEN_racer" target="_blank">@ZEN_racer</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/LJ_Graey" target="_blank">@LJ_Graey</a>.)</i>SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-76414027651531022722013-02-26T05:48:00.003-08:002013-02-26T05:55:25.353-08:00The knotty problem of respectI've been thinking a lot lately about the issue of respect surrounding religious beliefs. I was slightly horrified at Christmas to learn that six members of my family - my parents, both brothers, an aunt and an uncle - all consider me to be showing gross disrespect for religious people when I call bullshit on their superstitions. One particularly jarring comment came from one of my brothers:<br />
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Brother: "You can't respect people if you don't respect their beliefs."<br />
Dad: "He's right, Lu."<br />
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To be clear, my parents and my brothers are also non-believers. I'm less certain about the aunt and uncle, but if they <i>do </i>hold religious beliefs of any kind I've never seen any indication of it.<br />
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This issue of respect is one that comes up again and again, and I find the attitudes of other non-believers on the matter absolutely baffling - far more incomprehensible than the anger I sometimes get from believers. As I see it, there are two main problems with this idea that non-believers should just shut up and let people believe whatever they like.<br />
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1: Typically it is not the non-believers making this case who suffer for the privileged place religion holds in the world. My brother is in no danger of being prevented from living as he chooses to live because of religion; other people - particularly women, gay people, and atheists unfortunate enough to live in religiously-dominated nations - face real dangers and suffer real abuses stemming directly from religion.<br />
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2: It is deeply condescending to religious people to adopt the view that while <i>we</i> know better, the superstitious masses need the comfort of religion. I find it slightly nauseating to be told that I should avoid challenging a mentally competent adult on their beliefs, as if they lack the wit to think logically or to withstand the emotional impact of a rational argument. And it only seems to go for religious beliefs; no one demands that I refrain from questioning political ideologies, philosophical opinions, ethical decisions (unless religiously motivated!) or anything else. I think it would be disrespectful - not to mention potentially dangerous - <i>not </i>to give my honest opinion on a person's beliefs. I would go so far as to say that in pretending to respect religious beliefs, non-believers show breathtaking<i> disrespect</i> to the intellect of the person holding them.<br />
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<i>This notion that even those of us who do not hold religious beliefs should nevertheless respect them may be the single most dangerous thing about religion.</i> It causes well-meaning liberal people living safely in secular nations to grant greater importance to the wounded sensibilities of a Muslim man than to the oppression, routine abuse, mutilation and murder suffered by millions of women at the hands of his faith. It places the unfounded beliefs of the religiously-motivated "pro-life" (more accurately, <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/conservatism-tradition-and-ownership-of.html" target="_blank">anti-choice</a>) lobby over the life of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20321741" target="_blank">Savita Halapannavar</a>, who died in Ireland after being denied a medically-necessary abortion because a religion to which she did not subscribe forbade it. It tells a religious parent that their wish to send their child to a "faith school" is more important than the child's right to have a decent education, and not to suffer psychological trauma in the form of horrific threats and unnecessary guilt over imaginary "sins".<br />
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If you make the argument that people like me ought to show "respect" to religious people by avoiding criticism of their beliefs, you are not only patronising and belittling religious people... you are also saying that one person's wish not to have his or her feelings hurt takes precedence over the rights of countless others to live their lives free of the threat or reality of violence, abuse, oppression and misery. That's about as un-liberal a principle as I can imagine.<br />
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My family and others living free of the rule of religious dogma are in a tremendously privileged position, unimaginable to millions of people worldwide who cannot safely speak out against the violations of their own rights. Not only do I have every <i>right </i>to challenge religious beliefs and practices - I think I have a <i>duty</i> to do so.<br />
<br />SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-48404760871444353732013-02-24T09:33:00.002-08:002013-02-24T11:45:08.541-08:00Always be suspicious of an opinion unbacked by evidence......especially when the opinion offered is attributed to an absent third party.<br />
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I'm a little late to address this, but I found out today that I was mentioned a while back on <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/01/uglies-v-pretties/" target="_blank">Ophelia Benson's blog</a>. I'm only a supporting act, quoted as having "agreed with" a Tweet by Jeremy Stangroom in which he speculated on the respective attractiveness of "chill girls" versus the more outspoken feminists who think chill girls are too relaxed about misogyny, or even misogynistic themselves.<br />
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Interestingly, Stangroom's original Tweet is quoted by Benson, but mine is not (granted she links to my Twitter profile, but given that I Tweet several times most days her readers would have had to click through pretty damn quickly to stand a chance of finding my offending Tweet).<br />
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<i>The most obvious explanation for this is that I did not in fact express the opinion she attributes to me. </i>Here's what I said:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4AELR7FqUzXmQ3L6E3Bh11daICZG9jgb4YBnn4h6ZXWtRwhcdATuZqt7DuqCVADY0zu6cQlq6I-mYFx8zPN2k-LBMOiaOmT36fsoWTm8-Idnh7zuoIkJmndKdwQ-yX5gU0TGvX1LDHA/s1600/StangroomTweet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4AELR7FqUzXmQ3L6E3Bh11daICZG9jgb4YBnn4h6ZXWtRwhcdATuZqt7DuqCVADY0zu6cQlq6I-mYFx8zPN2k-LBMOiaOmT36fsoWTm8-Idnh7zuoIkJmndKdwQ-yX5gU0TGvX1LDHA/s400/StangroomTweet.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now, leaving aside the technical impossibility of agreeing with a Tweet which was in fact expressing indecision between two or more possibilities (the "I wonder" at the start is a dead giveaway!), any reasonable observer will see that in fact all I said was that he was brave to speculate publicly on a such a taboo subject - I did not give an opinion on the matter either way.</div>
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I'm not going to give my own opinion on my looks or on anybody else's - beyond reflecting that unfounded generalisations and assumptions of the kind made in the comments about women Benson has labelled "pretties" would quite rightly be met with anger if they were aimed at women NOT considered "conventionally attractive" - because looks ought to be irrelevant to reasoned discussion. I'm not going to try to contend that "pretties" have it worse, or better, or equally bad, because I don't think a person's right to get pissed off about misogyny in our culture is affected by their appearance, or whether they personally happen to have experienced exactly a given species of sexism. Nor am I going to comment on the "Nine Ugliest Feminists in America" article Ophelia also quotes (nor will I link it), for the simple reason that it does not deserve anybody's attention.</div>
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What I <i>will </i>say is that I am disappointed by Benson, and even more so by her readers. Granted, Stangroom - not I - was the point of the piece, so it's entirely natural that the majority of the comments should focus on what he said and not with my alleged agreement with it. But in more than eighty comments at the time of writing, not a single person has thought to ask what the "pretty" being accused of holding a revolting opinion actually said, to ask for evidence that she holds the opinion attributed to her. No one thought it was strange that Benson directly quoted Stangroom, but did not directly quote me. <i>Seriously, nobody thought that was odd?</i></div>
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Given what the opinion I was falsely accused of holding was used to justify, that's pretty shocking. Skepticism fail, people.</div>
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<i>Update: I posted this link in the comments section of Benson's blog. She and I have since had a conversation on Twitter, and - after some resistance - she has accepted that my meaning in that Tweet to Stangroom was not what she interpreted it to be, and has said she will update her original piece. I'd like to thank her for discussing it with me, and I look forward to reading the promised amendment.</i></div>
SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-71167470513958714642012-12-11T07:56:00.002-08:002012-12-13T01:35:51.634-08:00Census results - one figure we shouldn't underestimateThe results of the <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_290685.pdf" target="_blank">2011 census</a> were published today, and some of the stats on religion are interesting.<br />
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Thanks to a poll commissioned by the Richard Dawkins Foundation (findings outlined <a href="http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/644941-rdfrs-uk-ipsos-mori-poll-1-how-religious-are-uk-christians" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/644942-rdfrs-uk-ipsos-mori-poll-2-uk-christians-oppose-special-influence-for-religion-in-public-policy" target="_blank">here</a>) we already knew that the number of people self-identifying as Christians was significantly down on the 2001 figure. This is encouraging, particularly on a day when supporters of the Church of England are standing up in the Commons to defend its right to define marriage for what it pleases to term our Christian nation.<br />
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But a figure that's new to me and by which I think we should be immensely encouraged is the percentage of people now identifying as having "no religion", which has risen to 25% from 15% in 2001.<br />
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Superficially, this looks a bit obvious. The figure for Christianity has gone down significantly while the figures for other religions that<i> have</i> risen have done so only slightly. So y'know - I mean, duh, where else could all those people have gone?<br />
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But there are two things worth noting here, as they have a bearing on the finding.<br />
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One; the religion question in the census is heavily loaded to give false positives. It is not "which, if any, of the following religions do you practice?" or even "which, if any, of the following religions do you identify with?". Instead, it's "what is your religion?", followed by a list of options. The options <i>do </i>include "no religion", that's true; but the way the question is phrased is shockingly leading and led the BHA to run <a href="http://census-campaign.org.uk/" target="_blank">this campaign</a> in the run up to the 2011 census. The fact that the "no religion" figure has risen so steeply is testament to the growing unwillingness among the British population to identify out of habit with the religions with which they were raised - and they've registered that opinion <i>in spite of </i>this heavily loaded question.<br />
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Two: the religion question in the census is a <i>voluntary question.</i> Nobody was obliged to answer it, as with all the other questions. Non-believers were completely free to just ignore the question completely, skip it if they didn't think it mattered or if they have no opinion on religion in policy.<br />
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But 25% of the population of England and Wales, as it turns out, are not religious...<i> and felt that position needed to be stated.</i><br />
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I was among them (of course). I'm not religious myself, but I can't ignore religion as I would like to because it affects too many things in my life and in the lives of others. I didn't skip the question thinking religion is irrelevant to me; I deliberately identified as non-religious, I stood up to be counted. So did <i>twenty-five percent </i>of the rest of the country. I can't say this often enough; <i>twenty-five percent</i>.<br />
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A <i>quarter </i>of the population of England and Wales are not only non-religious, but have voluntarily chosen to be identified and represented as such. That's HUGE. That's EPIC.<br />
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That's a start.<br />
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Our politicians need to get caught up. We know that even the majority of people who identify as Christian don't support a lot of what the Church of England and others want to do in their name, using their numbers to back its demands. And the number of people actively troubling to say they have no religion has risen from 15% to 25% in just ten years. That's a far bigger chunk of the population than is accounted for by any group except Christianity, but everybody's too busy panicking about offending religious sensibilities to have noticed us.<br />
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How big a group of voters must we non-believers show ourselves to be before our politicians start pandering for <i>our </i>approval? I don't know, but judging by the news coverage it's not enough yet. People ask me all the time why I'm so vocal against religion. This is part of the reason; non-religious people are now the second largest group in England and Wales, but nobody seeks our opinions or worries about offending us. This MUST change.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-49785308706059897712012-11-01T13:21:00.000-07:002012-11-01T13:21:01.978-07:00I love you guys...<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm not drunk. Well, maybe very slightly, but I love you all anyway.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This morning I asked a question on Twitter: "</span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17.981481552124023px;">Question for atheists; had you been born before we knew anything about reality (say 500 years ago) do you think you'd have been an atheist?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; line-height: 17.981481552124023px;">I've had a lot more answers than I was expecting, which is always lovely in itself, but what's made me really happy is how honest everyone was willing to be about the extent to which their ability to reason and reject religion has been a product of the time in which they're lucky enough to have been born, and the opportunities they've been lucky enough to receive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">The vast majority of people who answered said they think they'd have been theists or deists if they'd been born before we knew so much about the universe as we do now:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">I <i>love </i>this, beautiful tweeps - I don't think one could ask for a better rebuttal to the common claim that atheists are arrogant than the fact that so many of us are willing to state that we'd have been believers too had the fortune of our birth been different.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">Even the few people who were prepared to say they think they <i>would </i>have been atheists five hundred years ago were for the most part very hesitant about it; there was a lot of hedging going on:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">Again, this is great; even when giving the more controversial answer, everyone was completely happy to say that they were only conjecturing, that they couldn't be sure. Again, how far from arrogance could you get?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">For myself, I'm going with "not sure", too. If I had to place a bet on what my own beliefs would have been five hundred years ago, I think I'd have to go with deism. I'd realised conventional religions were rubbish by the age of eleven or twelve, before I knew any science to speak of, so I'd like to think I'd have got that far. Then again, ignorant as I was at that age I still knew that the earth went around the sun, that there had been dinosaurs, and that logic mattered... I don't really think it's possible to answer the question with any conviction.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">There was one tweet I got in reply to my question that echoed my own thoughts very accurately:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">THIS is the other reason all the answers I got to my question made me so happy. I agree with Adrian; the atheist movement has grown unimaginably even in my own lifetime. More and more people all over the world are rejecting religious superstition, and we're becoming more vocal and more recognised. This is what science and modern education allow; not everyone gets over their indoctrination, of course, but the point is that so many people now have the <i>opportunity </i>to do so. Information is freely available to so many of us, and for some people all it takes is an awareness that there is an alternative to religion to pique their interest and make them seek out that information.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">This is why I think we need to be sure we're heard. We don't need to be rude or cruel, but we need to be sure that everyone we can reach <i>knows </i>that there are people in the world who don't have religion at all, that non-belief IS an option and that there is a whole community of people waiting for them should they decide to make the leap.</span></span></div>
SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-39104069490624403632012-10-26T15:51:00.001-07:002012-10-28T10:08:22.645-07:00Failing at Feminism; A How-To Guide<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right, can we get something straight
here, do we think?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No one who insists that a woman should be
protected from unpleasant messages, from invitations to coffee, or
from criticism <i>because she is a woman </i>is
any kind of feminist. If you put your opinions out there in a public
forum, those opinions are subject to dissent and mockery –
ownership of a vagina doesn't change that. More shockingly, I
contend that <i>even</i>
people who own [hushed whisper] <i>penises</i>
are allowed to disagree with you. No, really. I know that sounds
radical.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rebecca
Watson has appeared in <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/10/sexism_in_the_skeptic_community_i_spoke_out_then_came_the_rape_threats.html" target="_blank">Slate</a> this week to bitch some more about how hard it is to be her – an
educated, white, middle-class American woman whose rights are
protected under law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She
claims she's been “grabbed and groped” at atheist conventions,
and if that's true then THAT – I completely acknowledge – is out
of order. But guess what? I get groped from time to time in bars
and clubs, and on trains too. Do I blame that on the clubbing
community? Do I blame it on commuters? Er, no – I blame it on the
people who grope me. I'm not sure how that's difficult to
understand. And no one's denying such people exist, by the way, even
among the atheist community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As for
the rest of Watson's claims, that she receives nasty emails and
tweets... well, so fucking what? I stated a few weeks ago in a <a href="http://skepchick.org/2012/09/misandry-a-how-to/" target="_blank">tweet</a> that I've never received abuse from other atheists. Since posting
THAT tweet, I have. And again – so fucking what? What sane reason
could I possibly have to think I can say something people won't like
in a public space and expect <i>not</i>
to get shit for it?! I've been getting sexist comments, sexually
graphic messages, even direct threats from religious people for
years. Do I blame the religious community for that? Again, no –
because the vast majority of religious people don't behave like that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
think the most galling part of that Slate article is the way Watson's
wedged Richard Dawkins in there. I've suspected for some time that
she's far more interested in creating a platform for herself than in
fighting any kind of social injustice – I mean, the only right she
seems to be interested in is her own right to piss and moan about how
tough she has it, and she doesn't seem to have noticed that nobody's
denying her that. I wish Dawkins hadn't sent that “Dear Muslima”
note, not because I think he's wrong but because his doing so has
given this shamelessly self-absorbed and deeply manipulative
pseudofeminist more exposure than her opinions ever deserved.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Incidentally,
she's given herself away dreadfully with her criticism of Dawkins'
“Dear Muslima” comment – I'm astonished she didn't realise it
before submitting her piece to Slate. She's slammed Dawkins for
telling her – legitimately - that Western women haven't got it as
bad as women in the Islamic world... ON THE SAME PAGE as telling us
about this incident:</i></span></div>
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<em><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">… <i>so
essentially, a message saying “you don't have it that bad, stop
moaning” is OK if it comes FROM her... but not if it comes from
someone else TO her. She's allowed to shrug off male circumcision on
the grounds that it's not so bad as female circumcision, but Richard
Dawkins isn't allowed to shrug off an invitation for coffee on the
grounds that it's not so bad as getting beaten.</i></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal;">Right
then.</span></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal;">(As
it happens, I agree with Watson that female circumcision is probably
more damaging most of the time than male circumcision – although
I'm sure plenty of people disagree with me and I'm quite happy to
discuss that. But I also agree with Dawkins that being beaten is
worse than being invited for coffee; if Watson wants her point about relative harm to be
valid, she has to at least consider the possibility that Dawkins'
precisely analogous point might be valid, too.)</span></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
sincerely hope Richard Dawkins will not be tempted to respond,
because Watson doesn't deserve his notice. She's not a sceptic and
she's certainly not a feminist; she's a self-serving, immature
individual who's worked out that throwing the word “misogyny”
around can get her exposure in – for example – Slate magazine
(for which, by the way, I am disappointed in Slate). The fact that
this tactic </span></span></em><em><span style="color: black;">works
</span></em><em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">is
far more of a comment on the community calling itself skeptical than
all her stories about nasty emails could ever be.</span></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
don't need the patronising protection of Watson and others of her
view, and I resent the implication that she speaks for me because I'm
a woman too. I am <i>not </i>a
weak, defenceless little creature hiding in the corner from all the
nasty men, and I don't need to be rescued and patted on the head by
<i>anybody, </i>not even
another woman. Seriously; I can look after myself, thank you.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So,
men; we all know how Watson thinks you're allowed to act, speak and
think. Basically, you're <i>not</i> allowed to – not if Watson is present. I happen
to think that's a little unreasonable, so here are some guidelines I
set out should you happen to care what I think (unlike Watson,
though, I don't make the <i>assumption</i> that you do):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1:
Say what you like to me. If you disagree with me, say so. If you
want to call me a cunt, go for it. I won't necessarily pay a blind
bit of attention to you if the latter is how you choose to approach
me, but I won't stop you doing it. Why would I? It's just a word,
and as someone opposed to blasphemy laws in all forms it'd be pretty
hypocritical for me to then turn around and say “but you have to be
polite to <i>me</i>”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2:
(This one goes for women too.) If you would like to ask me for
coffee - or even for sex - ask me. Really, it's fine. I'm quite
capable of saying “no” should I wish to. Being attracted to
someone is not a problem; in fact, some biologists and
anthropologists have advanced the opinion that it's normal and even
necessary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3:
Just think about it before you touch me. A touch on the arm or a
playful nudge probably won't bother me if we're getting on, but a
hand on my arse probably will (unless we're <i>really</i>
getting on). Use your common sense; read my body language, listen to
what I'm saying, put yourself in my place - and if you think physical
contact would be unwelcome don't make it. I'm not an alien, I'm just
a person. If that's too complicated, then wait to see if I touch you
first – fairly or not, being female means I don't have to worry so
much about making you feel intimidated (although I will, of course,
also refrain from touching <i>you </i>if
it seems likely to be unwelcome).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4:
The above said, don't touch my breasts or my crotch <i>however
</i>well you think we're getting on.
If I'm OK with <i>that </i>level
of physical contact, you'll know about it and we won't be at a damn
convention.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">5:
This is the most important one, really; <i>99% of you don't need to
worry about these guidelines</i>. You're fine. The vast majority of you
are <i>not </i>misogynistic
gropers and you already think of women as, y'know, real people. And
let's face it; the 1% of men who <i>do</i>
think it's OK to grope a woman without her permission basically have
no interest in how women would like them to behave, anyway. So carry
on as you are, and don't let yourself get suckered into thinking
women are feeble little things who'll be scared if you talk to them.
THAT is condescending and sexist, and THAT pisses off reasonable women.</span></b></div>
</div>
SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-77767834343446157942012-10-22T06:45:00.002-07:002012-10-22T06:45:32.187-07:00Atheism Plus; the Last RitesAtheism Plus, it seems, has <a href="http://skepticink.com/debunkingchristianity/2012/10/15/the-lessons-learned-from-the-demise-of-atheism/" target="_blank">passed away</a>. Many of us predicted it, although I think we're all pleasantly surprised by just how quickly reason has prevailed among the sceptic community.<br />
<br />
Many reputations have taken a hit with it; sorry PZ, you handed people a share of your influence for no better reason than that your fear of being thought a misogynist mattered more to you than whether they were actually worth listening to. Even if you HAD then actively disavowed the <a href="http://skepticink.com/avant-garde/2012/10/13/atheism-plus-we-are-atheists/" target="_blank">illogical and spiteful use</a> to which they put their new power you'd still have looked a fool - and you didn't do that, so you look a coward too. The name Richard Carrier has become short-hand for the kind of vitriolic with-us-or-against-us mentality that characterised fundamentalist APlusism from the beginning (whatever its sophisticated moderates might have tried to say later), and Jen McCreight has shown herself to be so <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/insight-into-atheism-plus-mentality-its.html" target="_blank">self-obsessed</a> as to feel no compassion for a homeless man and to think people should ask her permission to masturbate.<br />
<br />
Self-obsession, really, is the overwhelming impression Atheism Plus will leave with me. Well, self-obsession and a <i>devastating</i> want of introspection.<br />
<br />
I think the most <i>contemptible</i> thing about Atheism Plus, though, was the fact that it had two purposes; a superficially admirable ostensible goal, and an underhanded, dishonest and rather sinister ulterior motive. In the beginning, A+ was about helping marginalised people within the atheist/sceptic community to feel more included - many of us thought that laudable, as in fact I <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/time-to-weigh-in-on-atheism-plus.html" target="_blank">did myself</a> when I first read about it. It became clear pretty quickly, though, that its real purpose was to exclude white men above a certain age (unless they demonstrated total and unquestioning faith in the teachings of APlusism), shout about how tough it is to be an educated white middle-class American woman - and to shut us all up if we tried to ask questions or disagree with them.<br />
<br />
<i>In case my contempt is not clear on this point; the "feminists" behind Atheism Plus started out trying to tell us they were going to help gay and bi people, transsexual and transgender people, black people, Latino people and other groups underrepresented in the atheist movement. They used <b>that platform</b> to bitch about men trying to make conversation with them in public places. No one should be more pissed off with them than the people they co-opted, shamelessly exploited, and then ignored.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Once it had stopped pretending to care about gay people, black people and transgender people, Atheism Plus was supposed to be about helping women to feel safe in the atheist community. Not only did many of us feel perfectly safe already, but those of us who've had the temerity to point this out have rather amusingly <i>then </i>found ourselves experiencing abuse and anger from other members of the atheist community for the very first time. Devising a product then manufacturing the need is a time-honoured method in business - just look at mouthwash. But A+ don't seem to have grasped the idea terribly well; what they've done is try to sell us a mouthwash to cure dog-breath we don't have, then force-feed us garlic when we didn't want to buy it. <i>Then</i> wonder why we told them to get the fuck off our property.<br />
<br />
If I have one good thing to say about A+, though, it's that it's failed equally in both its goals. It took a while, but the sceptic community has now almost unanimously rejected the dogmatic tyranny of Atheism Plus. I think many of us wish the whole embarrassing melodrama had never happened - and I certainly sympathise with that position - but for my part I have to say I find myself reassured about the ability of the atheist movement to make the rational decision as a group.<br />
<br />
So Atheism Plus has left me with a pretty bad taste in my mouth. It was petty, small-minded, vicious, dogmatic, hypocritical, exclusionary, dishonest, irrational, selfish, uncaring and deeply, deeply sexist. We shall not miss it, but we are wiser for having known it.<br />
<br />SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-20271385340272188922012-10-12T05:25:00.004-07:002012-10-12T05:29:05.890-07:00Why religious moderates should be THANKING us.I just had a conversation with a woman on Twitter who professes to hate religion but is a self-identifying Christian. Yah, that just happened.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I had a look at her page trying to work out where she was coming from, and saw this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdV4yMkGAT_JnKqdckxY_mXlY6myWE_7GdIJvWYxrJAzukQqBD7jpnxldLdzgEIdlDsXCzHEMwqxg8ljUODdqDnMUX3ZkKdu4N9_0y0_L2IA5lwjWdwvkvM4ezDw0axW_o629OUPtc3A/s1600/Idiot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdV4yMkGAT_JnKqdckxY_mXlY6myWE_7GdIJvWYxrJAzukQqBD7jpnxldLdzgEIdlDsXCzHEMwqxg8ljUODdqDnMUX3ZkKdu4N9_0y0_L2IA5lwjWdwvkvM4ezDw0axW_o629OUPtc3A/s400/Idiot.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
...and realised that all of us in the atheist, secular, humanist, rationalist movement have been missing something we should be pissed about, and that we should be using in our PR.<br />
<br />
<i>Moderate religious people like this woman should be GRATEFUL to us.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
When we atheists fight for the rights of women to control our own reproduction, our doing so benefits not only ourselves but religious women too. When we stand up and tell religious lunatics that they <i>don't </i>have the right to stop gay people marrying, we help <i>religious</i> gay people too. When we campaign to keep creationist drivel out of schools, it is not only <i>our </i>children who benefit from a decent science education but everybody else's children too. When we battle superstitious restrictions on scientific research, that research helps everybody, not just atheists.<br />
<br />
We of the "New Atheist" movement take shit from all directions, from religious leaders, from politicians, from faith-heads, even from other non-believers. And most of the time that's fine, we're happy to deal with it because we care about creating a more secular and less superstitious world.<br />
<br />
But when "moderate" religious person with no idea of how much they owe to us turns around and demands to know why we care so much about religion when we don't believe in God/s, or even <i>mocks </i>us for caring - that pisses me off. <i>Do you have ANY IDEA what our society would be like without secularists to fight your battles for you?!</i> The woman who posted the above tweets is a single mother, a woman who has received an education, who has a say in how her country is governed, who has the right to work, and who is considered an equal member of our society.<br />
<br />
<i>Do you think she would be allowed to be or to have or to do ANY of those things if christianity were allowed to govern unopposed?!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
If you are a religious person who is in favour of equality and freedom, you are in a difficult position. Your values are being opposed by people who share your faith and in fact <i>use</i> that faith to oppose those values; this means you don't really have a leg to stand on if you want to tell them they're wrong, since you believe the same stuff they do. We atheists do not have that problem; we're free to tell them their beliefs are utter rubbish without being hypocrites.<br />
<br />
We atheists, secularists and rationalists fight a <i>lot </i>of your battles for you, religious moderates, and for the most part we're happy to do so. Just maybe try not to be totally ungrateful when you're enjoying equalities, justices and freedoms that have been hard-won by other people in the face of the religion you're telling us we shouldn't care about.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-21714885448901219102012-10-12T03:41:00.003-07:002012-10-12T03:47:41.650-07:00Insight into the Atheism Plus mentality; "It's all about MEEEE!"I should make it completely clear right now that this post is not directly related to Atheism Plus. However, like many others I've been trying to get my head around the mentality of a sect that conflates disagreement with abuse and has given the world "Shroedinger's Rapist", so an insight into the thought processes of the woman who came up with the whole idea seems less than totally irrelevant.<br />
<br />
A couple of days ago, McCreight tweeted the following:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQFZOTPGiMcwIRo-yv6n8061GI-ue084vVYTvcOLOSdle1YM3yPM0sdNT7bebv3DRQpDj3tao3Q4Y5Fu2rw4HkfKZzS7IiJ7-9fKSUecAwlwsxfRPBHmw6gzeTkR0xk9Dj7bd-enwYr4/s1600/JMcC1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQFZOTPGiMcwIRo-yv6n8061GI-ue084vVYTvcOLOSdle1YM3yPM0sdNT7bebv3DRQpDj3tao3Q4Y5Fu2rw4HkfKZzS7IiJ7-9fKSUecAwlwsxfRPBHmw6gzeTkR0xk9Dj7bd-enwYr4/s400/JMcC1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Any of us who've had the joy of being poked in the back by some random's boner on the London Underground can probably sympathise.</div>
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However, I confess my interest was piqued by a follow-up tweet:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJz66JLpcM5YXKNvGEiyFg_lnDnM9oj7_NM9iWO_vuflUsdXNOifDmJB_2lFgUR_EGkIGT7lFOVW-OI0F8vzi3VlEsZPjOmoR2vx8i2n7rxzXNVOSJQZcU_79zUkojjJxvHzjioAerzzI/s1600/JMcC2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJz66JLpcM5YXKNvGEiyFg_lnDnM9oj7_NM9iWO_vuflUsdXNOifDmJB_2lFgUR_EGkIGT7lFOVW-OI0F8vzi3VlEsZPjOmoR2vx8i2n7rxzXNVOSJQZcU_79zUkojjJxvHzjioAerzzI/s400/JMcC2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now, McCreight's Twitter settings prevent me from expanding her tweets to see the responses she's getting, so I can't actually tell you exactly what was said to provoke this response. However, it struck me as such a strange and hyperbolic thing to say - given that based on the original tweet all that had actually happened was that she walked past him while he was engaged in masturbation - that I replied and this conversation happened:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYwzonBjAn4Qto1WW2zICRJl9Avb3iKRMfzgUx5GTzLXCTBrTOlEmWeQ4oIySI65smx3_gPNdHhtwMMZI7KBFs1LrcDDyqfQ97lek0gtBzXV2afW_QHHmAUML-iTVIoyE2DI2zJR1yug/s1600/LW1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYwzonBjAn4Qto1WW2zICRJl9Avb3iKRMfzgUx5GTzLXCTBrTOlEmWeQ4oIySI65smx3_gPNdHhtwMMZI7KBFs1LrcDDyqfQ97lek0gtBzXV2afW_QHHmAUML-iTVIoyE2DI2zJR1yug/s400/LW1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xJPLqxkUwbwKSb13iXh8l4-ytwsRsS2bCrBtaARBRJrvRMZCrh6DmJ7Wy7cpXSAOAG_S0CyP1YM9jhPOfO5Cnqgl_r6YI9dvVacEnTpuz8eTqL796dnn9r9WVigyCep3tAW5wbfjUaw/s1600/JMcC5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xJPLqxkUwbwKSb13iXh8l4-ytwsRsS2bCrBtaARBRJrvRMZCrh6DmJ7Wy7cpXSAOAG_S0CyP1YM9jhPOfO5Cnqgl_r6YI9dvVacEnTpuz8eTqL796dnn9r9WVigyCep3tAW5wbfjUaw/s400/JMcC5.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdWuZNqVvWXBor-VpatrT-_G8GbAots-PnsBwTzSMclDf4NB6sljIPgPMhItwZU5zgw-g8CI_NF6nQqHsXbWJ-tUdEM37ZNN2V2N1JD44e7_K1EuWG4Drjonc7e1YferHcQehOHsgsZ0U/s1600/LW2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdWuZNqVvWXBor-VpatrT-_G8GbAots-PnsBwTzSMclDf4NB6sljIPgPMhItwZU5zgw-g8CI_NF6nQqHsXbWJ-tUdEM37ZNN2V2N1JD44e7_K1EuWG4Drjonc7e1YferHcQehOHsgsZ0U/s400/LW2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQ07nr0-KLTvVsAdxM0F8gTgtxZegVaY2eJGKLFZoSg8FstLeo6fgVUBckTtWtZWWPQJwxPWv9Ide_oUfkzxLLrAsqsSKFt1zkeO60FY2VOiGLmYU3LdbJMh7GBV807nieAKj9eJ64Zk/s1600/JMcC4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQ07nr0-KLTvVsAdxM0F8gTgtxZegVaY2eJGKLFZoSg8FstLeo6fgVUBckTtWtZWWPQJwxPWv9Ide_oUfkzxLLrAsqsSKFt1zkeO60FY2VOiGLmYU3LdbJMh7GBV807nieAKj9eJ64Zk/s400/JMcC4.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwrWiu9hi4bN791CKkIU1AOSCp7sUaDu4SylPuUZIvCvrlJ2KjX00lLjBDT-2kVHYCbM8ekxeV5QyJJzUPo3-i6gGPzhIsOjmE1WIsBjLNcRTrO09wX61WOwMDIxrfUATGZ3Uh1OlTbQ/s1600/LW3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="63" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwrWiu9hi4bN791CKkIU1AOSCp7sUaDu4SylPuUZIvCvrlJ2KjX00lLjBDT-2kVHYCbM8ekxeV5QyJJzUPo3-i6gGPzhIsOjmE1WIsBjLNcRTrO09wX61WOwMDIxrfUATGZ3Uh1OlTbQ/s400/LW3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I never received a reply to my last question.</div>
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I'll happily admit that at this point I didn't really know where I stood on what McCreight says she experienced. On the one hand, yes it's a bit grim to unexpectedly see someone masturbating on your walk to work - and of course what the homeless man was doing was illegal. On the other hand, I couldn't work out why McCreight seemed to have taken it as such a personal attack on her rights, as in her own words all that had happened was that she'd seen him masturbating while she was "walking by".</div>
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The other thing that bothered me was the total lack of concern for the homeless man himself. Here we have a person who is already living on the streets - with all that that suggests about the chances of his having mental illness and/or drug addictions - and who is now so far removed from the societal inhibitions that usually govern our public behaviour that he is <i>masturbating openly in a public place</i>. There is a REASON that most people don't do that.</div>
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I totally acknowledge that had I been in McCreight's place there probably WOULD have been a moment of "ew, gross" when I saw this homeless man and registered what he was doing. I'd also probably have got the hell out of there in a hurry. But I'd like to think of myself that once the initial shock had subsided I'd have felt at least a <i>little </i>concern for this man, for his safety and well-being. If I witnessed a homeless person shrieking in conversation with himself at the top of his voice, or engaging in self-harm, or doing anything else that most mentally-healthy people do not do in public, I would have felt uncomfortable and probably scared... but I would also have felt compassion.</div>
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<i>Why does this not apply because the particular eccentric behaviour this man was displaying happened to be sexual in nature?</i></div>
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Then I saw this tweet:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuKP3WI_e7TNDPJ5XJcp5Z9CDBDxTuVkM5UWgi8xIKmPJ07jzrCXb2g04yHulLSay_aF-v2EbcY5xI5T-KhhYZ-qczfhbkyyVGuy1qHKlN6_T67_x1irBr4oW7Ffksd9MDNgZCQ4SUUo/s1600/JMcC3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuKP3WI_e7TNDPJ5XJcp5Z9CDBDxTuVkM5UWgi8xIKmPJ07jzrCXb2g04yHulLSay_aF-v2EbcY5xI5T-KhhYZ-qczfhbkyyVGuy1qHKlN6_T67_x1irBr4oW7Ffksd9MDNgZCQ4SUUo/s400/JMcC3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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...and suddenly I got it. The reason McCreight expressed no sympathy or concern for the homeless man is that, in her world, <i>everything anyone does within the scope of her perception is about her</i>.<span id="goog_272798093"></span></div>
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Seriously, is there any other conclusion we can draw from this? Never mind <i>everything else</i> that ought to strike us as strange and concerning about what the homeless man was doing; the point so far as McCreight was concerned is that he didn't ask her permission to do it (never mind the question of how he was supposed to know or care who the hell she was OR that she was going to walk past).</div>
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Apparently I wasn't the only one struck by the total lack of empathy McCreight showed for this man, because shortly after the above she tweeted this:</div>
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When I first saw this one I sincerely thought - hoped! - it was a joke, but I'm forced to the conclusion that she was serious; another example of quite <i>epic </i>self-centredness. Never mind the details of what anybody said, never mind the validity of their points about her total want of compassion (which, you will notice, are not actually refuted in that tweet); the people expressing concern for the homeless man's well-being are uncaring, insincere haters just looking for an excuse to get at McCreight.</div>
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Quite apart from all else that's breath-takingly irrational and presumptuous in that statement, who exactly is promoting a "Male-Sexuality-Trumps-Everything agenda"? What IS a "Male-Sexuality-Trumps-Everything agenda"? If we take the words at face value, what McCreight is saying here is that anyone who feels concern for homeless people or those with mental illness thinks rape is acceptable. That's jingoism worthy of Richard Carrier, it's hilarious.</div>
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The attitudes of people in the Atheism Plus movement have puzzled me for some time; as I have commented elsewhere, I am neither vain nor self-loathing enough to assume that the only interest a man could feel for me is sexual, for example. Neither am I sufficiently scared of men that I feel the need to consider them all misogynists - and, these days, potential <i>rapists </i>- until they prove otherwise (if such a thing were actually possible) by my very specific criteria. Nor do I understand a mentality that by default brands all dissent and disagreement (and even questions!) as abuse from either misogynists or sister-punishers. Most of all, I don't understand how a group that was supposedly set up to support marginalised groups in the atheist "movement" can produce little more than self-righteous whinging from wealthy, educated, middle-class white women living in democracies about how no one understands how hard it is to be them.</div>
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Next time you visit the A+ website, keep the words "it's all about meeeee!" in mind. You'll probably find it's all a lot more comprehensible... although if anything even <i>less </i>palatable.</div>
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<i>Edit: I am told that some people on Twitter have been mocking Jen McCreight for having said that she is experiencing depression. Not cool, people. You don't make a joke of mental illness, and you don't get to tell her she's lacking in compassion if you then behave like that. Out of order.</i></div>
SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-85475604826843779472012-10-07T05:27:00.000-07:002012-10-07T05:27:18.318-07:00Why Jeremy Hunt scares the life out of me.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I write this with a
feeling of utter disbelief that I should feel the need to do so. In the
UK, in the year 2012, we are apparently to be dragged back into a fight most of
us thought long won - the battle for the rights of women to make our own moral choices.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A few days ago, new
Women's Minister Maria Miller stated that the time limit on abortion should be
lowered; you can read about that </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19815095" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.
That's right; we have a Minister for Women who wants to limit the
reproductive rights of women - her actions, I am delighted to say, resulted in
the hashtag #MariaMillerDoesNotSpeakForMe trending on Twitter. However,
Cameron's appointment of an anti-women Women's Minister has been somewhat
eclipsed - a remarkable feat in itself - by his appointment of Jeremy Hunt as
Health Secretary.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jeremy Hunt. You
know, Rupert Murdoch's BFF. The one with the creative tax returns. Thinks serious diseases can be treated with
drops of magic water. No education in science or in medicine – you know
the one I mean.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And Hunt's wasted no time
getting scary; today we learned that based on no evidence whatsoever and
against the consensus of the medical profession, he wants to lower the time
limit for abortion in the UK to twelve weeks. Why? Well according
to this Guardian </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/06/jeremy-hunt-12-week-abortion-limit" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">article</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">,
it's because "[t]<span style="background: white;">here's an incredibly
difficult question about the moment we should deem life to start. I'm not
someone who thinks that abortion should be made illegal. Everyone looks at the
evidence and comes to a view about when that moment is and my own view is that
12 weeks is the right point for it."</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Let's
just be clear about something here; this man, who has no medical training at
all and quite openly has no value for evidence-based practice, not only
believes his subjective opinion should outweigh the consensus of the scientific
community in matters of policy BUT DOES NOT EVEN POSSESS THE WIT TO UNDERSTAND
WHY HE SHOULDN'T ADMIT TO BELIEVING THAT</span></i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. <i>And
this man is responsible for our healthcare.</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This is terrifying.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I've blogged </span><a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/conservatism-tradition-and-ownership-of.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">before</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> about
the bizarre notion that women's bodies should be considered somehow public or
even government property; the short version is that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>you<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>don't have the right to stop me
making a certain decision about my life just because it's not the same decision
you believe<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>you<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>would make in my place. The time limit on abortion IS a moral grey
area, as Hunt himself admits and as I'm happy to concede; in truth I’m somewhat ambivalent about later-term abortions because there’s
so much that must be taken into account. But
the salient point here is that my opinion on whether other people should have abortions later in pregnancy <i>doesn’t
matter; </i>even if I HAD a strong conviction on the subject, it would not be <i>my place </i>to inflict my personal opinion
on others and put women's lives at risk by making it illegal to disagree with me. Neither, I contend, is it
Jeremy Hunt’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He’s attempting to render
a grey area black-and-white by making it illegal to disagree with his own
entirely arbitrary opinion, and he doesn’t seem even to realize why that’s at
once logically ludicrous, morally revolting AND terrifying. I’m sick of saying that pro-choice doesn’t
mean pro-abortion; being pro-choice simply means being willing to let people
make these difficult moral decisions for themselves, not treating grown women
as if they’re goddamn children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Abortion itself is almost
a secondary issue here (keep your eye on it, though, because having Hunt
publicly shoot for twelve weeks would be a great way to make the people aiming
at twenty weeks sound reasonable - exactly analogous to the point I was making
in the <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/conservatism-tradition-and-ownership-of.html" target="_blank">Akin article</a> linked above); the scary thing about this, really, is that
Hunt is now responsible for decisions on medical matters for the entire country... and it
already horrifyingly clear that he has no value for logic or for evidence-based
reasoning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It’s been said many times
in recent years that we now live in a world in which all opinions are
considered inherently valid on their own merits. This has led, among much else, to homeopathy
being funded by our already-stretched NHS, to religious leaders being consulted
on matters of public policy, and to people with no scientific education
whatever being convinced that their uninformed belief in creationism puts them
on an equal platform in debate to real scientists and scholars. To quote Asimov, too many of us now labour
under the foolish and dangerous misapprehension that “my ignorance is just as
good as your knowledge”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The appointment of someone
like Hunt to such a position as that he now holds is a terrible comment on the
anti-intellectual and politically cowardly illogic that pervades our society
and shows itself in every parent who elects not to vaccinate, every believer who
contends that <i>their </i>fatuous notions
should govern the lives of others, and every vicious charlatan who takes people’s
money in exchange for “psychic” readings, cleansing of auras or quack
medicines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If people want to run their
own lives according to idiotic ideas I can’t stop them, but Hunt and others
like him can fuck right off if they think for a moment that they’re going to abuse their power to
inflict such rubbish on the rest of us.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-30084443218564638262012-09-26T07:27:00.002-07:002012-09-26T07:40:13.670-07:00Told you a rant was coming...<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's something I don't understand; why a couple made up of two men or two women is always described as a "gay" couple or a "lesbian" couple, instead of just being called a fucking couple.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know if there's any reason for this or if it's one of those random fluctuations that sometimes just happen, but the last few days my Twitter feed seems to have been overrun with nasty comments about GLBT rights and marriage equality. I thought about screencapping, but decided on balance that was probably a bit of a bullying move; this is a direct quote from one that particularly annoyed me, though:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"<span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 17.981481552124023px;">I just seen a Levi commercial that showed 2 gay guys getting married & kissing. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG W/ THIS WORLD?"</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shit like this pisses me. The fuck. Off.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You know what? Gay guys are just people. Gay gals are just people. Bisexual people are just people. Asexual people are just people. Transgender people are just people. Transsexual people are just people. Cisgender people are just people. Straight people are just people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what did this complete bellend <i>actually </i>see? An advert showing two people kissing and getting married. Big fucking whoop. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are all. Just. Fucking. People.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How the hell anyone can think they have some sort of right to get all righteously offended by the idea that someone else might enjoy sexual activities they personally don't enjoy, or with partners they personally might not choose, is quite literally beyond my powers of comprehension. Who the fuck do these people think they are?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And more than that, how the fuck're they deciding which aspects of everyone else's sex lives they're entitled to object to anyway?! Of <i>all the criteria </i>by which I choose my sexual partners, why is the type of genitalia they happen to possess the important one? What if the person I choose is the "correct" gender according to your random arbitrary opinion but you don't approve of our relationship for some other reason, am I allowed to ignore you <i>then</i>?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who told you your opinion on my sex life is worth a damn anyway?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you wouldn't consider it your place to legally prevent a person from marrying another person because they were of the "wrong" race, social class, nationality, religion, age, personality type, intelligence, educational level, sense of humour, political ideology, height, weight, size, shape or motherfucking <i>shoe size</i>... why the <i>fuck </i>do you think you get to tell them they can't get married on account of their chosen partner's gender or sex?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYQvLafIEl2MJwJ_Ar9Q1cwbCpgTTrP3SemcGCf-LGv5mQCYIbmnkJCMi3fbc3TZUU7yi7jNIovpeF9wttKy52y_GULqri2Ds0VylInUBIsm0FfeVrYqN-Tg_eP-3aoDER9PyIVo0XQk/s1600/Stupid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYQvLafIEl2MJwJ_Ar9Q1cwbCpgTTrP3SemcGCf-LGv5mQCYIbmnkJCMi3fbc3TZUU7yi7jNIovpeF9wttKy52y_GULqri2Ds0VylInUBIsm0FfeVrYqN-Tg_eP-3aoDER9PyIVo0XQk/s640/Stupid.jpg" width="331" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Why the holy hell is THAT the point at which you step in and say "oh now, wait a minute here, I have some sort of trivial pissant half-baked and completely uninvited opinion on this particular aspect of a choice you're making that in no way affects my life, so you'd just better stop that"?! </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And why when you <i>do</i> that do you think we're magically obliged to care what you think?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If YOU are uncomfortable with the idea of people of the same sex fucking, or if YOU have a problem with transgender people or transsexual people, it is YOUR goddamn problem, not anybody else's. You don't want to marry someone of your own sex? Don't marry someone of your own sex. You don't want to fuck someone of your own sex? Don't do that either, it makes fuck all difference to any of the rest of us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's kind of the point, really, isn't it? As long as you're not harming anybody, your sex life and sexual preferences matter not two shits to any of us; why do other people's matter to you? And why do you think the fact that you <i>have</i> some arbitrary opinion obliges the rest of us to listen to it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get back in your <i>fucking</i> box.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd202Q8foJkUokLKvE9pUW49jSCHYnEWoknM5JhhxhXnrRxR7eVUi-iCwA411x8ybnDSbPeN22HM6dz1ghKcmhKaUwYNfoj5k7ghIZoOoBKfwVTVGk74a0sFciJaG91KhnV7VBsyrEdM/s1600/Love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd202Q8foJkUokLKvE9pUW49jSCHYnEWoknM5JhhxhXnrRxR7eVUi-iCwA411x8ybnDSbPeN22HM6dz1ghKcmhKaUwYNfoj5k7ghIZoOoBKfwVTVGk74a0sFciJaG91KhnV7VBsyrEdM/s400/Love.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-92015166829001210732012-09-24T07:44:00.000-07:002012-09-25T08:33:34.679-07:00A reminder from a courageous man that some of us really do have it easy.<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of weeks ago I met a man on Twitter who is an ex-Muslim atheist living in Saudi Arabia. He and I have talked a little, and at the end of last week I asked him if he'd be willing to write about his experiences for this blog; he very kindly obliged.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
I am not going to give my new friend's name, because atheists in Saudi Arabia can find themselves in genuine, mortal danger if they are discovered to be apostates. I find parts of his account heartbreaking, and others hopeful and inspiring; as with <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/an-personal-account-from-exceptionally.html" target="_blank">Bethany's story</a> from the other week, though, I was struck by the similarity between my friend's experiences and those of so many others I've spoken to. It's a strange and in some ways a very moving reflection that however different our cultures and backgrounds may be, we atheists are often so similar in how we think and how we came to reject our indoctrination.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
My scepticism and outspokenness are so much parts of me that I struggle even to imagine what it must be like to be required to suppress them for my own safety. I am glad to have met my new friend, and honoured that he consented to write this for me. It's a reminder to us in Europe and other places of just how lucky we are to live where we do, and of some of the reasons the fight against religion really is important despite what many of our detractors try to tell us. But this also fills me with tremendous hope for the future; through modern technology, we are able to speak to people, share experiences and support each other from distances of thousands of miles. I believe this new ability may in time bring about the start of an enlightenment in parts of the world where religion currently dominates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
My friend submits this with apologies for his English; I will say, though, that those apologies are entirely unnecessary as his own words needed only the most minor of tweaks from me. I would like to thank him most sincerely for sharing this with me, and for allowing me to share it with you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"The story of how I became an atheist.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Before you
read this I have to say there will be a lot of grammatical mistakes. I am sorry
for that; I will try my best. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I am a guy
who was born 16 years ago to a Muslim family in Palestine Like every child who was born in a Muslim
family I was raised to think that Islam is the one true religion and every
other one is false. My parents wanted me
to become a Hafiz (a person who has memorized the whole of the Quran), so I
became one at the age of 12 and got the second place in a competition in my
city. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>As a child I
always had questions about Islam, like why Christians are going to hell even
though they believe in God and pray; the answer was that they are just wrong and
Islam is right because the Quran says so. When I got a little older I became
interested in science (physics and biology mostly); I was still memorizing the
Quran so this created huge conflict in me, but I stilled believed in God and
thought it was a test to my faith.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>When I
turned 14 my father died and my family and I moved to Saudi Arabia (my mom
works here as a XXXXX). I joined the
school and found that we have 5 subjects about religion (they are mandatory);
we have to pray in school; and my sisters have to go to school wearing burqa,
even though none of them are over 13. I also have a little brother.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I started
criticizing Saudi Arabia (in my mind of course, not in public) because they are
extremists even though that I knew my religion promotes that, so I became an
agnostic for quite a while. Then I got
to a point where I said to myself that this religion doesn’t make any sense and
neither does any other; the idea of God, heaven, hell… etc. are absurd, and all
the fairy tales that were put into my mind when I was child also don’t make any
sense to me. That was the point when I
became an atheist.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A few months
ago I decided to tell my 4 best friends in Palestine about this. We talked on
Skype. The first one took it well and said you have the right to believe whatever
you want; we didn’t argue about it. The second and third friends are brothers;
when I told them they were a little bit shocked but also said you can believe
whatever you want and that my atheism wasn’t
so big a deal as to end a friendship. The fourth friend was my best best friend; we were friends for
more than 11 years. When I told him he
argued with me about a lot of things and got really angry; we argued for about
2 hours on Skype, and in the end he told me “man I can’t talk to you anymore.
It’s nothing personal, but my religion says so”. Just like that an 11 year friendship was ended; I got a little emotional and maybe cried a little, but I
got over it.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A few days
after that I decided to tell my mother since I felt such a release when I told
my friends. I told her in private about
my honest opinions; she was very shocked (as I had expected). She told me that
I am wrong and Islam is the one true religion and all that stuff; I didn’t want
to argue because I felt her pain in thinking that her son will be tortured in
hell or could get killed in this country.
In the end I told her that I was not really an atheist but that I had a
lot of questions about a lot of things. She said that’s OK, that it was just a
phase and that God wanted to test my faith. We’ve barely spoken on the subject
again; just a few times she’s told me to watch some lectures by “Muslim
scholars”, and to pray. Now I pretend to pray and to believe in Islam, as a lot of ex-Muslims do.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3003200974688946575" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>So now I
never open a conversation about religion. I don’t want any of my Saudi friends
to know that I am an atheist, because if the government heard about it I would
be killed for apostasy. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<i style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was the story of how I became an
atheist, and some of my experiences. Thank you for reading."</span></i><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Update: On the advice of a few people, I have edited out a couple of personal details from the above account. Their loss does not affect the point or the tone of what is being said.</span></span></div>
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SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-78611161813220971532012-09-20T13:13:00.002-07:002012-10-12T03:59:59.277-07:00Why do I do this?I had lunch today with a customer (yes, I have a job, just one aspect of the actual life I have beyond arguing about religion and geeking it up on science!) who added me on facebook a while back. I'd forgotten he could see what I talk about on there - or talked about, anyway, I don't really bother with FB any more - and he asked me why I take time I could be using profitably to talk about religion, why I have such a problem with it.<br />
<br />
It's a question I get asked all the time; even my family don't understand in the slightest why I do this, so I thought I'd have a crack at answering it. I can only give <i>my </i>reasons, of course (and the list will not be exhaustive, by the way, I'd have to write a textbook for that); nobody speaks for all atheists or all antitheists and in fact I know many of both who would probably disagree with much of what I'm about to say.<br />
<br />
There's a lot contained within the following which I'll go into in a moment, but for me the issue with religion can be summarised in one sentence:<br />
<br />
<i>Religion wants to tell us all - even those of us who don't believe it - how to live; it demands a say in decisions and policies that affect all our lives, and it does so without offering so much as a single shred of evidence that any of what it tries to dictate is based in reality.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
One of many things I wish I could make believers understand is just <i>how much </i>you start to notice the influence religion has on all our lives once you stop believing in it yourself. In fact, there's an idea; if you're reading this and you're a religious person, I have a challenge for you. Watch the news on TV this evening, and just try to reflect honestly on how much of what you see can be directly linked with religious belief. I think you'll be surprised, and it might help you to understand how it can feel to be an outsider to the whole thing.<br />
<br />
I'm lucky enough to live in the UK, which is relatively progressive (although we still lag behind other parts of Europe in some respects). Yet even here, I am part of a society in which being gay or bisexual is still considered worthy of note, and where doing nothing more objectionable than satisfying sexual desire can still make a woman the subject of mockery, suspicion, contempt, even outright hatred. Sex - when it occurs outside the traditional one-man-one-woman, pair-bonded-and-monogamous-forever paradigm - is still regarded by many as a dirty, shameful thing to do. Do we really think this is unconnected with the concept of "sin" as promulgated by the Church of England for centuries and by the Catholic church before that?<br />
<br />
We still live in a society, too, in which religion is accorded respect it simply does not deserve. I disagree with many religious values on moral grounds, but because I am an atheist - as opposed to a member of another religion or of the same religion but a differing opinion - I am often expected to keep my mouth shut out of "respect". I recently had an argument online with a believer about the right-to-die laws in the UK when they were shown up for the antiquated, wantonly cruel laws they are by the Tony Nicklinson appeal case (outlined <a href="http://musingsbysoggymog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/tony-nicklinson-takes-control-he-was.html" target="_blank">here</a>); I think the laws need to be changed, he maintained that they're OK as they are - and his reasoning for this came from his religion. It is <i>not possible </i>to have a discussion about an ethical issue with someone whose ethics are based on religion <i>if you cannot criticise or question that religion</i>. And that means its very fundamentals, too, not just whatever verse the person happens to have pulled out of their arse this time. After all, what Jahweh says about assisted suicide doesn't matter two shits if Jahweh cannot be proven to be any more real than Severus Snape (although personally, I'd prefer to live in a universe run by the latter than by the former). It is utter nonsense - madness - <i>lunacy </i>- to accept "I believe deity X exists, therefore everybody else must take into account what I say s/he thinks about Y" as if it were a reasonable premise, yet we all do it all the time.<br />
<br />
But I'm very lucky to live in the UK; there are infinitely worse places to live, and it's no coincidence that - with the still baffling exception of the USA, where people with no idea how lucky they are seem determined to think the laws and mores of places like Somalia something to aspire to - an increase in religiosity is strongly correlated with a decline in human rights, freedoms and quality of life (see this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Religion_in_the_world.PNG" target="_blank">map</a> for a simple outline). Many of the poorest, most deprived, most oppressive and most dangerous places to live on our planet are also the most religious, and when one considers what follows when religion is allowed to become powerful this is not surprising. So I could bitch about being called a slapper for wearing a tight top or about being hit on at a conference or about being met with hostility when I speak my mind on certain subjects - but the fact is that I'm exceptionally lucky. There are places in the world where I could be killed for some of the things I say and do and think - and the laws that would allow that are almost all religiously based.<br />
<br />
My right to free expression is protected under law in the UK, but that's not the case everywhere by a long shot - and again, it's often religion that prevents this. People have died <i>this week</i> because of something someone said about a deranged paedophile who lived 1,400 years ago. This is <i>not OK</i>, and to try to argue that we should tolerate or even <i>respect</i> it because it's part of "a different culture" is sickening and utterly cowardly. All that does is label the people who do the killing irretrievable savages and their victims not worth so much as an admonition.<br />
<br />
This is not the time to get into the reasons all religions are factually ludicrous; if you're not clear on that, consider how logical you find a religion other than your own and then just try to accept the fact that yours is no different from the outside. Even deism is no better than a grandly illogical god-of-the-gaps argument, and to then take that fallacious premise and progress with it to try and tell us all what the deity thinks of our sex lives or our diets is just insane. Suffice it to say, if belief in the doctrine of any one religion were as reasonable and based on evidence as proponents like to pretend, we would not have thousands of conflicting religions and an ever-growing number of people with no religion at all.<br />
<br />
Religion affects me and the people I love by throwing up barriers to birth control, to abortion, to dignity in death, to medical research, to equality, to gay marriage, to free expression, to open politics, to reasoned debate, to scientific advancement and to education. People all over the globe are murdered, tortured, abused, enslaved, mutilated, oppressed, threatened, violated, debased, even starved and allowed to contract lethal but preventable diseases... all in the name of religious beliefs. And to really hammer the point home - religion does <i>all this</i>, and yet never, in the entire course of human history, have we seen one shred of credible, verifiable evidence that what any religion has to tell us is correct. In fact, we've had endless proofs that it's crap... and yet we are still ordered to respect it while it commits such atrocities.<br />
<br />
<i>That </i>is why I get so angry about religion.SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-33552539160264987482012-09-18T13:23:00.000-07:002012-09-18T13:23:44.981-07:00Another update on songs for atheism (with apologies for my negligence!)Dave H. has just reminded me that I failed to follow up on my second post about songs for atheism - which is very bad of me because several people were kind enough to make suggestions. So without further ado, here we go:<br />
<br />
Prepagan suggests "Beyond Belief" by Elvis Costello:<br />
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And "(What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" by Brinsley Schwartz (a new one on me!):
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/_l_lPhUcBR8/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_l_lPhUcBR8&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_l_lPhUcBR8&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
Secularokie suggests Grinderman's "Heathen Child":
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/5LU3THF_058/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5LU3THF_058&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5LU3THF_058&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
..."In the Beginning" by Todd Snider (I love this)...
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... Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" (apologies for the ad on this one, if anyone can find a decent one without that please post the link below!)...
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... and Hayes Carll "She Left Me for Jesus":
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Jeremystyrondotcom suggests Tool's "Eulogy":
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"Innocent" by Our Lady Peace:
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"Adia" by Sarah McLachlan:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/cNFx_5VRW9E/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cNFx_5VRW9E&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cNFx_5VRW9E&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
...and "Megalomaniac" by Incubus:
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Tyler V submits Pearl Jam's "Unthought Known" (to be fair, that's a shout):
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And Dave H. himself suggests "God" by Tori Amos:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/ZXjYfz-u_u0/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZXjYfz-u_u0&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZXjYfz-u_u0&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
... Chris Smither's "Origin of Species":
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kpNoQaB2LT0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
... a medley by Susan Werner:
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...Steve Martin's "First Hymnal for Atheists" (or "Atheist Song", I'm not sure) - I actually heard this ages ago and forgot about it, so thank you Dave!
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... and "The Christians and the Pagans" by Dar Williams:
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... and I would like to suggest anything by Jonny Berliner; here's an example, but you can also visit his website <a href="http://www.jonnyberliner.com/" target="_blank">here</a> - have a look, he's a great musician and very funny too.
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SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003200974688946575.post-45978790840781500122012-09-17T12:18:00.002-07:002012-09-24T07:12:25.747-07:00A personal account from an exceptionally brave ex-MormonAbout a week ago, I read a tweet from Bethany Anderson in which she said she was embarrassed to have spent sixteen years as a devout Mormon. I live in the UK where we don't have Mormons (I don't think - I mean, I daresay there's the odd one but it's not a faith we have to deal with directly), so I messaged her and asked if she'd be willing to share her story. It's worth noting that although Mormonism can seem more crackpot to us than conventional Christianity, that's really only because it's less familiar to us; caveat notwithstanding, I'm always intrigued to hear stories about loss of faith from other people, particularly when their starting point was one so unfamiliar to me. Given how alien Mormonism seems from such a distant perspective, I was astonished by how much of Bethany's account was almost achingly familiar; it seems many formerly-religious secularists and humanists have experiences in common, something I think we could all do with remembering from time to time.<br />
<br />
It also raises a question that is endlessly intriguing to me; so many of us are brought up to be religious in such similar ways, and only a minority ever escape from it. What is it that those of us able to find our way out have in common, and why do we have it? Why doesn't faith "take" with some of us, when it is so devastatingly successful with the majority of our peers? I think these are among the most important questions we secularists and atheists (and antitheists like me) can ask.<br />
<br />
Bethany, I am in awe of your bravery; I too was an atheist by your age, but I was several years older before I dared to come out and older again before I started educating myself in the sciences. We can't help how we're raised, but we can decide to overcome it; I don't think you have anything at all to be embarrassed about.<br />
<br />
Here is Bethany's account in her own words.<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"><i>"Religion to Reason: How I Came To My Senses And Left Mormonism Behind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>The summer of 2008; I am only 14 years old, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is my whole life. I’m at Girls' Camp, a Mormon all-girls’ camp that takes place every summer. It is Friday night, which is always the most emotional night at camp; the night we bear our testimonies. As people go up and talk about how much they love Christ and have felt him in their lives we are all quickly in tears. I felt then what I perceived as the spirit of God all around me and my friends, and it wasn’t long until I too was overcome with emotion. But I wasn’t sad, I was the happiest I had ever been - up to that point, at least. I knew Jesus was my savior and I knew he loved me.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A few months later our church leaders decided the Young Men and Women were ready to learn more about the church's official stance on Gay Marriage and Proposition 8. I was confused. I had already heard plenty about gay marriage in the controversy surrounding Prop. 8, and I thought it was OK. I had formed my own opinion before the church had told me what it ought to be, and I didn't understand why they conflicted. What was wrong with a man marrying another man? They didn't want to hurt anybody. Why was I the only one who looked around the room with concern on my face, when everybody else was nodding their approval? If we’re all God’s children, why should some children get fewer rights? It made no sense.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>I continued to think about the right people and the wrong people.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the months to come I struggled to fall asleep at night, wondering what would happen to my cousin who lives in New York. She isn't LDS, she is Jewish. And on top of that she is a lesbian! But she is a good person. Why is she going to be punished? What about all of the Jewish people? They don’t deserve to be punished! My mind raced until I finally fell asleep with tear streaks down my cheeks.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On April 18, 2008, the evening before the Day of Silence [</span><a href="http://www.dayofsilence.org/FAQs/#f1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">see website for details</a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">]. I was at a Church youth activity, making conversation with my friends about this and that. I was pretty excited about the Day of Silence, I jumped at the opportunity to put down bullying and support LGBT community. I asked a friend of mine if she was participating. She thought I was joking, scoffing "of course not". I was once again beset by confusion; was she pro-bullying? Others quickly joined her stance. "Why wouldn't anyone want to participate?", I thought - especially people who believed in loving their neighbors.</span></i></span><br />
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</i></span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>I began to notice more and more things the church and I disagreed upon, things I must have overlooked before and that I could no longer ignore. I began searching for another religion, one that might share my basic morals and beliefs. I talked to my atheist brother, Michael, one night, as we shared a lot of ideologies. He gave me some of the best books I've ever read; Richard Dawkins' </i>The God Delusion<i> and Sam Harris' </i>End of Faith<i>. After reading those I was at peace with my beliefs. Not so much with</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic; text-indent: 0.5in;">my still devout father and mother, but one thing at a time, right?</span><br />
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</span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic; text-indent: 0.5in;">That was around the January of my sixteenth year. Now I'm a secular humanist and I feel great; I had coffee for the first time only a few months ago, and I'm no longer afraid that learning more about science will rob me of my faith. As a matter of fact, I'm in the process of applying to colleges to get my degree in astrophysics! The future has never been brighter.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">If anyone has any questions about my Mormon life and my new atheist experiences, I'd love to hear from you through Twitter, @TheYoungAtheist."</span></i></span></div>
SoggyMoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12357790920813258281noreply@blogger.com4