Atheism plus: Difference between revisions

From Religions Wiki
No edit summary
(Took out some polemics. Added refs.)
Line 1: Line 1:
The Urban Dictionary lists Atheism Plus as:
'''Atheism Plus''' or '''Atheism+''' is a subset of the larger [[atheism visibility movement]] that incorporates social issues alongside "[[dictionary atheism]]".


:"A bunch of frauds. Despite having atheist in its name it really isn't atheism at all. Their goal is to subvert atheism with the religion of feminist indoctrination and bitch about non existent misogyny.
As originally defined by [[Jen McCreight]], Atheism Plus means:<ref name="atheism-plus-post">[http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/atheism/ ''Atheism+'', by Jen McCreight at Blaghag]</ref>
: We are…
: Atheists ''plus'' we care about social justice,
: Atheists ''plus'' we support women’s rights,
: Atheists ''plus'' we protest racism,
: Atheists ''plus'' we fight homophobia and transphobia,
: Atheists ''plus'' we use critical thinking and skepticism.


:To these people any legitimate questioning of feminists and female privilege is grounds for calling anyone a misogynist. Atheism Plus is really nothing more then an attempt at co-opting the meaning of atheism.
== History ==
:Atheism Plus is nothing more than dogmatic feminists trying to commandeer the atheist movement. This will set back Atheism for decades if these usurpers gain popularity."
 
This definition has the overwhelming majority of votes over the alternate definition:
 
:"Atheism Plus designates spaces, persons, and groups dedicated to promoting social justice along with skepticism and critical thinking, and countering misogyny, racism, homophobia/biphobia/transphobia, ableism and other such bigotry inside and outside of the atheist community.
:Atheism as such includes none of those ideas, being merely a lack of belief in gods; Atheism Plus is essentially an answer to the "now what" question that focuses on treating prejudice as woo.
 
:"We are...
:Atheists PLUS we care about social justice,
:Atheists PLUS we support women’s rights,
:Atheists PLUS we protest racism,
:Atheists PLUS we fight homophobia and transphobia,
:Atheists PLUS we use critical thinking and skepticism."
 
:"It’s time for a new wave of atheism ... that cares about how religion affects everyone and that applies skepticism to everything, including social issues like sexism, racism, politics, poverty, and crime."
 
:(Jen McCreight)"[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Atheism%20Plus]
 
== Atheism Plus Dogma ==
 
The Atheism Plus forum's members, moderators, and administrators do not tolerate discussions which 'apply critical thinking to everything'. In particular, they hold certain ideas of feminist philosophy as beyond question. If you disagree with them, they conclude you are wrong and ask you to lurk more and educate yourself. If you do not agree that you are wrong, then have the audacity to make a case to support your position, you shall get summarily dog-piled and banned.
 
Some points of feminist philosophy and other notions that Atheism Plus holds dogmatically:
 
'''Privilege:''' Privilege is similar to what scientists call bias; however, privilege is unidirectional. Only dominant oppressors, such as whites, males, and the wealthy, have privilege. Those that they oppress, such as non-whites, females, and the poor, do not have privilege. Indeed, from their non-privileged position they possess greater insight into the truth of the matter than their oppressors. Privilege is also used as an ad hominen attack to dismiss the feelings, arguments, or concerns of those considered privileged: "Your privilege is showing", "Check your privilege".
 
'''Schrodinger's Rapist:''' It is men's fault that women fear getting raped. As such, it is the man's obligation to go out of his way to fix this problem. Remedies include reading a woman's body language before approaching them, considering the environment and asking ones self, "If I were a rapist, would this woman be safe from me?," and not raping women.
 
'''The Patriarchy:''' A Patriarchy is a government where positions of power are held primarily by men. However, in feminist philosophy "The Patriarchy" is a monolithic and nebulous conspiracy by men for the purposes of subjugating women. The patriarchy has many manifestations, such as 'the glass ceiling' and unequal pay for equal work.
 
'''Intent is not fucking magic:''' While in the world at large, intent makes the difference between murder and unlawful homicide, intent means nothing to the Atheism Plus forum. If you inadvertently post a word or image that triggers someone's post traumatic stress disorder, you did harm, should admit that you were wrong, and apologize.
 
== Atheism Plus History ==


Atheism Plus was started with posts by Blag Hag, Jen McCreight, in August of 2012.
Atheism Plus was started with posts by Blag Hag, Jen McCreight, in August of 2012.
[http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/how-i-unwittingly-infiltrated-the-boys-club-why-its-time-for-a-new-wave-of-atheism/]
[http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/how-i-unwittingly-infiltrated-the-boys-club-why-its-time-for-a-new-wave-of-atheism/]
[http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/atheism/]
<ref name="atheism-plus-post"/>


Atheism Plus initially received a mixed reception in the atheist community. (citations and expansion welcome)
Atheism Plus initially received a mixed reception in the atheist community. (citations and expansion welcome)
== Projects ==


=== A+ Scribe ===
=== A+ Scribe ===
Line 50: Line 25:
We will strive to honestly, accurately, and completely transcribe as many media resources as we are able."[https://a-plus-scribe.com/doku.php]
We will strive to honestly, accurately, and completely transcribe as many media resources as we are able."[https://a-plus-scribe.com/doku.php]


A+ Scribe was announced on August 30, 2012 with Gretta Christina's blog post, "Atheism+’s First Project: A+ Scribe!"[http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/08/30/atheisms-first-project-a-scribe/] Some controversy broke out in the comments when Anna Johnstone expressed concern about first getting permission from content owners to have their works transcribed. The founder of A+ Scribe, trinioler stated that there were some cases where A+ Scribe would ignore the wishes of the content owner and make transcriptions 'for the greater good'. Anna Johnstone insisted that they should take the high ground and respect the wishes of content owners. She was subsequently dogpiled into leaving for expressing her concerns.
A+ Scribe was announced on August 30, 2012 with Greta Christina's blog post, "Atheism+’s First Project: A+ Scribe!"<ref>http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/08/30/atheisms-first-project-a-scribe/</ref>


=== The Dillahunty Incident ===
=== Atheism+ Emergency Support Project ===
 
On October 20, 2012, After a vote in the Atheism Plus forum for a big project, members decided to start the Atheism+ Emergency Support Project: "A freecycle-esque project to give support to those who need it. We would do things like give information to people who are in emergency situations- for example, connecting someone in an abusive situation with information on a local shelter- or connecting people in need of goods with others who have things to spare."<ref>http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2235</ref>
On October 2, 2012 @KaineDamo tweeted about Atheism Plus's banning of Skep_tickle, and directed one of these tweets to [[Matt Dillahunty]].
 
Matt Dillahunty created an account at the Atheism Plus forum named 'Curious' in order to show that the Atheism Plus detractors were blowing things out of proportion. After having a post declined, Matt Dillahunty followed the instructions in an automated email to correct the problem by starting this thread on the forum [http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1502]. In the course of this post, 'Curious' got dog-piled.


This dog-pile included a remark by the moderator SubMor, "You know what serves as a functional one-way ticket to don't-take-me-seriously-ville? Saying you have "legitimate questions" and are just "trying to help" by showing up and demonstrating what a smart person you are. Instead of, you know, actually participating in the community.".
== References ==
<references/>


'Curious' replied, "You should probably know who you're talking to before making accusations about actually participating in the community.
== External links ==
It might be nice if you knew the content of the original post before disregarding it. Sincerely, Matt Dillahunty".
* Blog post: [http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/how-i-unwittingly-infiltrated-the-boys-club-why-its-time-for-a-new-wave-of-atheism/|''How I Unwittingly Infiltrated the Boy’s Club & Why It’s Time for a New Wave of Atheism''], by Jen McCreight
 
* Blog post: [http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/08/atheism/|''Atheism+''], by Jen McCreight
'Curious' and Matt Dillahunty were banned from the Atheism Plus forum which demanded an apology for the damage he had done. The reason given on the Atheism Plus wall of shame: Running a social experiment on the membership, by posting via the sockpuppet Curious.[http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1258].
* [https://a-plus-scribe.com/doku.php|A+ Scribe]
 
Matt Dillahunty posted a video about the incident on youtube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRFLV9GlFw0]. In response to this video, the Atheism Plus forum demanded an apology. [http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1615]. Matt Dillahunty responded with another youtube video, refusing to give an apology. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBwaa1_n0o] Further back and forth occurred on comments of The Lazy Canuck's blog post, "Matt, I really think you owe them an apology."[http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2012/10/06/matt-i-really-think-you-owe-them-an-apology/] Matt Dillahunty refused to give the Atheism Plus forum an apology. The Atheism Plus forum set up a thread for people to discuss how Matt Dillahunty had harmed them.[http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1616]
 
=== Atheism+ Emergency Support Project ===
On October 20, 2012, After a vote in the Athiems Plus forum for a big project, members decided to start the Atheism+ Emergency Support Project: "A freecycle-esque project to give support to those who need it. We would do things like give information to people who are in emergency situations- for example, connecting someone in an abusive situation with information on a local shelter- or connecting people in need of goods with others who have things to spare."[http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2235] At the time of this writing, the project is still in its early days.

Revision as of 00:16, 8 November 2012

Atheism Plus or Atheism+ is a subset of the larger atheism visibility movement that incorporates social issues alongside "dictionary atheism".

As originally defined by Jen McCreight, Atheism Plus means:[1]

We are…
Atheists plus we care about social justice,
Atheists plus we support women’s rights,
Atheists plus we protest racism,
Atheists plus we fight homophobia and transphobia,
Atheists plus we use critical thinking and skepticism.

History

Atheism Plus was started with posts by Blag Hag, Jen McCreight, in August of 2012. [1] [1]

Atheism Plus initially received a mixed reception in the atheist community. (citations and expansion welcome)

Projects

A+ Scribe

"The mission of A+Scribe is to bring access to media in the Atheism Plus movement (and eventually beyond) to Deaf and Hard of Hearing readers.

We will strive to honestly, accurately, and completely transcribe as many media resources as we are able."[2]

A+ Scribe was announced on August 30, 2012 with Greta Christina's blog post, "Atheism+’s First Project: A+ Scribe!"[2]

Atheism+ Emergency Support Project

On October 20, 2012, After a vote in the Atheism Plus forum for a big project, members decided to start the Atheism+ Emergency Support Project: "A freecycle-esque project to give support to those who need it. We would do things like give information to people who are in emergency situations- for example, connecting someone in an abusive situation with information on a local shelter- or connecting people in need of goods with others who have things to spare."[3]

References

External links