Category: Blogmeta
14 By the way…
45 The “tone” thread
I used the word ‘idiots’ once in my previous post, and now I am being upbraided for defending bigoted language used to assault gay activists. This morning’s post was not in any way about the use of nasty language, but in the interest of giving tone trolls a place to vent, I am creating this thread.
I am not an advocate of using language to belittle or demean an opponent instead of expressing a legitimate position. I think I increase my credibility as a rhetorician when I represent the opposing side fairly and accurately, and then tear hir a new asshole. That said, I am also of the mind that “if the shoe fits”, then it’s fair game. If the opposing side can be demonstrated to believe in things that have no rational justification, I do not shy away from the word ‘deluded’. If the opposing side wishes to restrict the rights of other people based on an attitude borne of privilege, I will let fly with the word ‘bigot’. If someone’s argument is founded in poor logic, shopworn memes, and invalid evidence, I am not going to feel bad about calling it (and occasionally them, but not usually) ‘stupid’.
There are those who refuse (I can only assume) to distinguish between content and style. They believe that what you say and how you say it are equally important. I think someone needs to find the zombie of Marshall McLuhan and double-tap it in the head. I am from the school of George Orwell, where words are a mechanism by which we exchange ideas, and that futzing over style can be an impediment to comprehension. I do not accept the oft-asserted notion that one must be ‘civil’ in order to be an effective communicator. I have delved into this idea at some length.
This should not be (although it undoubtedly will be) read as a statement that everyone should feel free to use whatever language they like at all times. Words have meanings, and they have consequences. When conversation devolves into an exercise in slinging barbs without making points, then discussion has ceased. However, a judiciously-placed insult can act as the sprinkles on top of a well-built ice cream sundae of an argument. When I show you the multitude of ways in which you are incorrect, and cap it off with “you boob”, that is a justified flourish. It is not me ‘losing the argument’ because I ‘stooped’ to using ‘ad hominem’. It is you failing to address the <i>content</i> of my argument and instead tap-dancing on the pinhead of tone as an attempt to deflect how thoroughly you’ve been eviscerated.
There are many who are aching to have this conversation, and although I find it the height of tedium, I’d rather it happened here rather than on a post that has nothing to do with name-calling at all. Have at it.
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2 Good news week
For some reason, or perhaps for no reason, my ‘news item’ file is overflowing with good news this week. So in honour of that, I’m going to highlight happy stories. Well, happy for me. Sad for the forces of stupid. So… um… enjoy that.
23 Ask Crommunist Anything
Many of you may not know that I am fairly active on Reddit. I discovered r/atheism just over a year ago and began branching out to other subreddits shortly after that. For all the (mostly justified) criticism that r/atheism garners, it is a wonderful place for atheists who can’t be part of a physical community. There is a lesser-known subreddit called r/blackatheism that aggregates content relevant to black atheists. One of the moderators suggested that I post an AMA (Ask Me Anything – an open-ended opportunity to ask questions and have them answered).
I don’t know if any of you have questions that you’d like to ask me about being a black atheist, about blogging, about personal stuff in my life, or whatever. If you do, head on over to the linked AMA and submit your question.
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4 Temporarily suspending Empowered Health coverage
So I have been, happily, let down by the Vancouver Sun. I was relatively sure that their “Empowered Health” series was going to be chock full of ample fodder for my skeptical scalpel, but so far it is simply “diet and exercise” repeated ad infinitum, mixed with a few exercises in lazy journalism. As a result, I am going to suspend my weekly examination of the stories, since it makes for boring blogging (and I’m sure boring reading too).
5 New neighbours
You may have seen in the hubub yesterday that we’ve added Brianne Bilyeu (a.k.a. Biodork) to our little collective here. We have another new face, Libby Anne of Lovejoy Feminism whose site at FTB went live today.
Go say hello!
…
Seriously. What are you still doing here? GO!
…
Oh, I know what you want. Okay, just this once:
It’s a party!
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11 Hey look over here!
Life is seriously cutting into my ability to read blogs. It’s becoming a serious problem. I’m starting to get Pharyngula withdrawal shakes (it’s been over a week). If someone wants to work for me as my personal assistant, that’d be cool.
Anyway, I interrupt our regularly-scheduled blogcast to bring you this important message from Hank Fox:
What if there was a Book of Good Living?
Picture it as a collection of wisdom from people all over the world.
It would be all the stuff you should probably do, and the stuff you probably shouldn’t do, and the way you do it all, in order to live a good life. The way you treat people. The things you do in the course of a day. The broad-based forethought that goes into each life, all the lessons your parents, or their parents, or the people a thousand generations back, learned from the mistakes and hard knocks in their own lives.
Always look both ways before you cross the street. When two workmen meet in a narrow doorway, the one with the heavier load has the right of way. Any architect designing a building for use by large numbers of the public – a stadium or theatre, for instance – should include twice as many bathroom stalls for women as for men. On a hot day, your dog likes ice water just as much as you do. If you eat a little bit less, and exercise a little bit more, you’ll lose weight – no diets, books or courses needed.
Go read Hank, he has good ideas and is a hell of a guy.
Also, the guys over at The Atheist Experience are displaying more stomach and courage than I can claim, by delving into the Bog of Eternal Stench that is Men’s Rights Activist forums and The Amazing Atheist: … Continue Reading
32 Crommunist celebrates Black History Month
So it’s Black History Month once again. For those of you who haven’t really “done” the whole Black History Month thing before, this is required reading:
So, for those of you who are unaware, tomorrow marks the start of Black History Month. I am so not looking forward to this. Since this year is a leap year, I have 29 of whitewashed history and white people complaints and tears to look forward to. Hip hip hoo-fucking-ray. I fucking hate Black History Month with a god damn passion.
In school, it was nothing but a fucking joke. The history teacher would pull out a specialized lesson plan for a few weeks. We would do reports on the same few people and hear the same bullshit stories. If you were lucky, you might have watched a movie.
(snip)
I love Black history. Real Black history is a thing of beauty. When you learn about what Black people really had to face, you see that it’s a damn near miracle that we’re still in this country and surviving. The whitewashing that goes down during Black History Month is a damn shame. It’s not bad enough that we have the shortest fucking month of the year, but you have to dilute our history too???
I just want this to be over already. If you’re Black in America, February is probably not a good month for you.
I will add my own list of complaints about how Black History Month is handled. We will inevitably be treated to a number of (overlapping) lists of things that black people have invented. I could not possibly care less about who cultivated peanuts or invented the straightening comb and the traffic light. I’m more interested in actual history. Narratives. Stories. Experiences. Instead we get a “hey look, here’s a list of black people that have done a thing.” How utterly banal and useless.
Two years ago, I wrote a series of Facebook notes (this was in my pre-blog days) for Black History Month. Those notes formed the underpinning of the race discussions on this blog, which was launched the following month: … Continue Reading
5 Kiva Project: Second Donation
Hello Cromrades,
Once again, we have the opportunity to spend some of our money to make the world a slightly better place. We’ve already made our first loans, and now we have another chance to do it again. So fly, my pretties! Go to Kiva.org, pick out your favourite loan (please keep it to a single loan per person, otherwise it’s way too much for me to comb through). I will make a decision and an announcement next Friday.
For the month of October (the first month this site went live), we made $46.38, and loaned $50.
For the month of November, we made $65.81Total amount loaned so far: $50
Total loan funds repaid: $0
Fund balance: $62.19
Let’s see your wish list, folks!
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6 CFI greases your palm
So who’s looking for a little nudge to get them to attend Imagine No Religion 2? Michael Payton sends this:
Dear Members,Imagine No Religion 2 is one of the largest and best freethought conventions in North America, bringing together voices from across the world to discuss issues in science and religion for a special three day event.Speakers include:– Lawrence Krauss– PZ Myers– Chris DiCarloand many others!Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT6IaFO0oJQCFI Canada is proud to be an active sponsor to this event and to in return we are offering our Members a special discounted rate for a limited time.CFI Canada members in good standing as of February 1, 2012 can purchase a fullregistration ($280) at a discounted price of $200.00. This gets you full access to all sessions as well as the Banquet and Comedy Show on Saturday Evening. This is a LIMITED TIME offer for CFI Canada members only so hurry before this offer expires: http://imaginenoreligion2.com/imaginenoreligionkamloops/CFI_Members.htmlIf you have already signed up for the event CFI will be offering a free renewal of your existing membership as our way of saying thank you for attending theconference.Please spread the word and help to make this conference a success!–Michael PaytonInterim National Executive Director | Centre for Inquiry Canada2 College Street | Suite 214 | Toronto, Ontario M5G 1K3 | CANADAFollow CFI Canada on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/cficanadaLike CFI Canada on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Centre-for-Inquiry-Canada/185347717210
Silly Michael forgot that I will be there too, but that’s fine. I’m not speaking; just hanging out and being awesome.
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Crommunist 