Freethought Tweets of the day: Atheism Plus edition

The WoolyBumblebee ‏@WoolyBumblebee #Atheismplus has 2044 users – 13 mods – 3 admin – 38 banned users = 1990. Of which only 831 ever made MORE than ONE post on the forums.

Atheism+ ‏@atheismplus #atheismplus inclusiveness. Everyone is welcome, just so long as you’re not foreign. Or if you are, you’d better have PERFECT English.

Atheism+ ‏@atheismplus In #atheismplus we have special words. Objections are ‘hate’. Objectors are ‘angry at outspoken women’. Dislike of us/A+ is ‘misogyny’.

Atheist Smeghead ‏@AtheistSmeghead My question about #atheismplus STILL hasn’t been answered: What do those social issues have to do with a lack of belief in any deity?

Renee Hendricks ‏@reneehendricks Really? http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=26361#p26361 … WTF is wrong with those mods on #AtheismPlus? Gigantic asshats, I swear.

The post she is referencing:

Re: Men: Are You Willing To Be Called A Potential Rapist?

Postby maiforpeace » Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:34 pm

Specimen, bonjour!I speak several languages including French, and I’m afraid you don’t possess the English language skills to communicate properly in such a serious and mindful discussion. I think you are better off just reading right now, and maybe you can get a buddy who writes English better to help you write posts so you can participate and offer your own contributions to this thread.

So I will ask you politely to desist from posting further in this thread. Thank you, Mai

A reader was asked to quit posting because they don’t speak perfect English? Wtf.

And further down in the thread:

Postby Flewellyn » Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:19 am

MOD NOTE: This topic is no longer serving a useful purpose. It has been locked.

So an admin just locks a conversation whenever they subjectively feel it’s no longer serving a purpose? Stunning.

More Tweets:

Stormye Weather ‏@Nuclear_Wynter Can you imagine a room full of black men pontificating on being labeled “potential criminals” to make white people feel safe?!#atheismplus

Maria Maltseva ‏@bluharmony @Stefanelli is my hero: Q&A about Atheism Plus, White Male Privilege, Guilt by Association, Schrodinger’…http://freethoughtblogs.com/alstefanelli/2012/10/09/qanda/ … …

Za-zen ‏@Zaminuszen Next time that homeless wanker logs on to his laptop, somebody please point him to #AtheismPlus forums so we can correct his privilege.

Jamie Stanton ‏@finalcontext Just told by #atheismplus mod that treating people equally regardless of gender, race etc makes me “part of the problem” *head explodes*

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Re: McCreight throws in the white towel

Here I respond to some criticism I received regarding a post on Jen McCreight quitting Free Thought Blogs:

 

Referenced links:

1. http://furiouspurpose.me/of-jen-mccreight-trains-and-white-towels
2. http://www.jeremystyron.com/2012/09/mccreight-throws-in-the-white-towel
3. http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/09/goodbye-for-now

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McCreight throws in the white towel

So, sorry to be a little behind on this, but we recently learned that Jen McCreight was taking a break from blogging on FTB largely because of the negative feedback she has received. She writes:

There’s a group of people out there (google the ironic term FtBullies to find them) devoted to hating me, my friends, and even people I’m just vaguely associated with. I can no longer write anything without my words getting twisted, misrepresented, and quotemined. I wake up every morning to abusive comments, tweets, and emails about how I’m a slut, prude, ugly, fat, feminazi, retard, bitch, and cunt (just to name a few). If I block people who are twisting my words or sending verbal abuse, I receive an even larger wave of nonsensical hate about how I’m a slut, prude, feminazi, retard, bitch, cunt who hates freedom of speech (because the Constitution forces me to listen to people on Twitter). This morning I had to delete dozens of comments of people imitating my identity making graphic, lewd, degrading sexual comments about my personal life.

Well, here’s a suggestion for starters: if you don’t want any sort of dissent about feminism, don’t start a thing with the ridiculous titled of Boobquake. Second, don’t proclaim you’re inventing another new movement (Atheism+) that you say is associated with feminism that will also alienate many atheists who don’t necessarily agree with all the precepts of feminism. And as for all of the offensive comments McCreight is getting online, I don’t deny that she might be getting some reprehensible comments — idiots will be idiots — but from reading her post, it appears all the criticism has been just online.* You’re getting so stressed about comments beamed over the Internet? Seriously? Then you have no business being a public figure. People will slam your positions no matter how rational they appear to you.

McCreight writes further:

I spend most of my precious free time angry, on the verge of tears, or sobbing as I have to moderate comments or read what new terrible things people have said about me. And the only solution I see is to unplug.

So the worst part of your life is reading what terrible things people say about you online and your self perception? Try living in abject poverty and wondering how the next meal is going to come. Getting upset over a backlash on the Internet? Really? Jesus H. Christ.

* For the record, I don’t condone or in any way justify any of the nasty comments she may have been receiving from these people and would never drag myself so low as to call someone else a slut or anything else derogatory. I mostly just care about the arguments people make, not about demeaning them as people, and I find it unfortunate that so many people apparently can’t separate the two.

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Don’t like gay marriage?

Via Reddit:

Freethinker Tweets of the day

Another atheist ‏@kaimatai: Any entity able to effortlessly cure cancer in babies but chooses not to, cannot in any sense be called loving or moral. #atheist #atheism

Crispy Sea ‏@CrispySea: If you live in a society where you’re fearful of how people will react if you admit your #atheism you are being oppressed. #HumanRights

Godless Atheist ‏@GodlessAtheist: So which of these praying athletes will God pick for the gold medal?#atheism #Olympics

Rosa Rubicondior ‏@RosaRubicondior: The Holy Bible. Turning the sin of smugly condescending bigotry into a virtue for nearly 2000 years #Atheism #Bible

ANTWOINe 3X10³ ◠‿◠ ‏@StrictlyShorts: Besides being fables, what do Shrek and the Bible have in common?… Talking donkeys! Numbers 22:30 NIV. #Atheism

you’re damned ‏@youredamned: My 5 year old had a personal relationship with a fictional character when she was 3. She called him Gumba. She’s grew out of that. #atheism