Blog Post

The Downfall of Werleman, And Why It’s Not Good for the Atheism Movement

There has a bit of an uproar in a section of the Atheist community over the plagiarism imbroglio involving CJ Werleman. Mr. Werleman is a writer whose pieces have shown up on AlterNet and Raw Story, among other outlets (though AlterNet has taken down his articles and issued an apology for publishing his work). His style can be best described a polemical and combative, and thus has made his share of enemies. When he started making accusations about Sam Harris and the “New Atheists”, though, he really stirred up a hornet’s nest. The point of contention seems to be Werleman’s contention that Harris and his ilk are guilty of bigotry and Islamophobia (a term which I detest) because they cite the real harm done in the name of the religion of Islam. In turn Harris and Company have accused Werleman and his backers of being politically correct and unwilling to look beyond their liberal righteous anger to see the true harm that people do in the name of Islam. Incidentally, Islam is not a race, it’s a religion, a fact that Werleman can’t seem to wrap his head around when accusing others of being racist when it comes to Islam.

In the midst of all this hullabaloo came Godless Spellchecker’s blog post accusing Werleman of being a plagiarist, and citing many examples to support his contention. This post was done in consultation with Peter Boghossian, a prominent and respected name in Atheist circles, so this was not some hack job. The evidence was there, and Werleman was for all intents and purposes busted. He later issued a sorry-not sorry type of apology (which has disappeared but is summarized on Godless Spellchecker’s blog post), and then later another apology which while more extensive still reeked of insincerity. Then came news that he was possibly using another Twitter account another a different guise to promote his “official” Twitter account, and to basically represent a fawning supporter of his position. Curioser and curiouser.

Needless to say, Werleman’s reputation is now in tatters. Plagiarism is a serious offense in the journalism world, and whether it was intentional or no, it displays laziness and sloppy writing by forgetting to cite your sources. Of course, his snarky apology didn’t help, and his feeble attempt at a tu quoque defense by accusing Sam Harris of plagiarism as well made it even worse. Of course, he has his defenders, and undoubtedly he will still publish writings that some people will read, but he will probably never reach the same level of credibility as he has previously enjoyed.

This is truly a shame, because whatever you may think of Mr. Werleman and his views, he did offer up some good points in refutation of arguments put forth by Harris and others, and, as JT Eberhard points out in his blog:

I think the atheist movement is better for having a multitude of positions, so long as those positions are fairly debated with the intent of figuring out what is true, not with just trashing people who hold different opinions.  Over the past few years we have gotten less adept at this, but holding to that principle is why I’m so sad to see CJ doing this to himself.  I know a lot of Harris supporters are happy about this, but even though I mostly agree with Sam I’m not happy. I want my opponents to be people of integrity. Even if we disagree on some points, we’re still ultimately allies on atheism. That’s enough for me to want them to be good people.

Mr. Q on his Quaranify Me vlog says something similar (Shameless plug: I just became a patron of the Quranify Me podcast. If you want to as well go to his Patreon page. It’s a great show!)

If there is not open and honest debate on issues surrounding Atheism, even if we may disagree on these ideas, then our ability to defend ourselves from other positions will atrophy, and this will benefit no one, and will certainly open us to attack from real adversaries, such as right-wing religious nutjobs. And I, for one, do not want to see that happen.

Those Sneaky Baptists…

I was going to write my own blog post on the “Vote No on 1” campaign, but Sarah says it way better than I ever could. Go follow her blog at http://hillbillyhairetikos.wordpress.com, She’s an exciting new voice in the Atheist movement, and she’s sure to do great things in the future.

Williamson County, TN, School Board Trying to Sneak Prayer Into Meetings

About a week ago I came across an article stating that the Williamson County school board right here in Middle Tennessee was considering instituting a Christian prayer at the beginning of each meeting. For those not familiar with Tennessee geography, Williamson County is one of the counties adjacent to Metropolitan Nashville – Davidson County, aka Music City. Naturally, they are many commuters to Nashville who live in Williamson County, and I happen to be one of them. You can therefore imagine my anger when I heard about this clear Constitutional violation. And why, you may ask, am I so certain of this violation? Because soon after this article appeared, the Tennessee chapter of the ACLU issued a statement which says, in part:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has declared that prayers at school board meetings are unconstitutional.  In Coles ex rel. Coles v. Cleveland Bd. Of Educ., the Court held that the “the practice of opening each school board meeting with a prayer has the primary effect of endorsing religion.”

That’s pretty clear language, no? Even the school board attorney acknowledges it’s illegality:

Citing a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, board attorney Bill Squires said praying at school board meetings has been ruled unconstitutional, though praying before public meetings such as at city council meetings remains legal.

Of course, this doesn’t stop certain board members from still wanting to institute the prayer, regardless of whatever legal costs might be incurred, you know, because Jesus:

Board member Candace Emerson maintains prayer ought to be part of the meetings because of its value.

“A prayer has saved my life more than once,” Emerson said. “I’m just telling you, there’s an incredible power, especially when it’s collective. I know I would not be sitting in this chair today — on two occasions recently.”

Because prayer has been proven to save people lives, says no study ever.

Thankfully, the Superintendent of the school system seems to recognize the idiocy of challenging a court ruling, and what costs would be involved:

WCS Superintendent Mike Looney challenged board members to think about the cost of the fight.

“Are you willing to stand up on a matter of principle and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees to make a point based on your personal belief that may or may not align with those of other people in the community?” Looney said.

So at least there are some sane people at the Williamson County school board.

Naturally, as a newly minted member of the FFRF, I went to their page for reporting potential violations and made a request for them to send a letter gently reminding the board of their obligations under the law. I haven’t heard anything back, possibly because the board hasn’t actually tried to institute the prayer (yet), but I did come across the previously mentioned ACLU statement. Hopefully the school board will rethink its position and drop the whole issue. The next meeting is on October 16th, so I guess we shall soon find out. But if for some odd reason they decide to be ignoramuses and actually try to make this invocation to their Skydaddy a reality, there shall be a protest, and I shall be a part of it.

The Fear of Islamophobia, and the Stifling of Debate

I recently saw an interview on CNN with Reza Aslan, the Islamic scholar and author, whose most recent work is “Zealot”, which is basically a biography of Jesus (who I don’t think even existed, but that’s another story). He was brought on to comment on the recent comments made by Bill Maher on his end-of-show monologue in the most recent episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher” (You can see both the relevant clip and interview with Aslan here). Mr. Aslan than proceeds to call Maher’s comments “facile”, and goes on to say that we shouldn’t paint all Muslims with a broad stroke; that only a small percentage are extremists, and also calls critics of Islam “bigots”.

Of course, it goes without saying that the vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving moderates who abhor the sort of acts of barbarity done in the name of their religion. The same is true for any religion, be it Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc. Most humans hate just want to live out their lives in relative obscurity, regardless of religion (or lack thereof).

Let me say also that while I love watching Maher and often agree and even find humorous most of what he says, he can often generalize and generally be an arrogant prick.

But that doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily wrong. And this where I have issue with Mr. Aslan. Or, more specifically, some comments he made regarding female genital mutilation and the treatment of women in general in most Muslim countries.

He states:

I mean, the argument about the female genital mutilation being an Islamic problem is a perfect example of that. It’s not an Islamic problem. It’s an African problem.

further:

It’s a Central African problem. Eritrea has almost 90 percent female genital mutilation. It’s a Christian country. Ethiopia has 75 percent female genital mutilation. It’s a Christian country. Nowhere else in the Muslim, Muslim-majority states is female genital mutilation an issue.

While those statistics are correct for Eritrea and Ethiopia, he fails to mention that of  the top 10 countries on the UNICEF list for FGM, nine of them are majority Muslim countries. And to say nowhere else but Central Africa is it a problem, is just patently false: Number four on that list is Egypt, which is Northern Africa.

He also says we should not judge Saudi Arabia and Iran, which everyone would agree were extremist in their interpretation of Islam, to what he considers more moderate countries such as Indonesia and Turkey, and this is true: every nation is responsible for its own actions. Saudi Arabia and Iran, however, use Islam to justify their oppressive laws, with punishments including stoning and beheading, as well the chronic oppression of women. These laws exist in other Muslim nations as well, not just the two “extremist” states.

As not only an atheist, but also an anti-theist, I believe that religion is one of the most destructive forces in history. Islam is not the only religion guilty of horrible crimes, certainly: Christianity has a hold on the far-right in the U.S., who want to establish it as a the State religion, and it’s also used to justify bombing abortion clinics and murdering doctors who perform those abortions. But to pretend Islam is not at least partly responsible for the actions of these Muslim extremists is ignoring the facts, and calling anyone who presumes to question the role of Islam as a motivation for these actions “bigots” only serves to stifle debate, and this is an issue that very much needs to be discussed.

Harris, Christina, and the Need for Atheist Unity

Initially, this post was going to be about the recent Twitter feud between Greta Christina and Sam Harris (You can find a recap of that battle at Greta’s blog here.) However, after listening to the Noah Lugeons’ diatribe on the latest episode of The Scathing Atheist, I had a change of heart, and have decided to instead expound on the need for some strain of unity in the “Atheist Movement”.
Noah’s main point was that despite any differences Atheists have among themselves, these are nothing compared to the to the actual, demonstrable damage caused by the words and actions of religious nutjobs on a regular basis, and that Atheists are shooting themselves in the foot by airing our dirty laundry on Twitter for all the world to see.
Obviously, I’m not implying that these disagreements are not substantive or important. Misogyny is a real problem not only in the movement, but in society as a whole. I absolutely agree with Greta on this issue, and I thought Harris’ defensiveness on the issue to be another example of his aversion to criticism, even when he is mentioned only indirectly (Take a look at his feud with Glenn Greenwald if you want to see another example of this). Atheists need to take a hard look at themselves and figure out how to confront this issue honestly, and we need to come up with concrete solutions.
We must, however, put our internecine conflicts aside when faced with the larger goal of confronting the destructive influence of religion in our world, and the best way to achieve this is for all of us to concentrate our efforts on exposing religion and its dangerous dogma for all to see. I see this as one of the most important battles we can engage in, and I honestly fear for our species if we fail.
So, in the spirit of reconciliation, Sam Harris should write a blog post apologizing to Greta for his overreaction and thoroughly lambaste those misogynists in our ranks (He actually did tweet and apology, which to me was tepid and forced. Greta, however, thanked him for even that acknowledgement.) We then need to get back to the important work of educating people, each in his or her own way, on the pitfalls of religion and the importance of maintaining a impenetrable wall between Church and State. This is our duty to our fellow man, regardless of whatever disagreements we may have among ourselves.

Victory In Pennsylvania/Scathing Awesomeness!

I came across an article from the Richard Dawkins Foundation in my Facebook news feed that made my day. Apparently, the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Council voted down a proposal to have “In God We Trust” posted in the courthouse where the council convenes. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I read that correctly, and went to the link to the original article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to confirm the information I had just read. Sure enough :

The phrase ‘‘In God We Trust’’ will not be displayed within the Allegheny County Courthouse, Downtown. Members of county council voted down the proposal Tuesday night, with some members saying they believed church must be kept separate from state.

Needless to say, I was rather stunned. I don’t think I’ve heard a case where posting the motto was voted against, although, to be fair, I live in the South.
That’s not to say there wasn’t opposition. The vote by the council was 8-6 against the measure. One of those voting for the measure was Sue Means, the Republican who was the greatest proponent of the bill:

Ms. Means called the motto inclusive, and said that two groups had pledged to defend the county pro bono if the display were challenged.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is,” she said during the meeting. “This is our national motto.”

The County Executive even lobbied against it, telling council members he would veto the measure it passed.
This was a ray of sunshine breaking through the dark clouds of Christian privilege. Of course, this is only an isolated instance, and it occurred in the county where the relatively liberal metropolis of Pittsburgh is the seat. It still warms the cockles of my heart to see a blatantly Christian motto not displayed in a government building. It is sad that this is even an issue, but Christianity has thrust itself into the government sphere, and every victory, however small, should be savored.

In totally unrelated news, I am going to permit myself a little bit of pride in announcing that my Farnsworth quote made it on to Episode 83 of The Scathing Atheist! For those of you not familiar with the show, The Scathing Atheist is a weekly hour-long podcast hosted by Noah Lugeons and Heath Enright, with contributions by Noah’s lovely wife Lucinda. As the title suggests, it’s an incisive and hillarious look at the stupidity and downright evil perpetrated by the religious nutjobs of the world. There are also interviews with notable Atheists; a segment on misogyny by Lucinda, who somehow makes even the worst vulgarities sound hot; top ten lists; the 30 seconds on the clock segment; and so much more! It is at the beginning of the show where the quote from Farnsworth, a character from Futurama, makes its appearance. Noah enlists different people to do the quotes, and I was fortunate enough to be selected on this episode. My blog was also mentioned at the end of the show. I am very grateful to Mr. Lugeons for the honor. Go check out his show on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, or search for it on your preferred podcatcher. All of his episodes can also be accessed at his website.
And what is the quote? “We did, in fact, evolve from filthy monkey men”. Hell yeah!

Can’t A Guy Get A Blowjob From Jesus Anymore?

I read yesterday a story about a 14-Year-Old boy being charged with “desecration of a venerated object” in Pennsylvania. What was the horrible act he committed to elicit this charge? He pretended a Jesus Statue was sucking his dick. He didn’t damage the statue in any way. He simply climbed on top of it and shoved his crotch into the mouth of our Savior.
A picture of his unholy act was posted on his Facebook page, where he received many comments, both humored and horrified. The cops found out about the picture and decided to charge him with the aforementioned crime. It should be noted that the owner of the statue, a local Christian organization by the name Love In The Name Of Christ, declined to press charges. So, basically, we have an overzealous local law enforcement agency bringing these charges of their own accord. If convicted, the charges could land this kid in Juvenile Detention for up to two years.
This is the kind of bullshit that seriously pisses me off about the primacy of Christianity in this country. As I mentioned before, there was absolutely NO PHYSICAL DAMAGE to this statue. All he did was climb on it, which is probably ill-advised, but not necessarily illegal. As for the act itself, I think it’s fucking hilarious. I myself would have probably done a similar thing if I saw that statue. I love spitting in the eye (or coming in the mouth of) religious taboos, especially those of Christianity. I’d buy the kid a drink if he was old enough. And to think he could get TWO YEARS in Juvy for this “crime” just makes my blood boil.
One more thing : This didn’t happen in the South. It happened in Pennsylvania. Granted, I have heard that the Keystone State is “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between”, but this should be a reminder that these sort of religiously inspired laws are not just in Mississippi or Louisiana, but also in other parts of the country. Thankfully, the FFRF has taken notice of the incident, and has published a blog post about it, at the end of which they state:

If the attorney or public defender wishes to consult FFRF’s legal staff on the unconstitutional nature of the desecration statute, he or she may get in touch with us by filling out this form: http://ffrf.org/legal/report

Hopefully, if it does go to court, the FFRF can bring the pain and show these fucking yokels that you can’t convict somebody just because they dissed a replica of your skydaddy’s son.

The Taylor Scholarship and My Book of Mormon

I wanted to do a quick post (I don’t have much time left on lunch) about The Taylor Scholarship, which I mentioned in a previous post. From the website:

This unique scholarship will cover the cost of counseling and group therapy services for people who are experiencing a disruption of faith or faith identity.

 

White Fields provides specialized counseling and group therapy sessions to those struggling with religious transition or marital issues related to the loss of faith. Although we work hard to provide services for as low cost as possible, these services are not free. Your generous donation will help to cover the cost of highly trained therapists and facility maintenance. Many people who are experiencing these disruptive and challenging transitions do not have the means to pay—even at the low cost of the services we provide.

 In the most recent episode of his podcast, My Book of Mormon, David Michael stated that he received a letter from the White Fields Educational Foundation saying that thanks to the donations given to the Foundation by David and his listeners, two people were able to take advantage of the scholarship, and further that if it wasn’t for this assistance they might have committed suicide. This is not hyperbole: these two people explicitly stated this. David said that this “took his breath away”, and that he was now redoubling his efforts to contribute to the Foundation. So he decided to put more of his Patreon money towards funding the Scholarship. Anything over $50 of each episode goes directly to this fund. Previously it had been $100, but this letter moved him to want to do more.

Needless to say, when I heard this driving home from my second job, I decided that when I got home I was going to become a patron of the show. It is only $1 per episode, since I work two jobs because I’ve gotten myself into some financial difficulties, so I’m putting out this call to hopefully amplify my impact by inspiring anyone else who feels this is a worthy endeavor, as do I and many others.

I know not many people visit my humble blog, which is ok, but if even ONE person contributes to the fund as a result of this post, I will feel like I have helped someone who is in need. So, please, if you spare $1 an episode, go the Patreon page for My Book of Mormon and become a patron. Or, if you prefer, make a one-time donation to the The Taylor Scholarship, go to the White Fields Educational Foundation page and contribute that way. If you prefer, you may remain anonymous whichever way you choose to give. Either way, you will be helping someone out who is going through a difficult time, and might even be saving a life.

Sarah Silverman : Atheism Icon?

   I heard about Sarah Silverman’s speech in acceptance of her Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, and I immediately had to go watch it for myself on YouTube. After being rather agnostic on her previous comedy shows and her show on Comedy Central, I really enjoyed her latest HBO special, We Are Miracles. Of course, who could forget her innocent little girl take on the most disgusting and hilarious joke for The Aristocrats? When I saw her latest special, however, I knew she really was hitting on all cylinders. Her rise has been ongoing for a while, of course, as I’ve known about her since the ’90’s, but I think she really came through to the mainstream with her appearance in a mainstream movie, “A Million Ways To Die In The West”, directed by Mr. Family Guy himself, Seth MacFarlane, whose visibility has increased considerably with his directorial debut in the movie “Ted”, as well as being the driving force behind getting a new Cosmos series aired on Fox.

 I’m not going to lie, I find Ms. Silverman not only to be hilarious, but also sexy as hell to boot; and seeing her in that low-cut dress at the Emmy’s definitely increased my pulse considerably. But it was she said at the very end of the speech that really impressed me. After thanking all the people who made her win possible, which is standard fare (apart for making a reference to “Mr. Fancy Pants Sheen”, which had me scratching my head a bit), instead of thanking God, or Jesus, or fill in the blank with a divinity, she instead said “… And we’re all just made of molecules, and we’re hurling through space right now.  Thank you.”

  Simple, eloquent, but completely expressive of who and what Atheists really are. The great majority of Atheists who live the same lives as other people. We eat. We sleep. We scream at drivers who cut us off. The only difference is, we just happen to not believe in a Supreme Being. And like Ms. Silverman, most of us aren’t in-your-face about it, unlike so many Christian Evangelists who love to try to shove their religion down our throats with huge billboards and nationally broadcast, well-produced television shows in massive mega-churches, funded by tax-free cash that rolls in by the bucket-load.

 Sarah is the perfect icon for Atheism in today’s world. She’s funny, telegenic, and brutally honest about who she is and what she’s about. She is not the type of person to instigate a confrontation, but she sure as hell won’t back down if someone gets in her face. Yeah, she’s hot, but that is only the icing on the cake. So, thanks Sarah for showing America the true face of Atheism. I sincerely hope you keep up the good work of being yourself.

Robin Williams and the Stigma of Depression

 I generally don’t get too worked up when a celebrity dies. My attitude is, unless you know him or her personally, it’s hard to have any sort of attachment one way or another. But as I sat there in the break room of my second job and finding out from Facebook that Robin Williams had dies, I immediately felt a twinge of horror and disbelief. When I later found out that he committed suicide, it deepened my sadness, for I had heard that he had struggled with addiction and depression throughout his life. A post Lewis Black put up on his Facebook page summed it up for me:

Fuck the demons that took Robin from us. His generosity of spirit was as boundless as his comedy. I will miss him terribly.

 I have suffered from depression and anxiety in my life, especially when I was younger. I remember the sense of hopelessness and the inability to feel happiness no matter what I did. I also know that most of the time it is often a biological phenomenon, when our neurotransmitters are out of whack and wreak havoc on our mental well-being. Certainly, these effects can be exacerbated by drug or alcohol abuse, which affected individuals usually take to forget the pain and darkness they feel, but in the end make the depression even worse, and makes one feel even more hopeless. Many times those suffering from this horrible disease think suicide is the only way to escape from the living hell they are going through. Some are able to fight the battle against this evil chimera and win. Unfortunately, Robin lost that battle, though he fought valiantly for most of his adult life to overcome it.

 So when I hear people calling Mr. Williams a “coward”, or say that he should just have “snapped out of it”, it makes me want to throat-punch the ignorant fucks. “He was rich and famous, what did he have to be depressed about?” is another common refrain. I realize not all of the people spouting this crap are trying to be malicious; some have simply never experienced depression and don’t understand the sort of grey pall it casts over one’s life, no matter how great that life appears to the outside world. They don’t understand that the sort of depression that Mr. Williams suffered from was not what is commonly referred to “feeling down”, which is usually brought on by some external factors such as losing one’s job or close family member. This disease is one which comes seemingly from nowhere, with nothing to presage its onset many times, independent of anything that may be occurring in one’s life, and this is what makes it so frightening and debilitating. For if one doesn’t know what the cause of a condition is, how does one fight it? You may feel alone and terrified to reveal your problem, because you think you might end up in a mental institution. It is under these circumstances that many people feel they have no recourse but to take their own life, because the pain is too much to bear.

 This is not the “coward’s way out”. Unless you know the true horror of deep depression, you don’t get to say a god damn word about the proper way to deal with the disease. You don’t get to sit in high judgment on someone when you have no idea what is going on in someone else’s internal world. I was fortunate enough to emerge from my depression with the help of medication and family support, but not everyone has that, or they may be too proud to ask for it. And I certainly didn’t have it chronically like Mr. Williams seems to have had. He probably got tired of fighting those demons Mr. Black spoke of, since he had been doing it his whole life. So I will not judge him. Neither should anyone else. The most we can do is try to increase our understanding as a society so people won’t say the ignorant shit that seems to spew forth like a geyser of sewage every time something like this happens. We must also, finally, treat mental illness seriously and stop sweeping it under the rug. We’ve seen the mentally ill take the lives of children at an elementary school, as well as patrons in a theater. And we’ve seen take one of the funniest, most generous, and most kind-hearted human ever to roam this planet. Let’s try our damnedest to make sure that it doesn’t take any more precious lives.