Improve Schisms, Don’t Close Them

Last updated on: October 9, 2012 at 11:02 am By Leah Libresco

Brian Green (a commenter here) runs his own blog at The Moral Minefield. Recently, he’s been talking about social psychology and in-group and out-group dynamics. He applied his recent post “Internet In-Group, Internet Out-Group, and Virtue Ethics” in the comments of my yesterday post complaining about PZ Myers picking bad fights. After reading over his thoughts, I find that they resonate even more strongly with another recent post: the arguments about dismissing some political candidates solely for their religious beliefs.... Read more

If You Can’t Say Something Helpful…

Last updated on: October 9, 2012 at 10:59 am By Leah Libresco

Sometimes, when I complain about certain kinds of rhetoric used by atheist leaders, I think I’m not being clear enough. When I complain about people who are tarred as ‘angry atheists’ I don’t have a problem with feelings of frustration and urgency — there’s a lot to be upset about. So instead getting sucked into condemning anger — a rhetorical trick that delegitimizes any strongly expressed critique of the status quo — let’s say I have a problem with choler.... Read more

Update on Church Vandalism Fundraising

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 5:21 pm By Leah Libresco

Hermant Mehta of Friendly Atheist has ended his atheist fundraiser to help two churches that were defaced by Flying Spaghetti Monster graffiti. Both churches were able to do cleanup with their usual maintenance staffs, so Mehta donated the money raised, as promised, to the Foundation Beyond Belief. I donated to his fund, and posted his fundraising widget on the blog, to allow other atheists to donate, but I was a little uncomfortable making a donation to a religious group; I never... Read more

Turn the Other Check

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 5:20 pm By Leah Libresco

Just in from Friendly Atheist: apparently some folks have graffitied two Oregon churches with multiple pro-Flying Spaghetti Monster slogans and images. It’s the second time these churches have been defaced in this way in the last six months. Just yesterday, I expressed my frustration and anger with Christians who deface and vandalize atheist and secular billboards, so I’m not happy to see anyone on our team letting the side down. I don’t mean to draw a false equivalence here and lend any... Read more

Why and How They Hate Us

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 5:18 pm By Leah Libresco

Last week’s post “Trying to Love My Enemies” ended up generating a comment thread that was more focused on how people became my enemies than discussion of how best to seek their good. A number of Christians raised questions about what was signified by the reluctance of most Americans to vote for an atheist and whether my aggrieved feelings were merited. Poll numbers alone make it hard to suss out the feelings and motivations of the respondents, and some Christian commenters seemed... Read more

Time Out for Tonys

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 5:16 pm By Leah Libresco

There should be a more substantive post later today, but I’ve fallen terribly behind on everything. I was in NYC all day yesterday waiting on line for tickets to the Shakespeare in the Park production of All’s Well that Ends Well which was an absolute riot. If you’re in the NYC area, definitely spend a morning in Central Park on line waiting for tickets. Between the line and the show, my mom and a college friend of mine went to see... Read more

Keeping a Civil Tongue

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 5:14 pm By Leah Libresco

A couple comment threads have gotten a little nasty/unproductive lately, so I want to jump in and try to reestablish some expectations of productive dialogue. Before I do, I want to give two bits of information up front. I don’t censor comments and that’s not changing. I only delete comments that are spam unrelated to the site. Google’s overenthusiastic spam filter may delay your comment for a few hours, but I will always let it through once I get back... Read more

7 Quick Takes (6/10/11)

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 5:04 pm By Leah Libresco

–1– It’s been a very active commenting week here, which is exciting, but a little frustrating to me, since I’m packing/organizing in preparation for my DC move, and it limits my ability to respond as much as I’d like. Happily, commenters are frequently picking up the slack. When I asked a question about Christian epistemology (inspired by a Yudkowsky post), Matt Shafer, Brian Green, and Kevin all graciously offered explanations of their beliefs and answered some questions. Thanks! Unfortunately, during a... Read more

Trying to Love My Enemies

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 4:58 pm By Leah Libresco

Just a cautionary note: trying to figure out how to love your enemies is something that can be totally appropriate to do from a long ways away. If you are ever in severe physical or emotional danger from a person or community, your first priority should be escape. Self-reflection can wait til you’re safe. I’m not calling anyone to martyr themselves by enduring abuse for the sake of converting their tormentors or retaining a sense of righteousness or for almost... Read more

“So they feel as scared and hurt as I do”

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 4:56 pm By Leah Libresco

Discussion of the appropriate use of mockery has twisted back into the ongoing discussion about vengeance and radical forgiveness thanks to a recent comment from Kogo: Honestly, I don’t really care if mockery is effective because I have no hope of religion ever going away. Mostly I just want to hurt religious people so they feel as scared and hurt as I do being forced to live on a planet dominated by them. Nothing ever works to convince conservatives and... Read more