Humanism – Page 18 – Doug's Views

August 24, 2012April 18, 2020

Isn’t Atheism Plus Another Name For Humanism?

In the wake of some very public and nasty debates about diversity and lack of respect for women in the freethought community, Jen McCreight, author of the blaghag blog on the Freethought Blogs Network created what she is calling a “new wave of Atheism” whose name evolved into Atheist+. Her goal was to move Atheism from just dealing with the god question – Atheists don’t believe in a god – but to also deal with issues like diversity and social justice. It seems to me that Humanism addresses all the issues McCreight feels is missing from Atheism and Humanism is non-theistic. One question I have is why not be a Humanist?

Some of the issues Jen McCreight sees Atheism+ dealing with include Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Ableism, Classism, Ageism, Neurotypicalism, Animal welfare, environmental issues, and political issues (Health care, crime, drug laws).

August 19, 2012April 18, 2020

To My Freethought Friends: You Are On Notice

Can’t we all just get along

There has been a serious issue with discussing diversity and sexual harassment within the freethought community. I have written a post or two about the matter and it seems that even a year since the biggest blowup – elevatorgate – the sexism and misogyny has not abated. It seems some immature boys can’t let go of the fact that their harassment is stupid and wrong. I’m declaring right now that I will quit any group that ignores or condones harassment and I will personally shun any person who harasses for any reason or continually makes excuses for such behavior. I didn’t come to this decision lightly but it seems some just can’t move forward and they are holding our freethought movement hostage. Enough is enough.

The other day on the Atheist Revolution blog there was a post about an Atheist blogger filing a DCMA complaint against another “Atheist” blog. The name of the blog is “Elevatorgate”. When I saw the site my jaw dropped. The entire site was devoted to Ad Hominem attacks on several bloggers and activists in the Freethought community who complained about diversity and sexual harassment in the movement and those who supported the bloggers who complained.

August 1, 2012April 18, 2020

If You Support LGBTs Then Don’t Spend Money That Will Be Used To Hurt Them

There has been a lot of ink and electrons spent about the controversy over Chick-fil-A and its CEO supporting anti-gay groups and causes. I’ve known for a couple of years that Chick-fil-A was not a friend of the LGBT community and have chosen not to spend my money at any of their stores. There has been the typical conservative backlash. My feeling is if you support LGBTs then don’t spend money that will be used to hurt them.

The controversy got started earlier in the month when owner Dan Cathy made public statements against gay marriage which also brought out the fact that the company donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups. The public relations dust up caused the Jim Henson company to pull out of a kids meal promotion and the outrage overflowed onto many articles in print and on the Internet from the LGBT community and its allies.

July 24, 2012April 18, 2020

Vandana Shiva: Industrial Agriculture Hurting Our Food System And Health

Vandana Shiva

Vandana Shiva was on Moyers & Company on July 13th talking about her fight against genetically modified (GM) seeds and other attempts by industrial agriculture companies, like Monsanto, to monopolize the production of food not only in her native India but also here in the US. It’s a great interview and gives a basic overview about our broken our food system. GM seeds and industrial agriculture is making us all sick and less able to afford healthy food while the corporations game the system and rake in huge profits and tax subsidies.

In the first part of the interview Shiva talks about the control of the food system by the big corporations who gain profit from it but show little to no concern for the people who have to buy the food or the small farmers who grow the food who are forced to buy seed from the big corporations:

July 17, 2012April 18, 2020

Boy Scout’s Anti-LGBT Policy Drips With Religious Right Bigotry Code Words

On June 7th the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) reaffirmed their policy to deny membership to LGBT people. There was a chance they would reconsider but the consensus of a secret committee decided it was “absolutely the best policy” for the organization. Once again religious right bigotry trumps the actual American values that the BSA claims it is teaching to the boys.