Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s called the “Millstone Act of 2023”, which should tell US citizens everything they need to know about the ongoing struggle with far right Christian extremism. Named after Luke 17:1-2, a passage in which Christ advocates that it’s better for a person to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned, than that […]
transphobia
Posted inLGBTQ
Is it transphobic to believe trans female athletes have an advantage?
Reading Time: 9 minutes I hate to admit it because it sounds so reactionary in the 21st century, but I believe some male-to-female transgender athletes, without mitigating intervention, may have an unfair advantage in women’s sports. I say this knowing that trans female athletes are a tiny minority in sports. But this is not about fear of hordes of […]
Posted inSex & Gender
Gender Identity Debated
Reading Time: 2 minutes I have listened to the first speaker in this debate so far but will continue to watch the whole thing. But I just thought I’d share a couple of early thoughts. First, this is why debates about conceptual nominalism and realism are important. Once you understand the distinction, you will see how important one’s understanding […]
Posted inPolitics, Sex & Gender
Reflections on Dawkins and the AHA
Reading Time: 9 minutes The AHA have just rescinded an award they gave to Richard Dawkins in 1996. It seems like this episode has created something of a hubbub in the skeptical community – itself a bunch of people loosely associating with each other by hanging around on atheist websites like this. Herding cats, and all that. The background […]
Posted inSex & Gender
American Humanist Association Board Statement Withdrawing Honor from Richard Dawkins
Reading Time: < 1 minute I guess Dawkins has a bit of the Twitter-jitters about him, rather like you-know-who. This is from the American Humanist Association: Established in 1953, the Humanist of the Year Award is conferred annually by the American Humanist Association (AHA), recognizing the awardee as an exemplar of humanist values. Communication of scientific concepts to the public […]
Posted inReligion
Michael Brown: Evangelicals Need to Hate More Nicely
Reading Time: 9 minutes Hi and welcome back! Yesterday, we talked about culture warriors — those extremist, authoritarian Christians who want to take by force what they can’t gain by persuasion. Their beloved culture wars have produced a bumper crop of middle-aged, conspiracy-theory-addled hardliners who seem happy to resort to violence to get what they want. And now that […]
Posted inUncategorized
J.K. Rowling and the Measuring of a Woman
Reading Time: 8 minutes Lately, a huge controversy hit social media when J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, offered a series of her own hot takes on transgender people. Some of what she said sounded very much like the stuff we see out of toxic Christians, so today I wanted to talk about the measure of a woman. What goes into womanhood? Who gets to decide? And who gets excluded by these lists of requirements?
Posted inEthics and Morality, The Secular
Freedom of Speech and Offence: The ACA and Rationality Rules
Reading Time: 7 minutes I know nothing about these two entities, really, but here is my view on recent goings-on. In case you are essentially as ignorant as me: So, who are they? ACA – The Atheist Community of Austin, producers of The Atheist Experience that has long been a platform for Matt Dillahunty and others. They have been and are responsible for […]
Posted inGeneral
Massachusetts Churches Sue To Prevent Trans People From Peeing In Their Bathrooms
Reading Time: 2 minutes Four Massachusetts churches are suing the state over a new law that went into effect this month, permitting trans people to go to the bathroom and use locker room and changing room facilities in accordance with their gender identities. While the law only applies to places of public accommodation, churches may fall under that description if they host a public event or rent out their buildings to a secular group.
The churches, represented by the always charming Alliance Defending Freedom, say that the law forces them to violate their religious beliefs.
Posted inLGBTQ, Religion
HB2: A Strangely Incomplete Crusade.
Reading Time: 10 minutes Today I want to look at one group that right-wing Christians routinely ignore when pursuing their agenda of stoking fear and increasing distrust of innocent people. This ignorance reveals much about exactly why they are persecuting trans people. But as we’ll see, their incomplete crusade will still have devastating results if it’s not stopped.