Department Of Why I’m Typing With (Mostly) One Hand
In answer to the question (which no one is asking), Are those mandoline blades as sharp as they say? [1]
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Department Of Any Questions, Class?
I’ve been seeing this quote requoted quite a lot, which leads me to believe that there is a need for clarification in the matter it addresses. Apparently, there are people who are confused as to the responsibility of journalists to give “equal” ___ (time/weight/consideration) to “both sides” of an argument/issue/statement. For example, if 98 out of 100 climate scientists say they have evidence showing that human activities are causing global warming, and the other two say it is uncertain whether or not human activity is causing global warming, interviewing one scientist “from each side of the debate” is not proportional or “fair and balanced” reporting on the issue.
This quote, a pithy yet profound guideline from a journalism teacher, says it best:
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Department Of Life Imitating Art
I await the juicy revelations that are sure to come from the case of the recently arrested Russian spy, Marina Butina – who seems to be a real live red sparrow, nesting right here in the US of A. Butina is allegedly a “… covert agent (who) pursued a brazen effort to infiltrate conservative circles and influence powerful Republicans while she secretly was in contact with Russian intelligence operatives.” Among other charges, Butina is accused of having traded – surprise! – sex for favors, which included having access to an
“…’extensive network’ of influential Americans through ‘US Person 1,’ widely believed to be GOP strategist Paul Erickson….
The DOJ added that on at least one occasion, “Butina offered an individual other than US Person 1 sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization.”
(Business Insider, 7-18-18)
Pictures have surfaced of Butina attending that most odious of conservative religious/political US Constitution mindfucks, the National Prayer Breakfast. It will be interesting – if not totally predictable – when her other sex-for-favor contacts turn out to be, like Erickson, the prayer breakfast moralizer types; i.e., Republicans who are also active in ultraconservative religious causes.
I once read a seemingly sincere question in an advice column about the phenomenon: Why is it that, for example, the politician who spouts virulent anti-gay rhetoric will be the one later caught with a rent boy? The columnist gave an articulate psychological explanation about sublimation, cognitive dissonance and denial….an explanation which I forgot a week or so after reading it.
But it seems obvious to me that many of humanity’s most complex and seemingly contradictory behavioral and rhetorical conundrums can be explained in terms a nine year old can appreciate – namely, fart analogies:
“He who smelt it, dealt it.”
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Department Of Stop Denigrating (Intentionally Or Otherwise) Things
About Which You Are Obviously Ignorant
Sub Department Of Things That Make Me Pull Over To The Side Of The Road While Listening To A Podcast And Take Angry/Frustrated Notes
I referred to the July 23 Fresh Air podcast, which featured an interview with writer Michael Arceneaux promoting his new book, a collection of essays titled, I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé. [2]
Arceneaux is, of course, his own expert when it comes to his experiences growing up “black, gay, and Catholic in Texas.” I’ve no beef with that, [3] and am likely to read his book. But when FA host Terry Gross ask Arceneaux, who claims to have left the church, about what he believes now with regards to religion, his response revealed an annoying lack of knowledge about a designation he rejects:
Gross: So you write that…you struggle with what it is that you do believe in, but you know you’re not an atheist. Why – if you’ve given up basically on your religion, what’s the difference between that and being an atheist?
Arceneaux: …But I wouldn’t call myself an atheist because I do believe in something….
I don’t want to call myself an atheist though. I think my mom would hit me with a Bible. But, yeah, I believe in something. I’m still wrestling with that, Terry Gross.
Oh. Dear.
Mr. Arceneaux, I’d say you’re definitely not an atheist. Because if you were, you’d likely be smart enough – i.e., a rational enough thinker – not to say that you don’t call yourself an atheist because you “still believe in something,” which implies that (you think) atheists believe in nothing.
Look, it is okay to reject any other person’s designation of your beliefs, but make sure you understand the definition before you do so. Many of us who are religion-free call ourselves Humanists and/or Skeptics and/or Freethinkers and/or Brights, and a variety of other positive identification terms. Some of us do call ourselves atheists, or will accept being so labeled by religious people, even as we may have objections to the term.
The biggest objection in the term, for moiself, is that it supplies very little information. By definition, an atheist is simply an a-theist – that is, someone without theism, which is a belief in gods/deities/a “supreme being.” Thus, the term atheist defines a person in terms of what they are not, and says nothing about what they are.
A seemingly minor point, in some people’s eyes, [4] although I’d argue that this is a very crucial distinction, one worthy of a far greater exposition than will – and has been – found in this blog.
Skeptics, Freethinkers and Brights, oh my!
We who are religion-free hold so many viewpoints and opinions – we don’t “believe in nothing.” I have diametrically opposed political opinions, musical tastes, etc., than other “atheists” I’ve met. Our commonality is that our worldviews are (almost always [5] ) free from supernatural and mystical elements. We do not believe that the natural world is the way it is because of an alleged supernatural world.
There are many things other people put great faith in which I don’t believe in – astrology, homeopathy, the trickle-down theory, “one size fits all” as an accurate clothing label – and I don’t want to be labeled by those rejections. If you are a religious believer, then you are a theist, and you probably don’t want your beliefs framed in reference to mine, or even to be so narrowly labeled (you’d likely want to claim a more specific form of theism, such as Lutheran or Baptist or Orthodox Jew or…). Thus, I’m not going to call you an afreethinker or an –ahumanist.
“In fact, “atheism” is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a “non-astrologer” or a “non-alchemist.” We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.”
( Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation )
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May you always remember, when given conflicting actual or metaphorical forecasts, to check for yourself – i.e., look out the !#$%?! window;
May you understand the labels you reject, and embrace;
May you trust that the blades are, indeed, sharp;
…and may the hijinks ensue.
Thanks for stopping by. Au Vendredi!
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[1] The pain of the cut(s) pale to the pain of realizing moiself’s own stupidity in obtaining them.
[2] Title of the year, or what?
[3] Although, being a plant-eating pescetarian, I’ve no beef with…well…anyone.
[4] And if you’re one of those people, open your eyes a bit wider, please.
[5] Thus, for example, people who reject traditional religions’ theologies but believe that their astrological signs are accurate depictions of reality, or who believe in crystal healing – while these folks may technically be atheists, they are definitely Supernaturalists.