Prepare to be surprised
Holy shit. For once someone actually did the right thing. NECSS has disinvited Dawkins from its upcoming conference because of that horrific video.
A Statement Concerning Richard Dawkins
The Northeast Conference on Science & Skepticism has withdrawn its invitation to Richard Dawkins to participate at NECSS 2016. We have taken this action in response to Dr. Dawkins’ approving re-tweet of a highly offensive video.
We believe strongly in freedom of speech and freedom to express unpopular, and even offensive, views. However, unnecessarily divisive, counterproductive, and even hateful speech runs contrary to our mission and the environment we wish to foster at NECSS. The sentiments expressed in the video do not represent the values of NECSS or its sponsoring organizations.
We will issue a full refund to any NECSS attendee who wishes to cancel their registration due to this announcement.
The NECSS Team
Well I’ll be god-damned. There is a too much, finally.
This makes me very happy. Good for NECSS. Good for the Novellas. Good for the movement.
Now, others, please take note: Dawkins and his heinous cronies are toxic.
On the NECSS Facebook page, the hyperskeptics are slagging NECSS for not telling them EXACTLY what Dickie-Dawk Did. Why they feel that NECSS has to justify its decision to them, I am not sure. It’s a done deal. If they’re that curious, as good skeptics they should be able to use the Electric Google Machine and find out for themselves. If they’ve already registered, they can get a refund if they’re so inclined.
I’d be inclined to go now, except for the $1000+ the hotel would cost me.
Highly offensive? Come now.
Well, this makes me less supportive of the CFI merger with RDFRS.
So there can be a too much. Interesting, this coincides with the too much in Malheur.
Let’s see, any more problems needing to surprise us? (Looking at Syria.)
Well, I am surprised. I was away for a long time on following such discussions (happy to find B&W and Ophelia back in excellent shape, that’s not a surprise!) and didn’t know how much Mr. Dawkins went overboard. He was on that path for a long time, I guess, extending valid points contra religion to heinous points about people. Still, it’s a shame that he finally reached the new normal in public discussion: professing to know “the” truth on about everything and, well therefore, shouting.
Did Dawkins just compare himself to Jesus? :-/
As someone who was never part of the Deep Rifts internet nerf wars of online atheism, these things seem petty and boring.
These things make secular activism look like shit. I don’t feel sorry for Dawkins, but people gloating* over a major figure shredding his reputation on a microblogging platform mostly populated by Directioners and Beliebers is depressing.
*Rebecca Watson
@justinr: more-blase-than-thou declarations of being uninvolved and above it all seem petty and boring too. But bless your heart.
justinr, you have it all wrong. The depressing thing is that the major figure did that to his own reputation. That Rebecca Watson — a person Dawkins has treated like horseshit — may express pleasure about him finally suffering some consequences for being a sniveling, mean-spirited bully is, frankly, fun and certainly not depressing.
Besides, secular activism *is* shit until the chickens come home to roost for even more of these fuckers. Unless we can be better than the religious, what’s the point of being an activist for secularism?
That Dawkins would ‘share’ that drivel at all, is a good demonstration that he’s just lost it mentally. When the real issue of ‘progressive’ support for jihadis is being far better addressed HERE…
Justin, I feel estranged from secular activism as well, but I don’t express my dissatisfaction by minimizing a years-long campaign of harassment aimed against feminist women.
Besides, your characterization of Twitter displays a thoroughgoing unfamiliarity with the medium. It remains the preferred medium for social networking among scientists, for instance. Try looking for something other than Justin Bieber fans to feel superior to, and you may have a different experience.
Adding: I just went and read Rebecca Watson’s blog post on the NECSS decision, and I think characterizing that post as “gloating” is so far out of left field as to be laughable.
Hrm… I like New York in May, too…
Clearly, radfem / 2nd wave feminism has nothing to do with a defense of Islamism. Most of such ‘feminist’ defenses come out of what purports to be intersectionality (a contested term, so perhaps I should use scare quotes for that too). Indeed, intersectional activists lead the way in deplatforming radfems (perhaps the most targeted group for such silencing), sometimes listing Islamophobia among the denounced radfem’s sins. Among the various crank positions taken the aegis of intersectionality (not that all intersectionalists would endorse all of these): defense of the burka, defense of FGM, decriminalizing underage prostitution, attacking critics of the sex industry as ‘whorephobic’, anti-anti-catcalling, and so on. Intersectional follies are conflated with feminism in general, both deliberately or through ignorance, and used to attack feminists. Which in turn adds to a climate in which potential allies vs Islamism (ex-Muslims, liberal Muslims, feminists, atheist/skeptic community, civil libertarians against deplatforming of those who criticize Islamism…) are divided.
Matt Zeta Baen:
I’m looking forward to the national tour! Time for you to get writing, and knock out the Intersectional Follies as a play for the Freethought Onstage Festival.
Chris Clarke #12:
Yes, serious adult Twitter is heavily integrated, but still represents a tiny fraction of the Twitterverse. Even Dawkins’ 1.35m doesn’t put him anywhere near the top 100 (or 200, or 300).
TonyInBatavia #10:
Of course Dawk has done this to himself, but I don’t think there is anything to celebrate.
There’s nothing to celebrate about the weird freakshow that is Pharyngula, either. It’s 2016 and everything is shit.
I’m amazed at the number of people who think that NECSS is obligated to give them a link to the video and engage in “reasoned discussion” about it. Do they expect the organizers to reverse their decision? The argument seems to be that NECSS is being hypocritical because they wrote
but then “banned” or “censored” Dawkins. Funny how the second sentence of that graf got sidetracked on the journey from their retinas to the frontal lobe.
What they’re doing is throwing a tantrum, like a kid in the cereal aisle sreaming he wants MegaSugarBomb Flakes rather than Cheerios. It seems as though they think they can mansplain to NECSS why the video isn’t divisive and hateful, and they’ll all get a pony.
The “reasoned discussion” they desire would be best held by Dawkins with himself before he hits the TWEET button.
Exactly! If only he would do more of that, there would be so much less blurting.
I suppose you’ve heard the news: NECSS has apologized to Dawkins and reinvited him.
And he blames feminists for his stroke. Yes, I have heard.
From According to Matthew on Patheos…
Exactly what crossed my mind when I heard about Dawkins stroke in the first place. Seriously, I wish the man no physical ill at all, but it’s pretty fucking rich to complain about the stress he has been caused when you reflect on the stress caused to much less privileged and respected members of the community that Dawkins has pilloried and egged his supporters to attack.
Yes. That. It cuts both ways.