More deep rifts. Or the same quantity of rifts, but deeper. Or more, and deeper, rifts. Or rifts that are no deeper but spread out over a wider landscape. Or -
Stop it at once.
Wossa rift this time? It’s calling Freethought blogs totalitarian and comparable to both Nazis and the Stasi.
That’s a bit much, I think.
One reason for my judgment there is that Freethought blogs is not actually a secret police force. It’s not actually any kind of police force. It doesn’t have a police force. It doesn’t have state power. It doesn’t have any power, except the power of opinion.
There are other reasons, but that will do to be going on with.
The sad thing is that it’s Paula Kirby calling us that, on Twitter (and elsewhere, for all I know). I would dispute the claim with her on Twitter, but I can’t because she’s blocked me. I can’t dispute it with her on Facebook because she defriended me there last year, because we disagreed about elevators. I don’t have her email address. I have no way to dispute the claim with her except here, and I want to dispute it, because I think it’s wrong. I also think it’s a little skeevy to block people so that you can say vile things about them and they can’t see you do it. I’m surprised at Paula – I’d have thought she was better than that.
Paula’s a terrific writer. She was very nice to me at QED, despite the defriending last year. We were on a panel together, along with Maryam and (don’t laugh)…DJ Grothe. Adam Lappin was there. (He was also at my talk the day before, and took extensive notes.)
Alex Gabriel took a picture.
See? I’m next to Paula. Sad, isn’t it.
Paula said
Those who disagree are by definition strawmanning. That’s part of the Feminazi doctrine, isn’t it?
and
It’s still part of Feminazi doctrine! Pharyngula, Skepchick and B&W, by contrast, have of course been bastions of calm reason!
Someone asked her if she really wanted to sound like Rush Limbaugh, and she replied
No, just like me, thanks. I quite like Femistasi too. One form of totalitarian thought is, after all, much like another.
The response was
Really? Radical feminists are as bad as the people who butchered millions of Jews?
[Paging Orac! Paging Orac!]
Paula responded
The allusion is to totalitarian thought and no tolerance of dissent. FTB is currently awash with it.
The other
Regardless of the unpleasant atmosphere on FtB (and elsewhere), it’s a ridiculous equivalence and you know it.
Paula
I disagree. I see real strains of totalitarian thought over there. And I lived in a totalitarian state for 2 years.
So there you are. She seriously said, and repeated in response to incredulity, that she thinks Freethought blogs is like Nazi Germany [paging Orac! Paging Orac!] and East Germany. She lived in the latter, and she says she thinks FTB is like it.
I find that staggering. Really staggering.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)