Daily Blend: Thursday, December 06, 2012

Anita Sarkeesian

My quest to reestablish a halfway-functional sleep schedule continues, so for now, enjoy these remedial links.

Awesome quote of the day: “The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) walks back on his previous confusion about the Earth’s age, says “there is no scientific debate” that “it’s at least 4.5 billion years old”. He then blathers about reconciling science and theology, but then, that he’s said this much is already extraordinary.

Anita Sarkeesian ^[pictured] talks about overcoming the massive campaign of sexist hatred she received for wanting to talk about the portrayal of women in videogames. Good on her for making more asshatty heads explode.
(via Pharyngula)

And finally, here’s a trenchant representation of the archetypal sibling relationship as reenacted by puppies:
(via @EmergencyPuppy)

[full size (600×657)]

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Quote of the Day: Kyell Gold on Persecuted (Anti-Gay) Christians [updated]

From furry novelist Kyell Gold (yet again), writing about all those Christians claiming how the advancement of LGBT rights makes them feel so oppressed:

[Anti-gay Christians] are not the Jews in Nazi Germany; they are the Neanderthals looking around in bewilderment as more evolved humans take over their territory, beating their chests and screaming ineffectually in the face of inexorable progress.

Be sure to read the whole thing. (And a few of his books while you’re at it YEAH I WENT THERE.) Meanwhile, this has been neatly filed in with the rest of the Memorable Quotes.

---

UPDATE: 08/01/12 7:52 PM ET —

Kyell adds a note that I should’ve thought of: The comparison between homophobic conservatives and Neanderthals isn’t quite accurate, given that Neanderthals were evolutionarily unable to catch up with the more advanced Homo sapiens, whilst social conservatives have every choice to join the 21^st Century.

Tags: Kyell Gold • Chick-fil-A • gay marriage • same-sex marriage • Nazi Germany • Jews • Christian Persecution Complex

Thought of the Day: On pragmatism and idealism

If pragmatism can be adequately summarized as “doing what works”, then rejecting it, by definition, leaves you with naught but hopes and dreams – the equivalent to a frustrated teenager railing against an unjust world without knowing what to do about it. If you dismiss the very approach that actually garners results, then what do you have left but empty fists?

Pragmatism and idealism go hand-in-hand, the inspirational leader to the blue-collar worker. Pragmatism without idealism to guide it is hopeless; idealism without pragmatism to work for it is useless. Any party that rejects either one is doomed to impotence.

(Inspired by Maryam Namazie, who is still generally awesome.)

Tags: Maryam Namazie • pragmatism • idealism

Quote of the Day: arensb on Christian persecutionist whinging

From arensb at Epsilon Clue, reacting to yet more persecutionist whinging from the Illinois Family Institute:

Your right to religious freedom ends when it affects people outside of your sect. Your right to worship as you see fit does not include the right to be kowtowed to, the right to make other people live by your rules, or even the right not to be offended. Put on your big-boy pants and deal with it.

Right into the Memorable Quotes does it goeth.

(via Rob F)

Tags: arensb • Epsilon Clue • Illinois Family Institute • Christianity • Christian Persecution Complex • religious freedom

Quote of the Day: Kyell Gold on reverse discrimination

Sen. Dan Swecker (R-WA)

From acclaimed furry novelist Kyell Gold, reacting to Washington State Sen. Dan Swecker’s (R) asshattery about same-sex marriage:

There is a fundamental difference between being discriminated against because of who you are and how you choose to live your life, and being “discriminated against” because of how you believe other people should choose to live their lives. The first case has been shown time and time again to be generally not the way we choose to do things here in America (with some exceptions). The second case is a pathetic whining of people who are perfectly free to live their lives the way they want, but will not be happy unless they can stop other people from being happy. They are co-opting the language of civil rights in an effort to make themselves appear like victims. Don’t buy it, not for a second.

Excellently put. Added to my Memorable Quotes.

Tags: Kyell Gold • gay marriage • same-sex marriage • Dan Swecker

Quote of the Day: Another old New Atheist’s immortalized credo

G.P. Spencer’s monument [source]

Not much is known of George P. Spencer of Lyndon Center, Vermont, who died at the age of 83 in 1908. But this epitaph inscribed on the side of his granite monument speaks of quite a fine-minded fellow:

Beyond the universe there is nothing and within the universe the supernatural does not and cannot exist. Of all deceivers who have plagued mankind, none are so deeply ruinous to human happiness as those impostors who pretend to lead by a light above nature. Science has never killed or persecuted a single person for doubting or denying its teachings, and most of these teachings have been true; but religion has murdered millions for doubting or denying her dogmas, and most of these dogmas have been false.

Remind me again just what is “new” about these so-called New Atheists?

(Of course, standby for the usual swipes about how science did kill in those godless dictatorships, or how religion is supposedly not to blame for any of the killings done explicitly in its name. Or something.)

Added to the ever-growing list of Memorable Quotes.

(via @todayspolitics)

Tags: George Spencer • New Atheism • atheists

Quote of the Day: Daniel Radcliffe on religion’s “answers”

Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) has always struck me as being a remarkably bright and eloquent young man, an impression only reaffirmed in this recent Parade interview:

I have a problem with religion or anything that says, “We have all the answers,” because there’s no such thing as “the answers.” We’re complex. We change our minds on issues all the time. Religion leaves no room for human complexity.

Succinct and true. A new entry in the ever-growing list of Memorable Quotes. (This is not the first time Radcliffe’s made his atheism known.)

(via What Would JT Do?)

Tags: Daniel Radcliffe • atheists

Quote of the Day: Diaphanus on God’s fanboys

Except for God

From my friend Diaphanus:

Two theologians debating the nature of a deity are like two Star Wars fanboys debating the nature of The Force.

A bit obvious, but no less true.

Added to the Memorable Quotes.

Tags: Diaphanus • Ian Miller • theology • theologians • God • Star Wars • The Force

The greatest speech ever made (or close to), by Charlie Chaplin

It’s always interesting how some of the very best quotes and sentiments are so often ones that originated long before our time. (Well, mine, anyway.) Here’s Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, dishing out some grade-A humanistic principles way back in the 1940s in one of the greatest speeches ever written:

My transcript: (click the [+/-] to expand/collapse →)

[−]

[NOTE: Original from Not My Tribe; revisions by me]

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an Emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, Black man, White. We all want to help one-another; human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one-another. In this world, there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all. Even now, my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say, “Do not despair.” The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed; the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress; the hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people, and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder! Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate; only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers: Don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke, it is written, “The kingdom of God is within man”. Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you! You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then, in the name of democracy, let us use that power! Let us all unite! Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people. Now, let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

You said it, Charlie.

(via Pharyngula)

Tags: Charlie Chaplin • The Great Dictator • humanism • speeches

Quote of the Day: Joe Jervis on free speech vs. intimidation

Joe Jervis

From Joe Jervis at Joe. My. God.:

When anti-gay Christianist hate groups call for nationwide boycotts of LGBT-friendly companies, that is a righteous use of the free market in order to preserve morality, marriage, family, and the American way. But when GAY groups use or threaten the use of a boycott, THAT is homofascist intimidation, intolerance, bullying, and an attempt to deny the freedom of speech.

Just so we're all clear ^{[warning: auto-play video]}.

Well, duh, obviously. ’Cause one side is just following God’s will while the other is trying to queerify us all into being sexually attracted to pink poodles, or something. Makes perfect sense.

Tags: Joe Jervis • Joe. My. God. • Family Research Council • Peter Sprigg • boycotts

Quote of the Day: Blond Nonbeliever on religions and atheism

Blonde Nonbeliever’s Blogger profile avatar

I’ve already posted a Fail Quote and a Badass Quote today, so why not make it a trifecta? From the Blonde Nonbeliever:

If you have a bible on your bookshelf, you may be a Christian. If you have a Koran on your bookshelf, you may be a Muslim. If you have a Torah on your bookshelf, you may be Jewish. If you have all three, you are probably an atheist.

Her obvious message: Only by stepping beyond the confines of any single religion does one begin to realize just how similar they all are.

Perfect Memorable Quotes material if ever there was any.

(via Friendly Atheist)

Tags: Blonde Nonbeliever • Christianity • Bible • Koran • Quran • Islam • Torah • Judaism

Quote of the Day: Marcus Aurelius tells us how to live with(out) gods

Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris, Gladiator [2000])

Ed Brayton just posted this over at his blog, and I thought it was definitely worth sharing … even if it is just about 2,000 years old:

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Thus capturing the essence of secular morality: Be good for goodness’s sake. And if any god(s) out there are unjust, then it matters not how devout you are; cruel deities aren’t known for according many graces to us puny little mortals, no matter how much divine ass we may kiss.

Added to Memorable Quotes, as per usual.

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

Quote of the Day: PersonalFailure on the difference between “New Atheists” and theists

From the Mistress of Hell, PF, explaining why the moniker “New Atheism”, and its connotation, is garbage:

"New Atheism"/"New Atheist" refers to atheists speaking their minds, writing books and blog posts, wearing T-shirts and putting stickers on their cars and generally being exactly as open and vocal as Christians are in the US. So, of course, we're "rude", "shrill", "angry", "bitter" awful people who need to shut the fuck up and leave the talking to the Christians. Cuz, you know, privilege.

Bingo. (Added to Memorable Quotes, as usual.)

Quote of the Day: PZ Myers on Republicans’ marital hypocrisy

PZ Myers

I first saw this a week ago, but somehow neglected to blog it. For our latest inclusion into my list of memorable quotes, here’s what PZ Myers, having recently celebrated his 31^st wedding anniversary, has to say about Republicans and their double-faced stance on the supposed sacredness of traditional values:

It's a strange situation where the political party with more ex-wives than candidates […] is regarded as the protector of the sanctity of the family.

In other news, Kim Jong-il is now in charge of protecting international relations.

Quote Tweet of the Day: On cakes and cults

Julie Borowski

From Libertarian blogger Julie Borowski on Twitter:

I witnessed someone calling Ron Paul people a "cult" while eating a cake shaped like Reagan's face at #CPAC. Wait a min.

I’m not too big on Ron Paul, myself, but the Reaganites have grown downright disturbing in their whitewashing, idolizing fantasies of late.

(via The Agitator)

Quote of the Day: Kyell Gold on the Prop 8 debate

From acclaimed furry novelist Kyell Gold, commenting on continuing developments in the labyrinthine Proposition 8 case and its supporters’ persistent efforts to try and get it back on the ballot:

I have to agree with [the US Ninth Circuit Court’s] comment that if the people can't defend their own measure, then the initiative process doesn't make a lot of sense. However, the initiative process doesn't make a lot of sense anyway. I'm not sure why anyone thinks that a measure put onto the ballot by a bunch of people who are not trained legislators, which has been declared unconstitutional by a court and which the elected officials of the state refuse to defend, needs to be further debated. […]

But it continues to baffle me, this legal wrangling over what should be a simple issue: the rights of the minority cannot be beholden to the will of the majority. And yet we apparently have to learn this lesson over and over and over again.

Why search for logic and reason in the motives of people who are clearly (and often self-admittedly) driven by zeal, dogma and money?

At any rate, there is little chance that Prop 8 will ever regain prominence, much less be put back on the ballot in the near future. Public opinion is constantly edging towards civil rights, and add in the facts that A) no competent authority wants to touch it and B) those who defended the gay marriage ban thus far have been thoroughly excoriated for having no credible legal (or moral) grounds, and the measure is quite simply rotting on the vine until someone finally decides to strike the festering thing down once and for all.

Quote of the Day: Christians, atheists and militants

Atheist ambigram

A bit hyperbolic – anyone who blows up abortion clinics or forms militias are, by definition, militant, rather than only those who perpetrate mass murder and global wars – but the point is one that merits being made more often:

“A Christian has to be Adolf Hitler to be called militant. All an atheist has to do is write a book.”

— Tommy Holland

Maybe when atheists start forming armed marches through city streets and blowing up churches and mosques, then they may merit the label of “militant”. Until then, anyone who attempts to use it as a smear against outspoken godless folks deserve no more than derision.

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

Tags: atheists • Christians • quotes • Tommy Holland

Quote of the Day: Greta Christina and the nature of reality

Hey, best pic for skepticism I could find, okay?! [source: Atheist Nexus]

“Why does skepticism matter?” It seems like a fairly obvious and self-answering question, doesn’t it? Skepticism matters because critical thinking is what shields you from being taken in by any nonsense you encounter. And yet, so many people not only adhere to magical thinking, but actually latch onto it and defend it viciously as they would a vulnerable infant, that it almost seems to make the purpose of promoting skepticism self-defeating. Why would anyone want to spread the word that all those warm, fuzzy things people believe in simply don’t exist?

Well, as usual, Greta Christina has an answer, and as usual, it’s a wonderful piece that merits reading and sharing around. But this following excerpt is particularly memorable in how poetic and wonderful it is:

Reality is a harsh mistress. She demands our honesty. She demands our work. She demands that we give up comforts, that we let ourselves feel pain, that we accept how small we are and how little control we have over our lives. And she demands that we make her our top priority.

Quote of the Day: Rebecca Watson on atheism, happiness and truth

Skepchick Rebecca Watson has a new video up where she takes on that old challenge-cloaked-as-a-question by theists: “What does atheism have to offer?” It’s not about whether godlessness makes you happier or not; believe in whatever you want if it’s just to get your spirits up, regardless how wrong or utterly delusional it may be. But if you just want the truth – or, should I specify, whatever we humans can determine that is the closest to the truth based on reason and evidence – then atheism is the ticket.

Here’s the short but relevant excerpt:

Let’s drop the whole “atheist evangelism” thing and call out bullshit questions like “what does atheism have to offer?” for just what they are: bullshit. I mean, what does knowing that the Earth goes around the Sun have to offer? Who cares? It just is.

And that’s a new Memorable Quote added to my collection.

(via Diaphanitas)

Tags: Rebecca Watson • truth

Quote of the Day: There’s nothing “straight” about Fox News

How Fox News actually sees their logo

Fox News often states that it has two halves of programming: its opinion/commentary shows (Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly, etc.) and “straight news” for the rest. Of course, anyone who actually watches its supposedly non-partisan reporting – and has a grounding in fact and reality – can tell you how its supposedly “straight” news is anything but. From a Media Matters article about how Faux lied about federal agencies supposedly boycotting Arizona (when it’s confirmed by the agencies themselves that they aren’t), commenter Bad News left this little retort in the comments (I took the liberty of making a few small edits):

“Straight news”? Fox News is so crooked that if they died, you would need to screw them into the ground.

Why wait?

This is a new addition to my Random Quotes collection.