Personal details

#1

Introduce yourself with whatever personal details you fancy revealing. I'll go first:

I'm a 29 year old male from the UK. I'm just about done with my Philosophy MA. I'm an atheist and a political left-winger (my primary interests are workers' rights and freedom of expression).

I like 'classical' music, especially Richard Wagner. 'Notung' is the sword in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

I'm a huge football nut. That's 'soccer' for Americans.

I'm a slimepitter because I tried to have a rational discussion on various FTBs (or their pre-FTB incarnations) and nobody was interested. They preferred instead to just call me names, accusing me of misogyny etc. That shows a serious problem with anti-skepticism infiltrating the 'skeptical' movement. For the record, I'm neither a misogynist nor an 'MRA'.

#2

#3

Greetings! Secret lurker for many months, have to remain anonymous for work reasons. I nearly got fired because of my manager pulling some really unethical behaviour on me, but woke me up to a) how much you can be spied on at work when on the internet and b) how little they can fire you over for being someone who stand up for yourself.....oh, sorry, I mean being someone who just wants to rock the boat. Anyway, I'm the wrong side of 40, like sci fi and horror, live in the UK and really enjoyed "The God Delusion". Enjoyed "The Greatest Show on Earth" even more.

Started by reading Greta Christina - also emailed her about some issues which she just ignored. Went on to JT who I still read, and like. Started reading posts about the "Slime pit" and Franc Hoggle. I can't make up my mind about Franc, but whilst he appeared to be poking at the FTB people, he was also completely rational in his reasoning. I came over to the Slime pit to make trouble and then couldn't sneer at any of the posts - I mean, I could, but it would have been a "You're all losers, nuh nuh" kind of post. No, I wanted to devastate everyone here with my erudite expose of how wrong all the other posts were...and found I couldn't. EVen looked hard for "We hate women" and "misogynism" and just....couldn't.....find it.....

I like Tim Roth as well, hence the "General Thade" name tag.

Love to read the Slime pit thread, I'm having arguments with myself over the c word - are we allowed to say that? Just checking first.....

#4

You mean cunt? I would imagine so. Here in Glasgow it most certainly is not a gendered insult, but I can see how it could be used as such. I think that has been some of the issues discussed on ERV with the redefinition of the English language to suit personal agendas. Why not start a thread?

#5

It's not gendered and quite often it's not even an insult. Is it GrafVonBek, you big cunt?

#6

bhoytony wrote:It's not gendered and quite often it's not even an insult. Is it GrafVonBek you big cunt?

Indeed, almost a term of endearment, ya wee cunt ye.

#7

How did you know I'm a wee cunt? Can you see me through my monitor?

#8

Not through your monitor, just through YOUR WINDOW!!!!!! And I cannot believe that what you are doing with that "thing" is even physically possible...

#9

Logic dictates that most of you know me already.

Prepared and ready to keep calling out the FC5.

#10

Hi, long time reader of the original Slimepit, first time commenter on any of its threads/related venues. I was a lurker at ERV, and came close to commenting a few times last summer but didn't because others always ended up raising whatever point I was going to make anyway (but much better than I probably could). I'll probably be largely a lurker here too (or not, I'll see as things develop), but I registered because I think the early success of this forum hinges on people actually being active in this crucial "formative" stage (at least until it grows large enough to have a life of its own).

About my personal details...well, I enjoy sunsets, long walks in the park, and my astrological sign is a Noisette Rose, flowing freely on an outer windowsill (what? My made up astrological sign is as good and credible as any other ;) ). Also the N. in my online name stands for Nathaniel, in case anyone was curious.

#11

CommanderTuvok wrote:Logic dictates that most of you know me already.

Prepared and ready to keep calling out the FC5.

Didn't cross paths on 4thought.tv?

#12

GrafVonBek wrote:
CommanderTuvok wrote:Logic dictates that most of you know me already.

Prepared and ready to keep calling out the FC5.
Didn't cross paths on 4thought.tv?

Aye. I'd forgotten about that. It was the crazy Muslim guy who essentially said life wasn't possible unless it was under Sharia. There was no reasoning with him.

LMU · #13

Saint N. wrote:Hi, long time reader of the original Slimepit, first time commenter on any of its threads/related venues. I was a lurker at ERV, and came close to commenting a few times last summer but didn't because others always ended up raising whatever point I was going to make anyway (but much better than I probably could). I'll probably be largely a lurker here too (or not, I'll see as things develop), but I registered because I think the early success of this forum hinges on people actually being active in this crucial "formative" stage (at least until it grows large enough to have a life of its own).

Same here.

#14

CommanderTuvok wrote:
Aye. I'd forgotten about that. It was the crazy Muslim guy who essentially said life wasn't possible unless it was under Sharia. There was no reasoning with him.

Tell me about it. After 4000 words arguing with the chump I turned it into a blogpost! Turns out he served 4 years for incitement to racial hatred for calling for British soldiers to be sent home in bodybags. He got even more evasive after another poster brought that up. My moment of glory - 146 "likes" at last check for likes for my first post in the comments. Shamelessly massaging my own ego here!

edit: cocked up the quote

#15

I am another ERV lurker identifying with the slimepit for the first time.

I am 31 years old, living in the United States, male, atheist, libertarian/voluntaryist, among other qualities. I strive to be diplomatic in my speech whenever possible, but I also strive to avoid any claim of moral superiority over those who do not speak as I do.

I previously associated atheism with reason, then I learned about FreefromThoughtBlogs. :D I have never commented on FfTB, but I am grateful to those who have done so, thereby demonstrating the bullying nature of much commentary there.

I found out about the slimepit in an unusual way. I was scheduled last summer to be interviewed on-camera for a documentary by a guy named Richard Dawkins. Since I was relatively new to the atheist movement at the time (although I definitely do not consider myself an activist), I researched online to learn more about my interviewer. I discovered that he had made some controversial comments on a blog called Pharyngula, and many were upset about that. Eventually my research traced back through some woman declining a request for coffee, then bullying dissenting voices on a stage and various media, and it led me here. My interview with Richard Dawkins went well, but the documentary is not yet released.

I also happened to attend Skepticon IV last November in Springfield, MO, where the infamous Gelato Mio incident occurred. I had actually donated $100 to Skepticon, and in return I received from Skepticon large pictures of Rebecca Watson, PZ Myers, and Greta Christina. :shock: I will not make the mistake of contributing to Skepticon again after seeing the treatment that the Gelato Mio owner received from many atheists, particularly PZ.

For the record, I believe in equal rights for women, but with equal rights comes equal responsibility.

#16

I'm a 45 yo male New Zealander living in Australia. Have a PhD in Forestry (really conservation ecology) and MSC and BSc in Zoology.

I work in the areas of sustainable development, sustainable livelihoods, and adaptation to climate change in developing nations. Funnily enough, this also includes gender equity and cultural sensitivity. Who'd a thought it from a slimepitter?!

I see it as my mission to stamp out the aberration that is ass, and restore arse to its rightful place in the world's lexicon.

#17

I had actually donated $100 to Skepticon, and in return I received from Skepticon large pictures of Rebecca Watson, PZ Myers, and Greta Christina.

For teh win! If I'd only a'known.

:)

#18

Another long-time sekkrit lurker here. Once had a brief login on that website, but I stopped posting due to, well obvious reasons.

Thirty-something divorced British Male (grew up in that cesspit of rationality Northern Ireland, currently living in Engerland), rationalist, Thelemite, vaguely right-of-centre but in a sensible way (pro-choice, pro-SSM, equality-feminist, but anyone mentions "social justice" to me and I will attack them with a claw hammer). Also a kinky fucker into BDSM and so on. Degrees in astrophysics and computer science, currently (for last few years) suffering from an attack of the black dog.

Owned by two magnificent kittehs that would make Prof. Ceiling Cat go weak at the knees.

Oh, and I can be an utter gobshite too, especially in "citation needed" mode.

You're all a bunch of cunts too. But then, as one learns growing up in a shithole like NornIron, to call someone else a [name] you have to recognise that you yourself are a bigger [name]. I am the biggest cunt of them all.

Finally, For the Horde!

I'll leave you with this link from the awesome Stacy Dellorfano, which says everything I ever wanted to say:

http://www.frivology.com/dear-feminism- ... g-shit-up/

And with this link:

http://afeministsub.wordpress.com/

Who is another awesome person.

#19

As I mentioned on ERVs blog, I am absolutely terrified of the poo that Blu got. I've also been stalked IRL some years ago, it involved some federal police action to deport a crazy stalker. When I saw the lengths that Laden went to to try and shut down Abbie, I had nightmares of these crazies tracking down others including me. (Apart from the RL stalking, I have also been the target of 3am phone calls. 'tis a long story) It is pathetic that their concern for women makes me more worried rather than less. Anyway, for better or for worse, I am here.

A bit more about me, I am a grandmother *gulp), I've been following ERV and PZ since way before the great EG happened and am not at all impressed at with PZ and RW. Blu and Franc know who I am and understand why I am a bit paranoid, but if franc or Blu knows you and you e-mail me, I'll divulge a wee bit more info.

#20

John Greg wrote:
I had actually donated $100 to Skepticon, and in return I received from Skepticon large pictures of Rebecca Watson, PZ Myers, and Greta Christina.
For teh win! If I'd only a'known.

:)

What is seen cannot be unseen, but fortunately everyone was fully clothed, which is not always the case with Rebecca and Greta. :)

#21

40 year old male from Canada. I have an MA in political science.

My political views tend to be left-of-centre and I'm somewhat more sympathetic to the accommodationist wing in the accommodationist/confrontationist debate among nontheists. I'm fascinated with learning about human nature and our physical reality.

On the feminist debate, I'm in agreement with liberal/equity feminism but don't have much truck with radical/gender feminism. On the nature/nurture debate on gender behaviour, I think the answer is somewhere in between rather than skewed to one side or the other (both biology and social conditioning are involved).

#22

Its worth pointing out that I'm with my fellow Brit Thunderfoot here:

"Management reserves the right to kick you out if you're a fuckwit" along with "Don't be an arsehole unless they deserve it" and "Be excellent to one another where possible" are all the bloody rules anyone needs.

#23

Git wrote:[...]grew up in that cesspit of rationality Northern Ireland[...]

So are you a Prod atheist or a Taig atheist?

#24

Lsuoma wrote:
Git wrote:[...]grew up in that cesspit of rationality Northern Ireland[...]
So are you a Prod atheist or a Taig atheist?

giggles

I'm a funny kind of atheist in that I'm also a Thelemite. So I guess I'd fall under the "Prod Satanist" category. Got out of there in '97, ironically just as things were improving. The site of former terrorists in government doesn't sit well with me on a idealistic scale (I lost close relatives in the Troubles) but vast majority of people voted for it, and people by and large aren't killing each other anymore. And what happens in the future the people will democratically decide. So I'm not going to let perfect be the enemy of good, and if Brenda can shake the hand of Marty, then I can too.

The hate is still there though. That won't go away until education is fully integrated though.

(edit: bollocks, forgot I wasn't on G+ for a moment - sodding underscores)

#25

40-year-old Alabama boy here. I've been an atheist for about eleven years now. I come from a southern baptist upbringing, and am still surrounded by that culture. My path to deconversion was studying biology -- long a favorite topic, but one I didn't know much about. I found physics much easier to understand (and still find it more comprehensible). I consumed Dawkins. I consumed Gould. Once I shed my faith, I think in a way biology became the replacement for me in terms of the sense of awe and wonder. I read and read and read as much as I could, and grokked it all...

Until I stumbled on Abbie's old blogspot blog (via PZ, ironically), and My. Brain. Was. Blowed. I felt like a first grader thrust into a 400-level college course. And even though I still feel like I'm on an 099 level in terms of virology, I still consume every one of Abbie's posts with a tailwag and a headache.

But a good headache.

I should go ahead and admit that I still cling to the "feminist" label despite what Ophelia, Watson, et ass have done to it. That's not the reason I stayed away from the Pit for so long (despite being a regular commenter at ERV); I stayed out because I have trouble "playing rough." I'm generally a meek person, and a lot of the pit rhetoric crossed a personal line for me. (And I don't say that in a judgmental way; like I say, it was a personal line.)

I abhorred -- and still abhor -- the actions and attitudes of Watson, PZ, Ophelia, and their crew as much as anyone, although perhaps for slightly different reasons. Yes, they're entirely cult-like. No, there isn't a skeptical, rational bone in their bodies when it comes to gender politics. And yes, all of that bothers me. But what angers me the most is that their actions, attitudes, and politics are harmful, as I see it, to gender equality. And not just harmful to men -- harmful to women. And that's why I fight them.

But to make a long story short, I ended up in the Pit after defending Abbie against lies and creepy stalking at Pharyngula, and being called every name in the book as a result. I was labeled "Slime" just by virtue of the fact that Abbie is my friend. So, I figured, if I'm gonna be called Slime, I may as well get slimey.

So, yeah, I guess that's who I am.

Well, no, that's not who I am. Who I am is Bruno's dad. The rest is gravy.

[youtube]IUaUP-tjgH4[/youtube]

#26

Evan wrote: What is seen cannot be unseen, but fortunately everyone was fully clothed, which is not always the case with Rebecca and Greta. :)

And in one fell swoop you just provided umpteen blogs worth of ammunition for the validation of everything the FTBs have been claiming about the ERV threads and will about this one. Yes, the whole point of this board is to allow the freedom to express opinions contrary to the groupthink they embody, but they will already be quote mining like crazy here. Why help them along?

#27

Git wrote:Got out of there in '97, ironically just as things were improving. The site of former terrorists in government doesn't sit well with me on a idealistic scale (I lost close relatives in the Troubles) but vast majority of people voted for it, and people by and large aren't killing each other anymore. And what happens in the future the people will democratically decide. So I'm not going to let perfect be the enemy of good, and if Brenda can shake the hand of Marty, then I can too.

I was born in London (Rochester, Kent in reality, but close enough*) and with the exception of 7 years uni in Bristol was there until 2002. The IRA stuff never really bothered me - Londoners by and large didn't let any of that stuff affect them.

I got good and close to terrorism, though (both state and non-state): I was working at Imperial College on Exhibition Road the day the Paras took out the Iranian Embassy - I was actually walking from my flat in Gloucester Road along the south side of Kensington Gardens, and was opposite the RGS when I saw the bomb go off. Scared the crap out of me. The worst thing though, was a friend of mine who had passed through Kings Cross on the morning of 7 July 2005. She saw the news, 'phoned her dad to tell him she was OK, then got on that number 30 bus in Bloomsbury...

The hate is still there though. That won't go away until education is fully ~~integrated~~ secular though.

FTFY...

*Well, Borstal really, for those of you who know the Medway Towns...

#28

I'm franc. I'm the same cunt as the other place. I'm the person who's name Justicar screams and curses whenever his meth lab blows up.

#29

Dangerously close to the 50 mark (and not happy about it), now returned to the southern tip of Africa after a 20 year stint in YewKay. Physics/Computer Science grad wot remembers feck all about physics, or maths for that matter. Basic trigonometry would stump me. Not a shining star on the work front.

Been through the religious spectrum from Jebus through Sant Mat, Scientology and vague New Agey crap to general disillusionment and finally atheism as I ran out of excuses for the lack of mundane evidence. Became aware of the online atheist community around 2004/5 and really enjoyed the sport of Creationist/ID spanking as a spectator. Avid reader of Pharyngula and Brayton, amongst others. Bought into Unka PZ's stuff about his robust but rational and fair horde. I cheered on the eviscerations with the best of them. Became slightly uneasy with the way the horde closed ranks to head of uncomfortable questions. Still, no big deal. Then a few threads about gender popped up and Peezus seemed strangely unaware of studies such as ones showing genetic preferences for toys and showed a strange antipathy toward Evo Psych. What the hell , he's the Bilge Prof and such a stickler for the evidence, must be my radar that's off. Then my flabber became ever more gasted as EV developed and PZ aligned himself with people whose arguments he'd have torn to pieces with max snark and snideness under other circumstances. That is how I came to immerse myself in slime.

I know that Black Dog very well, Git. Nipped by a few other pups as well. Mindfulness is the way to go.

#30

Canadian, male, in my 50s, father, grandfather, BSc and MSc in Physics, atheist for decades but started in the United Church of Canada which is pretty mild. Recently ended a long period of volunteering at a telephone distess centre. I have a pet bird.

I occasionally go into Second Life to watch live music and once saw a live interview of PZ there.

I started reading SB a bit before Abbie got there, and quite liked PZ then. The first bloom came off that with the occasional emotional rants about libertarians... I'm not one, but it seemed so full of dog whistles as to be unintelligeable. Then the dictionary atheist thing finished me off on him. I still read occasionally (but not anymore), but always read erv and starts with a bang and often orac.

I used to call myself a feminist, but although my main ideas haven't changed, I don't want to be associated any longer with others that use that label.

#31

GrafVonBek wrote:
Evan wrote: What is seen cannot be unseen, but fortunately everyone was fully clothed, which is not always the case with Rebecca and Greta. :)
And in one fell swoop you just provided umpteen blogs worth of ammunition for the validation of everything the FTBs have been claiming about the ERV threads and will about this one. Yes, the whole point of this board is to allow the freedom to express opinions contrary to the groupthink they embody, but they will already be quote mining like crazy here. Why help them along?

That's unlikely to be mined... it's well known that both RW and GC have voluntarily appeared unclothed in calendars to raise money for their causes.

#32

@Lsuoma:

Sorry about your friend. I remember that whole period very well as I was working at Guy's & St Thomas Hospital at the time. Whole hospital went into lockdown. I think we might have got more casualties after that nutter blew up the gay bar, though.

Closest I've ever been was when my window got rattled by the Staples Corner bomb.

#33

45 yrs old and an (out/official) atheist for around 8 years maybe, a skeptic for far longer, only in those last few years applied it to religion and most everything else in my life. Had to change a lot of my old ideas and opinions. Consider myself progressive in politics, with a mix of liberal and conservative views (more liberal though, I don't make enough money to be a conservative). Definitely a Gnu atheist and a non-accomodationist, also falling on the side of determinism and Jesus mythicism. Wide range of interests. Proud father of two dogs (and posted my first video on YouTube a few days ago). Work with kids and people, so I can be a bit unsocial when I get off work - that's my time. A bit curmudgeonly online at times. Had problems with spending too much time online in forums like this, so I try to avoid it, but keep going back. I'm doing better now - life's too short and I have too much to do. Also an Apple fan and PS3 geek, under the same handle (BF3 over COD, any day, but many many other games - I have no life :D ). I am new to twitter and Facebook, and have a blog that averages a post a year. Biology degree, with Anthropology minor, and I work with high school kids in a credit recovery setting, so I deal with every frigging subject under the sun - a bit of jack of all trades and master of none, if you will.

#34

As for me, I'm 34, from the UK, and I was originally on ERV a year ago as Marco the Beagle, then came back recently, forgot I'd used that name (the memory's going, I swear), and became Senor Beagle. Writer for a living, and a drummer in my spare time (though I ain't played in about a year).

I've gotten much more sceptical of, well, everything in recent years. Christ, I can remember back to being a young lad in secondary school, and believing shite like The X Files, but fortunately, I grew out of it.

Also, Optimus Primate has the beard I wish I could grow...

#35

I am a 55 year-old lifelong atheist, well, lifelong as in since at least the age of seven, even though I know I was too young to really understand my own claims of non-belief.

Been a lot of things; done a lot of stuff. Professional touring musician for much of my early life (1976 to 1991), also professional tech writer, nightclub deejay, this, that and the other thing.

I was introduced to feminism at around the age of eleven, and in my early 20s graduated (my term) to humanism.

I actually met both Gloria Steinem and Andrea Dworkin in the early/mid 70s. Steinam I found interesting, but I sensed she was flawed, but did not understand that intuitive sense until her fling with Kissinger. Dworkin frightened and disgusted me immediately.

Spending some time in my teens and very early twenties with some very radical radfems, I began to realize that they were little more than misandric bigots, many of whom believed in male genocide -- what do we call that? Gendercide? Anyway, dealing with them, and studying the socio-political world around me at that time, showed me that yes women have a lot of sexist challenges to face. But, while they are generally less and different, men have challenges too that are routed in sexism. So, humanism; true equality. I no longer support the distaff black pantherism that is the feminism of groups like FfTB and Skepchick.

My first foray into online feminism blogging/bbsing was actually at Skepchick. That was, I think, about four years ago. At that time it seemed like it was an open minded sort of a place. And, compared to today, it was. But it did not take long at all to find out that the real agenda at Skepchick was a form of isolationist victim-based feminism that just did not sit right with me. Also, it actually took only a few weeks to see that Rebecca Watson was a really unpleasant person who rather than answer questions and discuss, would rather snark, belittle, insult, and dismiss anyone who questioned her about almost anything.

I first encountered PZ Myers around the same time, and found him offensive immediately. I just do not support the notion that effective change and constructive social action is brought about by kicking people in the knees, and then pissing on them when they're down, and then telling them it's all their fault that they can't get back up again.

I do not remember how I came across ERV, but I am very glad I did.

Oh, yeah, forgot. It was reading Carl Sagan when he came out with his Candle book that introduced me, in a meaningful way, to the concept of skepticism. I think we really need a Carl Sagan now. A great tag team could have been him and Hitchens. Both died much too young; both will be missed for a very, very long time.

And now, here we are.

#36

I'm an urban Canadian code monkey. The one thing I'm sure of is that I'm an atheist. Everything else is generally in flux: Socialist, Humanist, Libertarian. Liberal, Feminist, Buddhist, Skeptical, Accommodationist... they all flow in and out of each other, waxing and waning, rising and falling as a nebulous Venn bubble bath in which I swim. Though I don't consider myself a great writer, I love words and truly appreciate wit and cleverness in others.

I follow quite a few atheist blogs. Before last July, I never really followed PZ, I think because of the negativity and the palpable hate-hard-on he has for theists... at least that was my impression. I followed Ophelia at Butterflies and Wheels for a short while, but later stopped. I can't remember why. She might have been repetitive. She might have been taking a philosophical angle that wasn't that interesting to me. I just know B&W didn't make it through one of my semi monthly RSS purges of blogs I rarely read. I wasn't aware of Skepchick and I had never heard of Laden, Zvan, Thibeault, or Christina before Elevatorgate. I made one comment a long, long time ago on Blag Hag on an issue unrelated to feminism. Other than that, I haven't contributed or been banned from any FfTBlog.

As for my connection to ERV, I had a personal interest in the progression of the whole Elevatorgate drama (no, I'm not that guy). While following it, I stumbled upon Franc's blog and was sucked in to his writing. Through him, I found out about ERV and the pit. I have a continuing interest in most of the current discussions, but I stay because there are so many witty, clever people there (now here).

#37

GrafVonBek wrote:
Evan wrote: What is seen cannot be unseen, but fortunately everyone was fully clothed, which is not always the case with Rebecca and Greta. :)
And in one fell swoop you just provided umpteen blogs worth of ammunition for the validation of everything the FTBs have been claiming about the ERV threads and will about this one. Yes, the whole point of this board is to allow the freedom to express opinions contrary to the groupthink they embody, but they will already be quote mining like crazy here. Why help them along?

FTBullies are religious fundamentalists. They're obsessed with their religious cause to the point of complete irrationality. They use the same "debating" tactics that Christian fundamentalists use - lies, evasion, strawmen, appeal from authoritah, etc. I've been debating Christian fundamentalists for years (online) and have learned it is damn near impossible to say anything that can't be quote-mined in some fashion by the fanatically obsessed.

I'm all for not giving PeeZus's worshipers any real ammo, but if we start the habit of over-analyzing everything we say before we click "Submit" because we're afraid it might be quote-mined by the Church of Feminology and "used against us" somehow, then we start censoring ourselves and doing their dirty work for them. They're going to be using everything we say against us anyway, so we might as well be ourselves.

Maybe a "Quote Mining" thread can be introduced that showcases some of the more blatant offenses. In other words, make their inevitable quote-mining work in our favor!

#38

French, male, 34, and I sport a goatee. I'm a pro musician, occupational skydiving instructor and scored a 98/100 at my latest urine test.

Long time ERV reader become SlimePit resident, I atually don't even really know why I'm doing this anymore. Seems to be very US-centric to me. OTOH, I really like the community here (meaning here and at ERV), and feel I would suck big time if I didn't try to help a bit whenever I can.

#39

Hullo. I just joined because I saw references to it on twitter.

My slime-y background: I did read PZ but immediately jumped ship during Elevatorgate and posted (infrequently) on the giant posts at ERV for a while. Been to pissed off/scared to interact with the skeptic community since, especially after seeing what happens to those who dare question what goes on.

I'm a public servant and an author. Politically I'm largely right wing/libertarian.

#40

Phil, peut-etre parce que nous Americains sommes l'origine du problÃ¨me? If you *really* want, perhaps I can come to France, stamp my feet in indignation at every minor offense, insist that you speak English because I do, etc. Partager est prendre soins, non?

DÃ©solÃ©, je parle comme une vache Espagnol.

#41

Hi, Gumby here. Christian for 22 years, atheist the last 3. Work in the home rehab industry. College edjumacated, but no intellectual. I started reading (and occasionally commenting) on Sciblogs Pharyngula about 4 years ago, followed the move to FTB, and have enjoyed a lot of the tear-downs of creationism and fundamentalism (and PZ's infrequent posts about science). Posts about politics and social issues I generally ignored, because quite frankly I am not interested in a lot of what was being discussed. That's because while my politics have moved considerably to the left since I left Christianity (funny how that works eh?), I will never be as leftist as most of the Pharyngula crowd.

Ignored until Elevatorgate, that is. For the last year I have been somewhat enthralled by the whole drama, starting especially with Dawkins' "Dear Muslima" comment. I remember being quite shocked at the rabid fury heaped upon who I consider the most respected person in the entire atheist movement. I can understand disagreement, but I never expected the tearing down of Dawkins as a human being that I witnessed. It was pure character assassination. The behavior previously directed mainly at trolls and Christer fundietards was now being leveled at one of their own, with all the attendant sneering and spittle-flecked invective normally reserved for the most vile of godbots.

And it just snowballed from there, as you all know. It got worse and worse, and more and more of Pharyngula's content was veering toward this ferocious brand of activism loosely tagged with the "feminism" label. Eventually I heard about ERV and the Slimepit. I initially looked down my nose at the Slimepit threads because of the raucous, profane and often lewd behavior exhibited by the regulars. However, as I got more and more dissatisfied with the escalating nastiness infesting Pharyngula, I started reading the Slimepit more carefully. I found that when I could filter out the spitballs and pigtail-yanking, many of you were making a helluva lot of sense, and seriously, calmly and rationally discussing the issues - while all Pharyngula commenters seemed to be doing was referring to questioners, doubters or outright dissenters as "delusional fuckwits" who got the porcupine prescription. I started commenting at ERV on occasion the last couple of months, under the nick "Phormer Pharyngulite".

These last two or three months I have seen Pharyngula totally go down the tubes, assisted by PZ and his rabid sucking-up to Watson, Benson, Christina, Zvan et al. And I've watched Ed Brayton sit more or less passively and let it all happen, basically ceding control of FTB to Myers. After seeing Thunderf00t get the totalitarian boot for his brave and in-your-face dissent, and watching Justin Griffith be forced to publicly grovel in the mud before his master PZ (destroying his credibility and integrity in the process while throwing us under the bus), I am happy to call myself a Slimepitter.

I find it interesting how my transition from Pharyngula to the Slimepit so closely resembles my transition from Christianity to atheism. In both cases, I had to shed a bunch of dogma, learn to see things rationally, and discard erroneous preconceived notions. And in both cases, when I had done that and "crossed to the other side", I found my former peers were mostly rabid fanatics totally devoid of reason.

/bloviate

#42

Hi Gumby. Coincidentally I was a Christian for 21 years, then an atheist for 2.5 years as of now, and my political views (particularly on social issues) have moved to the left, but not FfTB-left. Congratulations on your de-conversion from the dogma of Jesus and PeeZus.

You also inspired my present forum signature, especially as i await the firing of "umpteen blogs worth of ammunition" for my previous remarks. :)

#43

Evan wrote:Hi Gumby. Coincidentally I was a Christian for 21 years, then an atheist for 2.5 years as of now, and my political views (particularly on social issues) have moved to the left, but not FfTB-left. Congratulations on your de-conversion from the dogma of Jesus and PeeZus.

You also inspired my present forum signature, especially as i await the firing of "umpteen blogs worth of ammunition" for my previous remarks. :)

Yeah I saw you used my words as your sig! I'm flattered! :) Thanks for the "hello"!

#44

Evan wrote: my political views (particularly on social issues) have moved to the left, but not FfTB-left.

I'm always amazed at the US view of so-called lefty politics. From my UK vantage point the likes of PZ and the rest of the baboons are pretty much centre-right on the political spectrum. I nearly pissed myself the first time I heard Obama called a socialist. The US seems to be slewed far to the right compared to most of the world and I don't think the majority of them even realise it.

ConcentratedH2O, OM · #45

Justacunt's biggest fanboy (for the sexiness) and biggest hater (for the hypocrisy and occasional lunacy). Atheist, scientist, ex-poster on Meyers' SciBlogs blog, until the harridans chased me away and got me banned. His current software is rather good at deterring driveby trolls, has anyone found a reliable way to post there when IP-barred?

Probably male, definitely not MRA (sorry, Caine.) Instigator of the SallyStrange rapey-jokey-likey and Greta Christina laundry-banky-sleepy memes, which still generate a few chuckles. Also, tried to propagate the name "Chymepit" (regurgitating and chewing over each others' cud) for FfTB, which never caught on. **saddest of all sadfaces**

Cannot remember how I got to ERV, but dammed glad I did. It was a blast, right up until about a week ago when Justacunt went all weird and demanded that we start sending cakes and puppies to the Chymepitters. Fuck that, you skinny-assed cunt.

#46

Hey guys, Thaumas Themelios (aka Wonderist) here. I needed a whole post for my intro: http://www.slymepit.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=95

For anyone interested in the long-term success of this venture we're embarking on, please read the linked post, because that's the whole reason I'm here in the first place, so it makes up a great deal of my intro. :-)

#47

Hey. I'm Skeeve from atheiststoday.com. I've been an ERV lurker/sometimes commenter since around 2008 I think. All the forums and blogs kinda run together. I'd have to go back to my first comment to be sure.

Anyway, I've been following this shitty mess since the elevator, but I really don't know any of the major players so have just sat in the background and watched it like the train wreck it is.

@ERV: We still need to go bar-hopping in the City sometime. Though now, make sure you bring plenty of friends to party with, as I'll probably be lagging behind pushing my walker to keep up. :)

#48

I'm a 25 years old unconventional/pragmatic socialist (the thing which Obama unfortunately is not, even less than the German government, which is made up by the conservative party CDU in coalition with the small liberal capitalist "free democratic" party FDP and the Bavarian Christian Social Union CSU) from Germany. I'm also a pan-european, agnostic and generally having little positive about religion despite finding it an interesting thing to study. I'm now studying history with comperative religion science minor and studied political sciences before. I'm also very nerdy, love both natural and social sciences [most of it is really better than you might expect but the meaningless post modernist ideological gibberish gets more attention] and generally lurk in the internet for much of my free time. I used to like PZ Myers back then until he became obsessed with Rebecca Watson and somehow wondered if she is his illegitmate daughter or something like that. He seemed to get less and less sane every week and the commenters even more. I stopped reading it in the end and now have rather ambiguous opinions about the "skeptics" and "free though"[the term reminds me of the obsession of dictatorships to put the word democratic into their official name] movements.

#49

Not from FtB... just started reading it about a month before the elevator. I got banned from DemocraticUnderground.com where I debated Xtians in the Religion forum and hung out with the cool kids in A&A as 'joseph8th' (later 'daaron' in zombie form).

When I got banned, it was without cause and part of a mini-purge of atheists from DU. Meanwhile the Xtians keep trolling and distorting and lying and giving money to the R.C.C. while claiming to be the backbone of the progressive movement.

So I got mad and being a professional web dev who happens to be atheist (rather than, like Ed at FtB, a professional atheist who happens to be a web dev) I made more or less another version of this site wrapped in WordPress multisite with BuddyPress social engine, forums, and wikis. Just rolled it out about a month ago and so far smooth sailing. I get most interest so far in the webcomics I make and post on r/atheism, twitter, etc.

It definitely started out as my personal Revenge Website, but I've beefed it up and now it's a great big empty forum for other disenfranchised atheists and non-believers (and believers, if they dare) to hash shit out without fear of banning. I plan on doing something like 'time-outs' and granular group lock-outs for trouble-makers... when (if) anyone ever starts using it.

Just rolled out blogs feature -- like FtB only I'll eventually open it up to requests. If anyone wants a blog on the network, let me know and for now I'll have to do the backend setup until I get the install setup just so.

The B.A.N.: The Banned Atheist's Network at bannedatheists.us.

Sorry for the pitch, but I'm living on a farm in rural Missouri and live online at the moment. This has been my escape, and I'm proud of it. I do like The Slymepit, though, too, and expect I'll be around quite a bit.

Enjoy!

#50

Toiletman wrote:[the term reminds me of the obsession of dictatorships to put the word democratic into their official name].

Any government that's willing to use "democratic", "glorious" or "people's" should be watched with much alacrity.

I may have learned that from Pratchett's Night Watch...

#51

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:
Toiletman wrote:[the term reminds me of the obsession of dictatorships to put the word democratic into their official name].
Any government that's willing to use "democratic", "glorious" or "people's" should be watched with much alacrity.

I may have learned that from Pratchett's Night Watch...

I've always liked ones that go for the hat-trick of 'people's democratic republic'. Since democracy comes from Greek dÃªmos "people" and kratos "power" and republic comes from Latin res publica "public matter/people's business", it roughly translates into modern English as "People's People's Government of People's Government". Some folk think politicians just use words without them meaning anything.

#52

Just-joined male 21-year old from Sweden.
I went to university with the plan on working for a PhD in physical chemistry, went 180 and is now working for a Master in translation. Pretty much an atheist from the age of 6 to now, with a brief stint in my mid-teens when I got confirmed in the Swedish statet church. Buut, I got a guitar out of the deal, so it wasn't all bad. Trained skeptic by my father, who is one of the most cynical bastards I have the good fortune to know. As soon as I went and told him something in childhood wonderment, his first repsonses was always: "Who is telling you this and why are they telling you this?".

I do listen to and play a lot of music, and have recently started a rock band (I recently moved and had to quit the band I were in), which of course is going to be known to all in 2-5 years maximum. I am also a huge lover of tea and dogs.

Came to the Slymepit because of Mykeru on Youtube, and because I simply got tired of FTB and atheism+. I have posted one comment on FTB in all my life, but since I saw no one understood my sarcasm when I said "Men are so awful that I sometimes feel like I want to kill myself" (or something like that, but more sarcastic), I closed the tab in disgust, and have never looked back since.

#53

Jakke wrote:Just-joined male 21-year old from Sweden.
... I closed the tab in disgust, and have never looked back since.

Welcome to the real home of free thought.
I note in passing that the anti-free-thought bowel-movement is eclusively North American, and predominantly white privileged middle-class.
The very thing against which they rail like Harpies & Banshees.

Yet here, it is markedly non-USAsian.

Gotta mean something.

#54

Joined a while back, not one for intros but I'll leave a few bread crumbs here.

50th birthday is in <3 months. Lifelong skeptic. Lifelong atheist (since sentience; aware of being so around age 8, after some cogitation & investigation including reading Genesis). My atheism stems from my skepticism. If there were compelling evidence for god/s then presumably I'd believe in whatever there was evidence for, but would absolutely still be a skeptic. (Not thinking that evidence is likely to appear. Just sayin'.)

Overeducated, with undergrad & graduate degrees in Chemistry (bioorganic chemistry) then an MD. Work in academic medicine, and increasingly in administration within the institution. My patient panel is ~95% women. I find it funny to read all this horror about the word "cunt", because they (the anatomic ones, that is) are ever-present in my daily work. I put my fingers into women's vaginas all day long (gloved, and with their consent of course). From my POV, it's a normal thing to do, they're normal, it's normal, what's the big deal. It's just a word.

Re gender stuff: I am one of the several people here who used to call myself a feminist but no longer can, given all the FtB/A+/Skepchick shit. I hadn't heard about the MRA movement before coming here, and have found what I've read pretty compelling. I guess, if anyone asks, I'll now admit to being a "humanist" (though I've always thought that sounded so squishy). Really, "rationalist" fits better, and there's no rational reason to deny equal opportunity and equal rights (where possible) among & between humans.

My undergrad institution was ~85% male, and my workplace for the last ~15 yrs is ~85% female. Each is/was a comfortable place for me, as are the largely-male skeptics' get-togethers, but there are definite differences between a mostly-male and mostly-female group. I was a daughter, and am raising a son. Given these experiences, oh and my studies in biology along the way, I am quite prepared to believe that there are biological differences between the sexes, that include the brain and behavior.

IMO an interesting thing happened in medical school wrt gender - our class was divided up into smaller groups of 7 students that met regularly, with the groups shuffled around every 2 months or so. It quickly became clear that the assignments were made so that there were 2 women and 5 men in each group (which evenly distributed the sexes through the groups). After maybe 6 months, most of the women got together & complained to administration, wanting a group made up of only women. The only 2 women who didn't join that hue & cry were myself (who'd attended an essentially all-male undergrad institution) and another woman "D" who became my bestie (who had attended a women's college). The other women felt they were talked over in the groups and didn't get a chance to be heard; D and I hadn't felt that at all, we felt we were equal contributors/participants in the groups we'd been in. (Hey, and I was still marveling at how MANY women there were in my group, after my undergrad experiences then Chemistry grad school!) Hard to know what analysis of a videotaped group session would have found, but it always seemed to me that the other women tended to readily yield/cede to male classmates in discussion. Presumably it was just another example of the literature that's out there about gender differences in language, conversation, and interaction styles, but I thought it was interesting that D and I had each learned how to operate in what I thought of as the real world.

Re online community: I've been involved in a couple of discussion boards serially, for several years each. Used to read Pharyngula (back at its prior location) but was startled by the rancor among the denizens, particularly for newbies. I strayed twice into commenting and 'bout got my head bitten off, no harm obviously but who the hell needs it. It's tempting to go over to FtB/etc now to comment but I'd rather just let them swing in the breeze on their own rope.

Didn't pay much attention to Elevatorgate, which had occurred shortly before I went to my first TAM, in 2011. The stench finally reached my nostrils this past summer. I poked around a bit. Tried to make one post at Skepchick about their proposal for "Kirksy" (ala Kirk Cameron) to replace "crazy" because the latter was ableist; I pointed out that it was an insult against another person using a part of his personal identity, and couldn't they pick some aspect of his public persona to ridicule instead (like "Crockoducky" or something). That comment never made it out of moderation.

I checked out Atheism+ (heard about it a couple of places, including my local atheist group, in which several people were gung-ho about it). Lurked; was astounded that the Atheism+ forum claimed with a straight face to welcome skepticism. Ended up checking out the claims in the petition to get Justin Vacula removed from his volunteer post with SCA, challenging the party line, being accused of intellectual dishonesty, and was banned. My first banning! A real notch on my belt, and SO unspeakably ridiculous to have stuff like this occurring in the so-called "skeptic" community. As part of investigating the claims against JV, I had poked around in a prior incarnation of the Slyme Pit, was a little startled at the vituperation, but then after my A+ banning I came to check out the Periodic Table of Swearing and am now spending wayyyy too much time here. Love it. Free-flowing unmoderated discussion with skepticism truly and well welcomed.

I continue to serve as an Admin on another site and on a couple of Boards IRL including a (local) atheist organization and my local UU church. Plus gotta go to work every day. But I'm really drawn to this site, checking in frequently. I don't feel I can log on at work, but I've taken to checking in on my phone when I have a little down time or am on the bus between clinic & hospital.

And finally, to end this overly long post, which I hadn't even intended to make: Keep up the good work, guys*.

*A gender-neutral term, in case anyone lurking is thinking I'm leaving the women out.

#55

^^ For future reference, the reason I spent so much time focusing on gender stuff is that the whole RWatson/EvoPsych/Girls&Shopping fiasco is the particular shit that's hit the fan this week has got me thinking (heh a dangerous thing). Definitely not a usual part of my introducing myself (gender focus, that is; hopefully thinking does often come in to play).

#56

Notung wrote:Introduce yourself with whatever personal details you fancy revealing. I'll go first:

I'm a 29 year old male from the UK. I'm just about done with my Philosophy MA. I'm an atheist and a political left-winger (my primary interests are workers' rights and freedom of expression).

I like 'classical' music, especially Richard Wagner. 'Notung' is the sword in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

I'm a huge football nut. That's 'soccer' for Americans.

I'm a slimepitter because I tried to have a rational discussion on various FTBs (or their pre-FTB incarnations) and nobody was interested. They preferred instead to just call me names, accusing me of misogyny etc. That shows a serious problem with anti-skepticism infiltrating the 'skeptical' movement. For the record, I'm neither a misogynist nor an 'MRA'.

Mmmmm. Sounds hot.

#57

I am a young woman (some would call me a girl) non-materialist atheist. I lasted a couple of weeks before being permanently banned from A+. I was banned 3 times from there, including the permanent ban (yay? but really I didn't do anything). I came here looking for a place that was speaking out against Atheism+ and found it. I would have looked for a place when I was going there simply to freely criticize negative things about it (but I see the entire thing sucks), but I was afraid of being banned.

I'm not familiar with a lot of FtB... dunno what people mean by elevatorgate (even after reading the glossary) and many other things. Anyone want to fill me in? ^^ the best way you could fill me in would be to bitch about everything you can think of about A+ and FtB. it's okay if it's long.

#58

Oh, and I'm from America. Midwest region.

#59

Oh, I also wanted to tell people that I am a complete pervert in all sorts of ways in case anyone would be surprised. I have hella pervert power. I have been told I overloaded someone with my sexual energy (non materialist...told ya...). I recognize the disadvantage guys have in being perverts, and I am sorry that I can be more perverted than you without lecture, but I will be taking full advantage of this. Sorry, again.

#60

Hello. I go by FX (long story, don't ask) and have done so for at least 15 years online. No relation to the channel, and I sometimes regret the choice, but by using the same user name I run across people online from years back, Which can be interesting, but also for the most part most people don't give a shit. Of course it allows easy cross forum stalking and such, but I don't shy from conflict, just from boring entanglements. So if you "know" me from elsewhere, don't bring your butthurt along for the ride. Nobody cares.

Somebody linked to a topic here on the sguforums, so I did what I usually do, which is sign up and say hello. It doesn't mean much, so everybody calm the fuck down. Especially since I don't really give a crap about personality clashes, interforum conflicts, or whatever clusterfuck of the moment has your undivided attention. This isn't really a choice I made, it's from seeing it happen for the last 17 years online. It's pretty much just boring at this point.

Seriously, this shit has happened so many times, it's just something that happens. Blogs, Twitter and Facebook just make it faster and easier to cut and run, piss people off, and do what passionate people do. Which is fuck people over, blame people for their problems, or just have some good old fashioned fun. I choose fun. Because if it's not fun, why the fuck would I waste any of my precious and limited time doing it? Seriously. You might not be able to tell, but I enjoyed the hell out of the last several minutes typing this dreck. If it made you even crack a slight little grin, all the better.

Cheers. Got to run.