A Summary of Atheist+

Atheism+Theism

Atheism+ is an attempt to hijack the online atheist/skeptical community for the purpose of promoting a radical political agenda using questionable methods.   The idea has probably been simmering on someone's back burner for sometime but was born after the "ElevatorGate" controversy by radical feminist who blame all their problems on men.     Their claims of sexism or harassment are often exaggerated.     

ElevatorGate (James Onen)

So this installment begins with Rebecca's claims of harassment which I believe were overly exaggerated if the event occurred at all.  Those who pointed out she and PZ Meyers attacked.   This fueled a fury of fighting online.

• http://freethoughtkampala.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/elevatorgate/
• http://freethoughtkampala.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/elevatorgate-part-2-the-failure-of-skepticism/

"Elevatorgate" hits bottom

Several media outlets have picked this up aside from causing a division within the Atheist/Skeptic Community.     Some popular skeptics/Atheist have also fallen into Ms. Watson's web.  When someone asked about the other side of the story from the guy in the elevator (Elevatorguy) his existence was dismissed with general assurances that it happens all the time sprinkled with some insults.  Claims need to be proven not asserted.



Even the theist, who are usually our debating partners, took notice with a large page at conservapedia.    Like most things on Conservapedia, the information is incomplete and inaccurate.  (http://www.conservapedia.com/Elevatorgate)

The divide widened as people started to choose sides on the issue.    This created the problems with ERV/Freethough/Slime pit as the factions developed.   (http://rationalugandan.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/letter-to-the-slime-pit/)

Methodology (Kafkatrapping)

The cause of "elevatorgate" as well as the reasoning by "radical feminism" as used here seems to be kafkatrapping.    Basically you are guilty of the crime without question and refusal to admit your guilt confirms it.     The alleged crime is usually a thought crime of some kind.    Maybe your guilt is because you may have benefited in some way.     This reasoning is the basis of why all white people are guilty of slavery even if you never owned slaves or advocated the practice.

• http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=2122

Ad Himinem (Thanks becky)

Definition: Argumentum ad himinem is an attempt to link the truth of a claim to a negative characteristic or belief of the person advocating it. Closely related to ad hominem, literal Latin “to the man”, this is instead “to the male” and removes gender ambiguity. It is however equally applicable to females who inexplicably defend argument as though cum testiculis, or seek to defend indefensible and erroneous  male perspectives. Antonym to ad feminam.

• http://greylining.com/2011/07/24/our-dynamic-and-expanding-vernacular-thanks-becky/

Rebecca Watson

She is probably one of the worst people to call themselves skeptic.   She was banned from a popular skeptics forum for bad (if not illegal) behavior.     She basically thinks the only crimes are those committed against women by men.  She will often cry foul when someone uses gender targeted action, and she uses the practice herself

• http://greylining.com/2011/07/31/pz-myers-and-rebecca-watson-leadership-by-example/ 

Atheism+

The group is born but is largely confined to the blogs, Forums, and Facebook.      As many people note, the stated goals of the group are admirable but the methods used by the group leave a sour taste.  Their tactics are usually us and them tactics.   You are with us or against us.  (http://elevatorgate.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/i-finally-read-the-richard-carrier-article-good-grief/)

A good outline of the group :http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blogs/entry/some_observations_about_atheism_plus/  

How to alienate your members

Some people are already leaving this new group because of their tactics.

• http://asystemofrandomtangents.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/suspension-of-critical-thinking-a-why-im-done-with-it/

The Issues

 Where they get social issues wrong is how they address the issues they deem important.   They ignore pretty much everything outside of their radical feminism.    It's more of a "strawman" tactic.   They first define the issue as they view it then argue for solutions to the problem they give.    The issue is the problem they define doesn't exists.

• A Sex worker's point of view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuus6VTsSg4
• A satire on A+ views on Mens rights,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqlW0WdB5lM&feature=g-all-c

Theft

Even the initial Atheism+ logo for the group seems to have come from Richard Dawkin's online store.

• http://store.richarddawkins.net/products/non-believers-giving-aid-t-shirt

Myers Law 

Many people have tried having a rational discussion of the ideas with the group to no avail.    This seems to be a common theme within the group.

•  http://greylining.com/2011/12/01/myers-law/

Get someone fired for disagreement

Thunderf00t has been involved from the start which started largely by his criticism of the groups philosophy. 

• http://thunderf00tdotorg.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/ftb-want-thunderf00t-drummed-out-of-the-community-and-forever-a-pariah/

More Information on PZ Myers

• http://phawrongula.wikia.com/wiki/Phawrongula_Wiki 

More Information on FreethoughBlogs (FTB)

Franc Hoggle has been writing about the issues with FTB since it came around.    The FTB people even tried to "Doc Drop" (give out personal information) but failed when they disclosed the information of an innocent bystander by mistake.

• http://greylining.com/