Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Freethought Without Thought

      
Freethought holds that individuals should not accept ideas proposed as truth without recourse to knowledge and reason. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis of facts, scientific inquiry, and logical principles, independent of any logical fallacies or the intellectually limiting effects of authority, confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, sectarianism, tradition, urban legend, and all other dogmas. Regarding religion, freethinkers hold that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernatural phenomena.
 
From: Pedro Timóteo <pedro.timoteo@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Blog submission
To: "Reap" <ourlord_darwin@yahoo.com>



Hello,

I've removed Reap's Truth from Planet Atheism. Your feud with PZ Myers, which all your recent blog posts seem to be about, are not acceptable content there, and I've had several user complaints already.I think it's best that your blog and the aggregator part ways.



  And so here is where this leaves us.... After all of the ghost hunters, demonologists, psychics, people who think they can talk to the dead through a radio, rival radio personalities, critics of the podcast, evangelist preachers, apologetics, catholics, christians, dummies like Michelle Bachman, creationists, frauds like Kevin Trudeau..... after all the disputes and misunderstandings there is one group of people who have managed to censor or limit my speech and/or the accessibility of my words more than any other. That group is The FTB bloggers who are calling for 'social justice' and those involved in A+. There is no question about it. Even if Adam Lee disputes whether he is trying to censor me, he is attempting to do so in some ways

    Here is another interesting  fact. Pharyngula is still being posted at Planet Atheism.  No one can argue that PZ Myers is an open minded advocate of atheism, skepticism or and other type of ism. Time after time PZ has engaged in personal attacks and libel. The proof is there for all to see. It can be found laying around his blog posts and in his comment section. He has spread disinformation on a regular basis about numerous  people and subjects and then limited any peer review of his claims. He was claiming creationists as his victims, now he doesn't seem to care who he lies about. The general attitude of his blog comment section is a reflection of the venomous babbling PZ does when someone disagrees with him. When confronted he takes a passive aggressive tone or gives extreme examples in order to excuse his behavior.
   The fact that Planet Atheism chooses to remove my blog really isn't the end of the world. I already have a couple of offers to have my blog hosted at other sites which will result in more traffic than I saw from Planet Atheism. So a big "thank you" to the people who complained is in order because otherwise I never would have found these new venues.
  One thing I would like to point out is how wonderful it is to have PZ Myers fighting on the side of skepticism, atheism, feminism, and social justice. We need people to help us get away from the lies and injustice of religion so we can replace it with the lies and injustices of PZ Myers. We needed someone who is so egotistical he would force his beliefs on an entire group of people and call for the condemnation of anyone who does not follow him. Imagine for a minute if PZ Myers had a leadership role in our government.What would the result be? I find the thought nothing less than terrifying. Does anyone think having such a person as a mouthpiece is maybe not in our own best interests? Now don't get me wrong, I am not calling for censoring PZ but it would be nice to see people speak out against what is clearly doing harm to others and his approach is unfair and harmful in some cases. Be critical of me if you wish but I'm not telling lies about anyone and I have made it clear my opinions are just that, my opinion. I always invite people to listen to the other side and form their own opinions. You don't see that from PZ Myers, he would rather tell you how it is, and let there be no question, that is final.  The definition of freethought isn't whatever Freethought Blogs agrees with. They can try and 'take back' words if they want to waste time and energy. You can't take back what never belonged to you or anyone else in the first place.

9 comments:

  1. Whenever someone seems to claim that others are "not true [fill in the blank]" I have to ask why do we need to accept their side of the complaint.


    We shouldn't assume that people haven't used the same tools we have just because they reached a different conclusion especially if the people involved are in the family

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  2. "I'd never tell anyone to write about anything other than what they want to write, of course, so please don't ever consider changing your blog's subject matter because of PA. :)" - Pedro Timóteo

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  3. (source: http://planetatheismblog.blogspot.ca/2007/05/planet-atheism-faq.html)

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  4. Planet Atheism sounds a lot like "Chef" from South Park. Ok with everything you say until it someone(thing) you agree with.

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  5. Don't worry about PZ and his thought police. Free thinkers can see when he is spouting b.s., and if they can't then their thinking isn't as free as they thought. When I first starting reading atheist blogs a couple of years ago I was amused by some of the things PZ posted that I read on Planet Atheism, and I thought some of the things he wrote were stupid. He is just one voice on the internet, like any other, even you Reap. I agree with some things you write and disagree with others. Free thought, my friend. Keep chugging along and we'll keep reading you.

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  6. I've been very frustrated with your feud. Both you and Myers have some damn good things to say, but that has been pushed aside because of your pissing-match. Yesterday I checked some of your old stuff - not too old, just going back to mid-2012 - and that was a blog I would have put on my RSS feed. Over the next few weeks I will be reading those old entries. I think you've wasted a good 6 months of blogging.

    It was only because of Planet Atheism that I am aware of ReapsTruth. After checking into PA I found that PA requests that blog posts concern atheism at least 50% of the time. If Pharygnula is still listed there while ReapsTruth is not, I can only guess that Myers posts more than "Reap lies" - he's continued to include posts about atheism and biology. Reading through the past few months of RT, RT fails that test (and calling somebody a dickhead probably does not count as an atheism-related post, even is that somebody is an atheist).

    FWIW - I will be checking back with RT periodically to see if your entries regain the quality they had prior to the pissing match.

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  7. This isn't a pissing match. i don't know why some people dont get it. I am not the one being an irresponsible dick. I am pointing out a problem we should be doing something about just as I would if it was a psychic who uses children for his own climb to fame or a preacher who claims he can get god to pay your bills.....I would suggest you go and check out PZ's blog for more posts on other topics like this http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/02/06/jenny-mccarthy-gets-no-respect/comment-page-1/#comment-555145

    Read the comment section. Is that what it has come to? We sit around and allow one of the most popular atheist bloggers promote the attitude in that comment section?I don't feel like I'm wasting time, at least I didn't but maybe if the general consensus is that we let people like PZ just continue on then I am wasting my time in more ways than one.

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  8. Reap I can honestly say that you gone a bit mental with this whole PZ Myzers thing. Give it a rest before you achieve Mabus status.

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  9. I'd never heard of "Planet Atheism" so unless i'm unique i wouldn't worry too much. It's clear who the likely culprits are that complained though. There's no proof obviously but i'm sure we can all make educated guesses based on their recent & previous attacks on free speech & anyone who has the temerity to question their way of doing things. Nothing coming from their camp surprises me anymore. This is a badge of honour for you, your obviously hurting them, keep it up.

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