In Support of Ron Lindsay

 

 

In case you didn’t know it Ron Lindsay  has been catching some slack for his opening speech at the Women in Secularism 2 conference.

There has been  a call to remove Mr Lindsay from his position. I can’t tell you how much this bothers me. The fact it has even been called for is incredibly troublesome. The people who are calling for such action have got to be ignorant on a level that should shame them. We are better than this, we are smarter than this, and we have more common sense…at least we should have. Just because a group yells loud does not mean they have a better position on an issue or have the best interests of everyone in mind. In this case I think it is clear one small segment is attempting to claim they represent a large portion of the community when that simply is not the case.

You can support Ron Lindsay by sending a email in support to  tflynn@centerforinquiry.net

Here is a copy of what I sent them-

  I would like to voice my support for Ron Lindsay, the speech he made at the beginning of the WIS2 conference and his overall attitude through a very stressful period in the atheist/skeptical circles.

  I raised a daughter as a single father. She has become a mature self confident compassionate member of society. I have no interest in supporting anyone I believe would hinder my daughter or any other woman in achieving anything she aspires to. I volunteered time to help create the media for launch of Secular Woman. While I would not call myself a feminist because of the unclear definition, I can say I speak out on behalf of and do work to help achieve equal rights for women.

       In my opinion Ron did nothing that could be considered harmful to women, their rights, or anyone else’s rights. This trend towards removing people from positions because they have upset a vocal portion of the community is a dangerous one.

     The main criticism of the opening speech seems to be who was the source of the speech. Ron, being a middle-aged white man was being criticized before he even finished speaking. The outrage displayed that a man dare voice an opinion at a woman’s conference is unbelievable. I ask you to consider the speech not knowing who the speaker was. If you can read that speech not knowing who is delivering it and not be offended to the point of outrage then Ron Lindsay did nothing wrong except be born white and male. When you start to judge or penalize people for the way they were created you do everyone a disservice.

  There is an attempt to force what can only be described as an agenda on the atheist/skeptical community. This agenda has nothing to do with atheism and it does not stand up to examination by skeptics. Still certain people are attempting to make it part of these ways of thinking. The CFI is just the latest in a list of groups /people who have been targeted. I hope they follow the lead of every other group effected by this type of behavior and continue to embrace facts and integrity over propaganda and falsehoods.

 Thank you for your time

‘Reap’ Paden

 

In Support of Ron Lindsay