A Debate With No Sides

What actual debate may look like

   So I am over at the A-News post where Lee Moore is attempting to put together a debate in order to stop the fighting between some of the FTB blogger/skepchick and A+ supporters on  one side and the other side comprised of all the people who aren't overly concerned about the things the FTB blogger/skepchick and A+ supporters are ranting about, and a forum which goes by  the name Slymepit. In case you don't know it I am maybe a bit biased towards the slymepit . I am not however, an unfair man. I take pride in being straightforward, honest, and blunt as a rule. This has caused many people to dislike me but it is their own issue, I can do little about it.

PLEASE NOTE- Not official slymepit logo

 Please note I am only speaking from my perspective. This comment was originally in reply to Matt Dillahunty claiming Renne Hendricks and John Welch were misrepresenting claims which they were not doing IMO.(here) I doubt Matt will reconsider his position at this point  so I figured it may be better to offer a public reply that others may consider, or not.
Matt Dillahunty says:

February 6, 2013 at 9:54 pm

They’re not telling you where you may roam. They’ve been asked to participate and they’re defining who they’re willing to negotiate with. It’s not only acceptable, it’s the norm – and it’s a good idea.
If you’re going to debate or negotiate, you want people who are willing to make decisions based on reason and who are willing to denounce slimy attacks.
When people, like you and John, misrepresent the claims from the other side, you exacerbate the problem an inhibit progress.

  There is a reason the slymepit was created and has grown. Each individual has their own story. PZ Myers has dismissed the entire forum as evil and hateful, unworthy of consideration. Over 500 people all declared no better than creationists (or even worse) by one of the more influential (arguably) atheist bloggers on the internet. Also a man who is a regular speaker at  conferences. Why? Because people want to listen to him. That is an important fact to remember as you read this or if you wonder why I am writing about the subject.Well, he is, in some cases, a liar. He also has demonstrated a lack of reason and responsibility by condemning the slymepit.There is a clear issue with PZ Myers, he is the catalyst in this. His readership and influence have enabled him to keep this entire thing going by accusing many skeptics/atheists of being potential rapists, racist, misogynist, and sexist. Not to mention the usual name calling you expect from a college professor like asshole or dumbass and then banning people who take issue with being treated that way. What does anyone expect to result from such behavior? Along with A+ which was an outright declaration of Us vs Them to many people. This was then supported by Richard Carrier in his blog posts. Throw in some Adam Lee, Lousy Canuck, Ophelia Benson and other random players, you get what we see today. It would have been nice to see some reason and logic pop up among the popular figures but they were all too busy staying out of it. Now we have a mess that isn't going to be resolved easily. I got involved because of the attack on Justin Vacula, it was just wrong. I refused to sit and watch as a young, active, energetic, and sometimes overeager adult was attacked and his character assassinated because he pissed off the wrong group of immature skeptics. When I stood up for him then I was a target. I'm not going to be anyone's target. I am going to answer back in my own style. That is what I am guilty of. I am guilty of informing people who want to tell me what it is I mean, to screw off. I am guilty of telling people who claim I am a racist or misogynist, despite overwhelming evidence showing that is not the case, to shut the hell up. As far as I am concerned there is no debate over the things I have a problem with. I am not going to debate whether it is okay to accuse me of being a racist or anything else because I didn't allow someone to do as they pleased while I sat silent and watched. There is one side that carries the brunt of this and it is those who are casting judgement on others when they can not possibly know what they say is true. It is a catastrophic failure in skepticism because it harms people on a personal level. That is the misrepresentation you should be paying attention to.

Stop Talking Shit Canuck, At least Try

just sayin.....

    So Surley Amy has some backup...who would backup someone that wants to prevent anyone from wearing fake jewelry or has a tshirt she finds offensive? Her friends. People like the Lousy Canuck. I'm not going to personally attack Surly Amy or Jason Thibeault. I am going to address some things though.
 Surly Amy should be ashamed of herself and instead of allowing her ego to keep her from being reasonable she should be rethinking her words about banning anything at conferences. It was foolish to even suggest it in the first place and the last thing we need is more fuel on the fire that has been burning using the common sense, dignity and reason of many bloggers and activists as fuel. I can't tell you how many times I have heard the phrase "I lost a lot of respect for ______ because of this feminist/elevatorgate/skepchick/FTB thing"  It is pathetic and sad.
   Now Jason Thibeault wants us to overlook Surly Amy's...well he pretty much just wants us to pretend she never said anything because she is his buddy. If Jason hadn't been busy trashing people and saying stupid shit because he can't control his temper, then maybe it would give people a reason to pause and consider his side. Unfortunately Jason also uses the same blog post asking for Surly Amy to be excused from making unreasonable demands to continue trashing people he has banned from his blog. Just like the unapology  he wasted his time posting a few weeks back, he can't just make his point and leave it at that.   Justin Vacula  seems to be a thorn in Jason's side so much that he just can't stop writing about him. While I'm sure Justin is flattered it would be fair to at least give the person you are spending time talking shit about an opportunity to reply.
   Jason Thibeault is being a chicken-shit pussy to put it in plain terms. He whines and complains calls anyone who disagrees a troll and has a temper tantrum if anyone he thinks is his friend disagrees with him. I'm sure it's nice to write a blog and bask in the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you have banned anyone who doesn't nod their head and smile at your every blog post. Don't get me wrong I know there are times when you must block some people because all they are posting is stupid meaningless shit...that's not the case here.
 This habit of screaming out "TROLL!" every time someone disagrees with you is growing and I find it is being abused. Mostly it is being abused by people who seem too lazy or unsure to support their statements and sometimes it is being used because the blogger wants to talk shit and never have to face the person they have targeted.
 I cleared up some things on Jason Thibeault's blog that he had got wrong. I knew they were wrong because I was directly responsible for creating a graphic he said was made in response to a DMCA report against Justin Vacula.. I did not make it for that reason. I also made sure that certain things said by Surly Amy were  brought to people's attention because Jason seem intent on making any disagreement with Amy about hating women or being bitter about harassment policies. That was not the case. Jason also included several common fallacies in his post which I pointed out because it seemed like a nice thing to do. An atheist,skeptic,feminist blogger should know when they are presenting a weak argument.He should have been thanking me.
    Instead, after I left my comment the canuck cult started blab blab blabbing. For a guy who yells "troll!" so much Jason sure does have a lot of them bobbing their heads around in his comment section. No no, don't worry, no need to rush and warn Jason he has more trolls to ban. These trolls work on Jason's side of the fence. When they operate like that Jason has no problem with them. I answered the first couple and read some of the comments following my post and not one person presented a good counter argument.The best they could do is ask me to prove what should have been obvious. I don't have time to do that over and over. I made my points a bit clearer by responding a couple times then I said Jason could contact me if he had any issues with what I said. I doubt I will hear from him if his past behavior is any indication.  It seems Jason is content with standing behind a wall with a group of friends while he lobs things over it at others and his friends all pat him on the back.There is little I can do about it except post my opinion on it and wait for him to muster up the testicular fortitude to stand up for what he blogs about and what he says about other people who disagree with him.
  The sad part is I'm sure Surly Amy and Jason Thibeault are people who have allowed emotion, ego, and knee-jerk reaction to rule in this case and that almost always results in bad decisions and words that are tough to support using the good old logic and reason you had been using up until then. It's okay to be wrong sometimes, admit it, correct it, and move on. Don't allow your ego to be more important than the truth and fairness, that just isn't fair.

 As I post this it has become public knowledge that Surly Amy is responsible for at least some of the DMCA reports that have been popping up. It would not be totally unreasonable to assume she had something to do with all of  them. I can't wait to see if Jason Thibeault makes another appeal to ignore Surly Amy's actions or bothers to apologize for incorrectly posting accusatory comments or saying that some people were wrong in even suggesting Amy was behind all the DMCA complaints.
  If you want to read about what I've been talking about, here you go- http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/