I’ve been branded a “Social Justice Warrior” for my views lately. I don’t think the title is fair. An SJW is stereotyped as an insincere blowhard, and I’m not insincere. I have gotten this label because I have called a famous YouTuber racist for saying black culture is a victim cult, that black people need to be fine about others not caring about their fight for equality, and that he didn’t particularly care about black people getting thrown out of their homes for Urban Renewal projects. He also indicated that 12,000 predominantly black lead-poisoned children in Flint, Michigan wasn’t really a valid cause of concern.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQdMgtncpoE[/youtube]
I should have kept my mouth shut, apparently. I shouldn’t have said anything. But because I did say something, he got on his bully pulpit in front of about a million subscribers who gave me the “SJW” label, when I hardly think that’s fair. I just spoke up about an issue that is deeply personal to me, that I care about — that personally affects me as a black man who has had and heard too many experiences from people close to me, and has seen way too many statistics backing it up, to think that racism doesn’t exist. And I thought that his labeling people who stand up, like Lavish Reynolds did, against injustice for blacks a “victim cult” was something that really bothered me. What if she expressed her concerns? Atheist anti-SJWs would label her and dismiss her. Another BLM supporter. Another SJW. Don’t pay attention. Nothing to see here. Hold up your nose high in proud callousness.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgxWzPVXSoc[/youtube]
Since then, I’ve learned that I’m not the only one who has been given that label of SJW. Over the past few years, the title “SJW” has become akin to the term “Communist” in the 1950s. If you remember, there was a Senator named Joe McCarthy who tried to weed out anyone who cared about “social justice” — calling them before Congressional hearings and interviewing them to label them Communists. If you defended black people, were a feminist, was part of the lgbt movement, and so on…you were in danger of being marked a “Communist.” And you couldn’t get a job anywhere, and no one would listen to you, and you became an outcast pariah.
I’m seeing this McCarthyism on the Internet. I’ve experienced it myself. I thought we were past this — but it turns out that when you call it out for the heartless nature of what it is, you are marked, branded, and seen by others as anathema so that the accuser can move on to the next victim.
I think, and I continue to think, that my concerns are valid. I am a black individual primarily concerned with issues that negatively affect the black community. And it is staggering how quickly this makes me a pariah. Are we not allowed to speak against those who would label us a victim cult? Are we not allowed to speak against those who say people should not care about racism against blacks? Are we not allowed to speak up against those who seem to have no real problem with black people getting thrown out of their homes? Are we not allowed to be angry at the people who shrug at the thousands of black girls and boys lead-poisoned in Flint?
Not, apparently, if you’re an atheist, according to a disturbing McCarthyite groupthink. Any hint of anger against these sentiments is met by an ocean of people telling you to shut up.
Since then, I’ve found out that it’s not only black atheists who are hastily labeled for expressing honest concerns. Women — including rape victims — are labeled SJWs as well, if they express disagreement with statements by The Amazing Atheist like this:
Rape isn’t fatal.
So imagine my indignation when I saw a chatroom called“Rape Survivors.” Is this supposed to impress me? Someone fucked you when you didn’t want to be fucked and you’re amazed that you survived? Unless he used a chainsaw instead of his dick, what’s the big deal?I don’t mean to be horrendously offensive and insensitive here, but everyone survives rape. Some women are killed afterwards, but that’s murder, not rape. To say that you’re a rape survivor is as meaningless as saying you’re a jury duty survivor or a divorce survivor. Lots of things in life suck—that doesn’t mean we survived them.The word survivor applies to people who are alive after being stabbed 73 times with an ice pick or mauled by rabid wolverines, not to a woman who gets dick when she doesn’t want it. Just because you got raped, you have to rape the English language? You vindictive bitch!Also, don’t you ever get tired of being the victim? How many failed relationships are you going to blame on a single violation of your personal space? I’m not making light of it. I know that it is damaging, a reminder of your powerlessness against the world—but it should be a wake up call. We are all powerless against the forces of fate (or chance). We’re all on different paths, but they all lead to the same place.Life leaves no survivors.NOTE ON THE ABOVE:I just showed this writing to a friend of mine, along with the question, “Is this too offensive to release?” I was looking for a yes. I got one. So, I’ve included it here. I’m here to cross lines. This is not The Amazing Atheist from those cute little youtube videos you love so much—this is the real me. And the real me doesn’t give a fuck about your small-minded boundaries.If you’ve been raped, does the above passage add insult to injury? Does it make it hurt worse? How could it? If rape is the paramount psychological trauma in life, then how could my words aggravate it whatsoever? Too often in this culture, we fear words. But even if my words are the height of ignorance, they should elevate you. If you find them funny, then you will laugh and dismiss them as a joke. If you find them honest, you will respect my bravery. If you find them infuriating, I will have given you power. If you find them sad, then I have enriched you.Words never make less of a person, unless they are bland.If you feel something, then I’ve done my job as a writer.
From page 90-91 here.
Here is his rationale for that piece, stated last year:
This was a piece designed to motivate rape victims to not allow their victimhood to oppress them. To encourage them not to dwell on past events and move on with their lives. Why is it worded so offensively? Because when I wrote it I was a stupid 22-year-old who had at this point only ever socialized with people on online message boards, where this was simply how we talked. Not to mention it’s supposed to be a humorous piece, in the same vein of shock humor as Bill Maher’s party costume. In retrospect, I too find the piece overly callous and I would not write it today. But I did write it and I don’t apologize for it. It was how I felt at the time, and I really don’t think the message of moving on from trauma is really a negative one. I’ve been told by several rape victims that this piece actually motivated them to move on with their lives. I’ve yet to be told by one rape victim that it increased their trauma.
I think this hardly needs saying, but I’ve heard from several individuals who disagree — who think this is out of place. Whether you’re one of them or not, my guess is that you can probably see why. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keOr1Tny6VM[/youtube]
But those on the McCarthyite witch hunts will make people like the above person an “SJW” and anyone else who doesn’t follow the advice of a popular anti-SJW a pariah. They would say that these people — anyone who disagrees — is part of a victim cult of whining, professional Social Justice Warrior complainers who need to be ushered out of atheism. And because these McCarthyites have enormous power on the Internet to get videos downvoted and make people pariah’s without even listening to them, they become as effective as mob bosses in shutting down the very real concerns of the most vulnerable people.
I just think that’s sad.
You may say, “Why can’t you just ignore them?”
Well, it was tried with Atheism +. Now, to be sure, Atheism + exhibited some of the same tactics — labeling people hastily before a thorough conversation, possibly. But that was one attempt. Another, that wasn’t quite part of Atheism +, was simply blocking people who tried to accuse you, or otherwise not letting them into your space. But people didn’t like that either. And dialogue is like going in front of a Congressional hearing for what it can do to your reputation.
Look. I’m not putting you on. I’m really concerned about several issues, and I tend to speak up for them sincerely. It’s not a trick or a farce. But the label is on me now, and it won’t come off.
Atheism is being hijacked into a movement against caring about the most vulnerable in this country. Increasingly, due to the increasing power and influence of people in the community, the trend has been towards arguing that their concerns are not only illegitimate, but dangerous. Internet atheism is fast becoming a game of showing off callousness to vulnerable groups and angrily dogpiling them when they try to fight back. If they are cyberbullied into silence, or try to protect themselves from relentless attacks that threaten to ruin their lives and, in some cases, livelihoods, they are mocked even more. What is being advocated, increasingly, is a heartless atheism, an atheism that actively invalidates the concerns of the most vulnerable in this country, insisting that they are insincere and dangerous, and is proud of it.
Because — let’s face it — very few popular atheists actually discuss actual atheism online anymore, all that often. They’ve gone on to fight what is, apparently, the next frontier — a McCarthyite witch hunt against the most vulnerable people in society, a proud heartlessness and callousness. And increasingly, when people look at atheists, this heartless callousness is what they’re seeing. Like it or not, we’re developing a reputation. It’s a reputation I don’t want to be part of, really. I’m an atheist who gave up a love for a nonexistent God so I could care about people. I want to embrace and endorse love, not indifference and hate. And increasingly, as an atheist in a community increasingly defined by whitch hunts for SJWs, I’m finding that many atheists are fundamentally opposed to this. And by calling myself an atheist, I’m affiliating myself with that definition.
So…I dunno. It’s been sad and depressing. I don’t know where this is going to end up. But I’m going to keep defending the lives of the vulnerable people I care about, and calling myself an atheist. I don’t want to be labeled an SJW — I really think that’s simplistic and reductionistic. I’m open to facts and data — at least I’d like to indicate I am. But it bothers me that prominent atheists aren’t allowed to even have a problem with callousness towards rape or what seems, clearly, to be racism against black people without being given a label by the world’s most powerful online atheists that silences them.
That’s why I’ve stopped trying to deconvert people from Christianity. Do I really want the most vulnerable people to join a community where they’re going to be constantly unheard, labeled an ugly label by the McCarthyite elites, and effectively become pariahs? I’m against many views in conservative churches…but honestly, if they are part of a liberal church with liberation theology…it hurts to say this, but maybe many of them are better off there. At least they can fight for themselves and others who are vulnerable. At least they can openly love each other without it being constantly seen as fake and insincere. At least they can care about each other in society openly without feeling like pariahs in their own communities.
The anti-Christian stuff sells a lot better. People like anger and rage against Christianity, and for a long time I felt it. But watching McCarthyism infiltrate and demonize so many in atheism is getting me down, honestly. Not just because of me personally, but because I was trying to urge people to leave an abusive God for a group of people who loved people instead of God. But it just seems like false advertising, now.
I’ve had to admit, lately, that many of them — not all of them, but many and perhaps even most of them — are better off in church. At least most people in church actually care about caring about people, in my experience. Yes, there’s a lot of disturbing stuff going on, true. But you don’t get labeled an “SJW” just for caring about vulnerable people. Instead, they say you’re showing the love of Christ. It’s upheld.
I miss that. There’s a lot I didn’t like about church. But that, however misled, care I often saw for the most vulnerable…I miss that. And increasingly, as I’m seeing this McCarthyism sweep over the atheist community…it’s not something I want to take away from Christians who have it. That’s probably not what a lot of people want to hear, but it’s the truth.
Thanks for reading.
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