Freethought Blogs

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(Taking a feminist-skeptic stand: actually, Tf00t was a symptom, not the cause)
(Taking a feminist-skeptic stand)
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==Taking a feminist-skeptic stand==
 
==Taking a feminist-skeptic stand==
Post-[[Elevatorgate]], Freethought Blogs is seen as one of the strongest and most prominent supporters of the feminist position within the atheist/skeptic movement. PZ Myers and other contributors frequently post about the continuing controversy, often strongly attacking those on the other side of the question, and their numbers include a number of second- and third-wave feminist skeptics, including [http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels Ophelia Benson], [http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta Greta Christina], [http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/ Jen McCreight], [http://freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/ Taslima Nasreen],<ref>Who, incidentally, is a perfect example of how not to be Thunderf00t. When she first came aboard, she took a deeply unpopular stance equating prostitution and sex slavery. Although nearly everyone disagreed with her, the whole thing was handled very well without immaturity or drama from anyone, least of all Nasreen herself.</ref> Zinnia Jones, and Stephanie Zvan. As a result, the ongoing war over sexism in the skeptical and atheist communities is a major part of the subject matter on the site, and sexism (a result of unexamined prejudices) is treated as just as much woo as any other; this has resulted in the creation of the [[Atheism Plus]] movement, a form of secular humanism focusing on skepticism and social justice issues.  
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Post-[[Elevatorgate]], Freethought Blogs is seen as one of the strongest and most prominent supporters of the feminist position within the atheist/skeptic movement. [[Paul Zachary Myers|PZ Myers]] and other contributors frequently post about the continuing controversy, often strongly attacking those on the other side of the question, and their numbers include a number of second- and third-wave feminist skeptics, including [http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels Ophelia Benson], [http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta Greta Christina], [http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/ Jen McCreight], [http://freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/ Taslima Nasreen],<ref>Who, incidentally, is a perfect example of how not to be Thunderf00t. When she first came aboard, she took a deeply unpopular stance equating prostitution and sex slavery. Although nearly everyone disagreed with her, the whole thing was handled very well without immaturity or drama from anyone, least of all Nasreen herself.</ref> Zinnia Jones, and Stephanie Zvan. As a result, the ongoing war over sexism in the skeptical and atheist communities is a major part of the subject matter on the site, and sexism (a result of unexamined prejudices) is treated as just as much woo as any other; this has resulted in the creation of the [[Atheism Plus]] movement, a form of secular humanism focusing on skepticism and social justice issues.  
  
 
The vlogger [[Thunderf00t]] briefly joined Freethought Blogs in summer 2012, but was quickly fired after repeatedly and somewhat incoherently blogging that those pushing for protection for women at atheist/skeptic events were wrong, or overreacting, or whatever. The vocal group of FtB anti-fans gleefully took this as another confirmation that FtB isn't about free thought at all because something-something-something-[[evolutionary psychology|evo-psych]]-something girls are stinky.
 
The vlogger [[Thunderf00t]] briefly joined Freethought Blogs in summer 2012, but was quickly fired after repeatedly and somewhat incoherently blogging that those pushing for protection for women at atheist/skeptic events were wrong, or overreacting, or whatever. The vocal group of FtB anti-fans gleefully took this as another confirmation that FtB isn't about free thought at all because something-something-something-[[evolutionary psychology|evo-psych]]-something girls are stinky.

Revision as of 11:00, 6 October 2012

Freethought Blogs (FtB) is a spinoff of ScienceBlogs begun by PZ Myers and Ed Brayton and having some of the same contributors. Starting with Comradde PhysioProffe[1], Digital Cuttlefish, Dispatches from the Culture Wars (Ed Brayton), Pharyngula (PZ Myers), This Week in Christian Nationalism (Chris Rodda) and Zingularity.

Contents

Ads

The site hosts ads for revenue. While the owners want targeted ads to ensure relevance for their readers, the present state of the software used to target ads often leads to hilarious juxtapositions.[2][3]

Taking a feminist-skeptic stand

Post-Elevatorgate, Freethought Blogs is seen as one of the strongest and most prominent supporters of the feminist position within the atheist/skeptic movement. PZ Myers and other contributors frequently post about the continuing controversy, often strongly attacking those on the other side of the question, and their numbers include a number of second- and third-wave feminist skeptics, including Ophelia Benson, Greta Christina, Jen McCreight, Taslima Nasreen,[4] Zinnia Jones, and Stephanie Zvan. As a result, the ongoing war over sexism in the skeptical and atheist communities is a major part of the subject matter on the site, and sexism (a result of unexamined prejudices) is treated as just as much woo as any other; this has resulted in the creation of the Atheism Plus movement, a form of secular humanism focusing on skepticism and social justice issues.

The vlogger Thunderf00t briefly joined Freethought Blogs in summer 2012, but was quickly fired after repeatedly and somewhat incoherently blogging that those pushing for protection for women at atheist/skeptic events were wrong, or overreacting, or whatever. The vocal group of FtB anti-fans gleefully took this as another confirmation that FtB isn't about free thought at all because something-something-something-evo-psych-something girls are stinky.

Blog list

The site has expanded significantly since its beginning, hosting the following blogs as of June 2012:

Former bloggers

Libby Anne's Love Joy Feminism joined for a brief period of time, but moved to Patheos, citing that she had positive experiences ("My experience here at FreeThought Blogs has been nothing but positive") but felt it was better financially at Patheos, and would have joined their network if they offered prior to Freethought blogs' offer.[5][6]

John Loftus' Debunking Christianity also joined FtB and then left, for different reasons, and then Loftus burned his bridges by taking a bizarre (post-)parting shot at Natalie Reed.[7][8]

Thunderf00t was a member of the collective for a brief period of time, but was asked to leave shortly after joining due to issues relating to his professionalism and antagonistic attitude toward some other network members.

Greg Laden, at the same time, was removed by Freethought Blogs for reasons of using "violent threatening language" towards Justin Griffith of Rock Beyond Belief blog.[9][10]

JT Eberhard's blog What Would JT Do? was hosted on Freethought Blogs, though unlike the above three he left for financial reasons as Libby Anne did; he quit his job with the Secular Student Alliance and moved his blog to Patheos with the reason that advertising revenue was higher, with his Freethought Blogs URL redirecting to the new blog.

Dan Finke's blog Camels with Hammers also moved to Patheos in 2012; as with WWJTD, a redirect to the new URL is in place.[11]

External links

Footnotes

  1. First post: "We are live at Freethoughtblogs!! I am a punkeasse little guy compared to PZ and Big Ed. I will be posting on politics, practice of science, food, Yankees baseball, booze, and other shitte!"
  2. Why Evolution is True: What’s with Freethought Blogs?
  3. Why Evolution is True: Screenshots
  4. Who, incidentally, is a perfect example of how not to be Thunderf00t. When she first came aboard, she took a deeply unpopular stance equating prostitution and sex slavery. Although nearly everyone disagreed with her, the whole thing was handled very well without immaturity or drama from anyone, least of all Nasreen herself.
  5. Another Blog Move: Another Blog Move
  6. Love Joy Feminism - Another Blog Move: [1]
  7. http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/02/21/john-loftus-has-left-the-building/
  8. http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/341/comment-page-1#comment-4834
  9. http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondbelief/2012/07/04/greg-ladens-sometimes-the-bad-guys-win
  10. http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/07/01/major-changes-at-freethought-blogs/
  11. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/camelswithhammers/2012/09/read-camels-with-hammers-at-patheos-starting-today/
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