{"id":3813,"date":"2019-09-24T05:19:10","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T11:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/?p=3813"},"modified":"2019-09-24T05:34:06","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T11:34:06","slug":"new-atheism-is-bigotry-not-enlightenment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/09\/24\/new-atheism-is-bigotry-not-enlightenment\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNew atheism\u201d is bigotry, not enlightenment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Not too long ago, I went through a phase where I was watching YouTube videos of debates, interviews, and round tables of the new atheists. I was drawn to what seemed to be their rationality. This led me to the broader skeptic community on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>While I found their so-called rationality intriguing, it wasn\u2019t long before I realized their politics didn\u2019t align with mine. Stefan Molyneux was probably the first whose politics I realized diverged from mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As time went on, I started seeing Islamophobic themes emerging from people like Hitchens, Dawkins, and Harris, and Maher. They argue that religiosity has no place in Western societies, but their discussions on religiosity centre around Islam; rarely do they talk about Buddhism, Sikhism, or Judaism, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the transphobia started emerging, which I first noticed with people like Woodford. How they fall back on tired tropes of binary\u2014such as anatomy and chromosomes\u2014to justify their so-called \u201crational\u201d approach to topics like trans athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s to say nothing of the homophobia, racism, and sexism prevalent in the discourse that comes out of the skeptic community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The skeptic community likes to present themselves as rational and enlightened, but it\u2019s just thinly veiled bigotry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"580\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cnyuJZlV_lQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-CA&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not too long ago, I went through a phase where I was watching YouTube videos of debates, interviews, and round tables of the new atheists. While I found their so-called rationality intriguing, it wasn\u2019t long before I realized their politics didn\u2019t align with mine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/shutterstock_1373997506.jpg?fit=1000%2C744&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4NkW7-Zv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":814,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2010\/08\/12\/thats-it-i-quit\/","url_meta":{"origin":3813,"position":0},"title":"That\u2019s it. I quit.","author":"Kim Siever","date":"12 August 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Something I have prided myself on over the last few years has been my non-partisan involvement in politics. I don\u201dt adhere to a specific political party in provincial or federal politics, and I don\u2019t put all my eggs in one municipal basket. Per se. Well, I ruined that. Sort of.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lethbridge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3749,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/09\/04\/most-popular-social-media-posts-from-august\/","url_meta":{"origin":3813,"position":1},"title":"Most popular social media posts from August","author":"Kim Siever","date":"4 September 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I decided to try a new feature here on my blog: my most popular social media posts. Well, here they are: Twitter Here are my 5 most popular tweets from August. https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1162571391931043840 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1163788980887805952 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1163609026770305025 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1167578657755283456 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1167578657755283456 Facebook Here are my 5 most popular Facebook posts. https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kimsiever\/posts\/2308610495893423 https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kimsiever\/photos\/a.491079890979835\/2314555455298927\/ https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kimsiever\/photos\/a.491079890979835\/2325373900883749\/ https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kimsiever\/posts\/2346138972140575 https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kimsiever\/photos\/a.491079890979835\/2339192346168571\/\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3849,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/10\/01\/most-popular-social-media-posts-from-september\/","url_meta":{"origin":3813,"position":2},"title":"Most popular social media posts from September","author":"Kim Siever","date":"1 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I decided to try a new feature here on my blog last month: my most popular social media posts. Well, here is the second installment: Twitter Here are my 5 most popular tweets from September. https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1169233090624884736 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1174753394029780992 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1174044813705920514 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1169403706535632897 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1169732615814995969 Facebook Here are my 5 most popular Facebook posts from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3948,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/11\/01\/most-popular-social-media-posts-from-october\/","url_meta":{"origin":3813,"position":3},"title":"Most popular social media posts from October","author":"Kim Siever","date":"1 November 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I decided to try a new feature here on my blog a couple of months ago: my most popular social media posts. Well, here is the third installment: Twitter Here are my 5 most popular tweets from October. https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1189393301666848768 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1189666211249844225 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1189954052928372736 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1187362299616448512 https:\/\/twitter.com\/kim_siever\/status\/1185230116277772288 Facebook Here are my 5 most popular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/youtube-2617510_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3911,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/10\/10\/lethbridge-has-a-long-labour-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":3813,"position":4},"title":"Lethbridge has a long labour history","author":"Kim Siever","date":"10 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Given its propensity to vote in Conservative representatives, Lethbridge is known as a conservative stronghold. But it actually has a significant labour history going back over a century.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lethbridge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/miner-1903641.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/miner-1903641.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/miner-1903641.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/miner-1903641.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/miner-1903641.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3924,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/10\/15\/liberals-should-stop-splitting-the-vote\/","url_meta":{"origin":3813,"position":5},"title":"Liberals should stop splitting the vote","author":"Kim Siever","date":"15 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Liberals scare left-leaning voters to get behind them, saying that if people vote NDP, they will split the vote. But it takes two to tango.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/shutterstock_797688190.jpg?fit=1000%2C459&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/shutterstock_797688190.jpg?fit=1000%2C459&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/shutterstock_797688190.jpg?fit=1000%2C459&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/shutterstock_797688190.jpg?fit=1000%2C459&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3813"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3816,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3813\/revisions\/3816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}