Notices by timberwraith (timberwraith@mastodon.social), page 4

I keep on pointing out to others that religion is not necessary for turning toward bigoted violent ideation.

White atheists have proven this quite well by embracing and merging with the larger political milieu of contemporary fascism.

I would posit that any group of human beings is capable of embracing the violent social patterns and reactionary ideation that undergirds fascism under the right circumstances: strong group identity, commonly perceived external threat, conformist thinking, and access to some form of structural, material, social, and/or political power/privilege.

If you mix those key components into a group setting, bad things can and will happen.

New Atheism was a microcosm of a much larger human pattern.

[thread notifications muted]

This was a group of secular people who drifted toward far right ideation, embracing multiple forms of bigotry, and eventually, politically violent ideologies because their sense of cultural "rightness" was threatened by groups of people who frightened and enraged them.

A bunch of frightened, angry secular/atheist white people, who felt threatened by the world's cultural shifts, eventually banded together with the political forces of white religious fascism to form the mess we see today.

If people form a common group identity, in concert with feeling threatened by people outside of the group, they will find *some* way to form a body of ideology and a subculture which serves to respond to outsiders with violence and oppression.

New Atheism formed a group identity that centered "Western Culture" (read: whiteness) and accrued more and more trappings of right wing ideology over time. Eventually, many of its proponents embraced the rest of the right wing.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/09/18/oh-what-a-catastrophe-the-new-atheism-was-for-lower-case-a-atheism/

"If landline phones are dying out, how do political polls work today?"

Answer:

Is there a toilet large enough to flush Google down?

Asking for a friend.

Actually, billions of friends.

And that's *also* why some cis people call trans people "it." They don't want to extend the status of being living, feeling individuals to us.

Funny how that all lines up.

You know, I guess one of the quirks of being transgender and one of those vegetarian/sort of vegan, animal rights/welfare weirdos, is that my sensitivity to pronouns extends to other animals.

I feel really uncomfortable when people refer to non-humans as "it." It just makes me cringe.

She, he, or they conveys the respect of seeing them as living, feeling individuals, just as you or I are.

And that's why human's call other animals "it" I guess. We don't want to extend that status to them.

[looks at news]

It's real nice that Israel is trying its best to trigger WWIII.

And it's real nice that the united states is supplying their efforts to do so.

What a bunch of assholes our two countries are, FFS.

Personally, I think the best approach to a fire that people want to relight and keep going for the sake of watching shit burn is to not give that thing oxygen.

Block and mute are helpful for this. Considering that I'm only seeing small shreds of the conflict, I assume that I've blocked the shit stirrers already.

But I'm always happy to accommodate more people holding stir-sticks, if need be.

I had a conversation last night with a coworker that reminded me that many christians tend to assume that everyone around them is a christian.

It must be a hell of a privilege to walk into a room anywhere and feel comfortable enough to just assume that most of the people in it are going to share similar world views with you.

I don't assume that and consequently, I reflexively fall into the role of quiet observer when I enter a room of unknown people.

I was open about some aspects of my life with him, as he asked me questions. I did not come out to him as queer, however. That's a big fucking nope with most of my coworkers.

But as he asked about my life and I answered, I could tell that he wasn't used to the kind of answers I was giving him.

I wonder what *that* was like for him?

But I just found myself blown away by how much he assumed that I must have certain beliefs and life ways in common, simply by default.

It must be a hell of a thing to walk through life with those assumptions.

When you factor in being bi, trans, and a leftist, I stay even more quiet by default. My guard is always up.

This person was straight and cis (as far as I know) and was open in a way about himself and his life that seems almost alien to me.

This guy also takes close familial ties for granted. He spun off stories of his relationships with various family members and I found myself thinking, "Huh. What is it like to get along with one's family in a way that does not trigger bigoted, relationship ending interactions on a regular basis? What is it like to not experience family as a sight of constant trauma?"

I guess being a cis het person and a guy must be a comforting experience.

There are 2 things I see going on here.

1) Multiple forms of bigotry tend to cluster together in people. Mark Robinson is a racist, a misogynist, a transphobe, and likely several other variants of bigot.

2) Even though many cis men publicly express virulent hatred against trans people, a good number of them fantasize about sex with us in the privacy of the glow of their computer screens.

Trans women are good enough to fuck but not good enough to treat as fully human.

https://archive.ph/p3zSk

@FlashMobOfOne I like having spiders wherever I live. I'd much rather have them doing insect patrol than spraying toxic chemicals around. Unless they're hanging out in my bed, they're welcome to live with me.

@FlashMobOfOne That's pretty high up. But spiders are nice, too.

@FlashMobOfOne Oh my gosh. That's awesome! I love pizza squirrel! 💕