I run into more transphobia on Reddit more than anything. The homophobia is bad and the biphobia is worse but the transphobia and gender-queerphobia is atrocious. I’m just pointing out something I have noticed. This, in no way, makes it “OK” for any sort of hateful comment against anyone.

I have noticed some women, even *gasp* feminists, exhibit a lot of transphobia. When dealing with issues of men and women, it’s important to remember that gender, like sexuality, is on a scale. Not everyone will fit into a neat little box.

That aside, anonymous comments are everywhere. We all know YouTube is one of the worst. I don’t put up many videos but I never check the comments. It’s the lowest common denominator of people who don’t read their entertainment. Everyone goes to YouTube at some point but those who hang out there often are probably not the reading type.

In any case, people have expressed concerns with r/atheism, so other communities are now emerging. I’d also like to say that r/atheism is a default subreddit, therefore non-atheists see it all the time. It is worth mentioning that not everything on r/atheism is even by atheists. People get their rocks off by making us look bad. But, if you still don’t like it, there are many other places even within Reddit that may be more palatable to some.

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Harris sits down with Pinker for a discussion about the history of violence.

Sam Harris asks, “Need I remind you that the ‘atheist regimes’ of the 20th century killed tens of millions of people?”

Steven Pinker has a great response.

This is a popular argument among theoconservatives and critics of the new atheism, but for many reasons it is historically inaccurate.
First, the premise that Nazism and Communism were “atheist” ideologies makes sense only within a religiocentric worldview that divides political systems into those that are based on Judaeo-Christian ideology and those that are not. In fact, 20th-century totalitarian movements were no more defined by a rejection of Judaeo-Christianity than they were defined by a rejection of astrology, alchemy, Confucianism, Scientology, or any of hundreds of other belief systems. They were based on the ideas of Hitler and Marx, not David Hume and Bertrand Russell, and the horrors they inflicted are no more a vindication of Judeao-Christianity than they are of astrology or alchemy or Scientology.

Second, Nazism and Fascism were not atheistic in the first place. Hitler thought he was carrying out a divine plan. Nazism received extensive support from many German churches, and no opposition from the Vatican. Fascism happily coexisted with Catholicism in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Croatia.

Third, according to the most recent compendium of history’s worst atrocities, Matthew White’s Great Big Book of Horrible Things (Norton, 2011), religions have been responsible for 13 of the 100 worst mass killings in history, resulting in 47 million deaths. Communism has been responsible for 6 mass killings and 67 million deaths. If defenders of religion want to crow, “We were only responsible for 47 million murders—Communism was worse!”, they are welcome to do so, but it is not an impressive argument.

Fourth, many religious massacres took place in centuries in which the world’s population was far smaller. Crusaders, for example, killed 1 million people in world of 400 million, for a genocide rate that exceeds that of the Nazi Holocaust. The death toll from the Thirty Years War was proportionally double that of World War I and in the range of World War II in Europe.

When it comes to the history of violence, the significant distinction is not one between theistic and atheistic regimes. It’s the one between regimes that were based on demonizing, utopian ideologies (including Marxism, Nazism, and militant religions) and secular liberal democracies that are based on the ideal of human rights. I present data from the political scientist Rudolph Rummel showing that democracies are vastly less murderous than alternatives forms of government. [Read More.]

While us atheists realize that Hitler’s world philosophy was shaped from Christianity and the bible, some people still like to say he was an atheist. He considered Jews to be atheists because they did not accept Jesus as the messiah. He hated Jews. He hated atheists. He hated a lot of people. As an atheist Jew, I take much offense to allegations that Hitler was an atheist. As far as the others go, I don’t have nearly as much personal angst. In any case, it wasn’t so-called atheist philosophies that shaped their policies.

The book: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

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Please check out my new column at The Examiner: Las Vegas Atheism. I plan on writing more frequently than here. I will continue this blog but it will remain more of a blog until a better idea comes along.

So check it out!

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You can buy and view products made from this design here.

I’ve always loved the idea of this image. So much that I bought a shirt of my own. It should arrive soon and I plan on wearing it to TAM this year. :)

Rational Rose is still new, so there are only a few things so far, but I plan on putting more of my artwork up and basic rational gear.

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Come check it out! Right now, it’s a bit bare but it won’t be for long.

And, as always, you can follow my personal Twitter.

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Eric (my husband) and I will be walking with Las Vegas Atheists as apart of the Penn and Teller Challenge.

You can donate here.

Any support is greatly appreciated. :)

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