Skepsheik: 2013

Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Winston Churchill on Islam

CHURCHILL ON ISLAM

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome ..."

Sir Winston Churchill;

The River War, 1899

Sunday, 30 June 2013

The Copy Pasteist

Thursday, 27 June 2013

Women in Society conference, Saudi Arabia.

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

The PZ Myers guide to violent sexual threats.

Pharyngula unique amongst atheist sites has, as part of their community rules and standards, an explicit promotion of sexually violent imagery as a means of abusing those it deems targets.

I quote from the PZ Myers official instructions:

“Don’t waste time whining at anyone that they’re not nice, because this gang will take pride in that and rhetorically hand you a rotting porcupine and tell you to stuff it up your nether orifice.”

‘OK’, you may say, ‘that’s just a humorous metaphorical line. Nobody is going to take it seriously’, are they?

The evidence suggests otherwise. It is trivially easy to find the most violent and triggering imagery being used against commenters who dare to disagree with the established members of the community.

1. “I am going to personally see to it that an especially rotten and dribbly dead porcupine is rammed so far up their rectum that they are picking bits of it out of their teeth for the foreseeable future.”

2. “Fuck ‘em with decayed porcupines and red hot pokers! I’m drunk and I’m priviledged and I’m human thus fallible all hell but fuck those douchcanoes and make it hurt!”

3. “the porcupines are still located to the left of the door as you leave. Grab on. Shove it where it will do the most good (to the entire world), and then go die in a fire. Slowly.”

4. “stick a decaying porcupine dipped in hot tar and glass shards up his pustule-covered arse sideways, slowly.”

5. “Take your fucking sympathies for predators and shove them up your ass and chase them with a dead, rotting porcupine that’s been marinating in capsaicin.”

6. “You are fucking tiresome and I wish you would shove a rotting porcupine up your ass.”

7. “May a necrotic porcupine fester, unremovable in your bowels.”

8. ” He should be pounding so many decaying porcupines up his asshole that quills start coming out of his ears.”

9. “surlyramics made me a custom necklace with a totally cute porcupine and the word “insert” underneath it. I get compliments on it every time I wear it (without even any questions about why the word “insert” is under the porcupine).”

10. “Surly Amy makes a lovely porcupine necklace now. It’s adorable, and has a one word label: “insert”.

That last quote was from PZ Myers himself, promoting the business of one of his friends who was actually selling necklaces featuring the rape threat imagery.

Not that the imagery is confined to brutal bodily violation using porcupines. According to one popular commenter the violation is merely a means to an end.

“You go fuck yourself. Get something heavy and sharp. Die whilst doing it, if possible.” – AnthonyK

And in case you think these are just anonymous drive-by commenters unknown to the host, think again. Many of the above threats are by individuals who feature alongside PZ Myers on Pharyngula’s Google hang-out, Youtube broadcasts.

And in case you think I’m exaggerating, here is a completely separate list recently compiled by a feminist who was deeply offended by the rape and sexual abuse threats and violent death imagery promoted by the host of Pharyngula.

““find a splintering stick and fuck yourself up the ass”
“go fuck yourself. And then die in a fire”
“Go. Fuck. Yourself. With a Hefty Bag full of rottweilers”
“Go fuck yourself with a chainsaw in that festering pustule of an asshole of yours”
“You can fuck yourself with a razor-bladed stick and go die in a ditch, you pompous, lying, gutless, disingenuous fuck” (link)
“Take your gun, lube the barrel and fuck your self in the ass.
“you should be fucked sideways with a rusty knife”
“Do us all a favor and kill yourself before you have a chance to have children”
“you can go fuck yourself. Do it deep, long and hard.”
“Go die in a fucking fire. The world will be a better place without you in it.”
“I will, however, say that this fuck up here is a complete asshole and needs to die in a fire”
“Go and die painfully, okay?”
And just for kicks: “Go fuck yourself sideways with a rusting chainsaw, you vapid, godbotting wank”
And more kicks:”fuck yourself up the ass with a splintering cross”
Even to the survivor of a brutal rape attack (Sheril Kirshenbaum)

He claimed that THIS was acceptable, because ‘they aren’t rape threats really’ – but NOW demands people use only *acceptable* insults – because words like “bitch” have a (undocumented, asserted but not proven) negative affect on women.
What kind of negative effect did his ANTI-FEMINIST abuse for this WOMAN SCIENCE COMMENTATOR have? When did he apologise for the misogynist shit-show he ran? “