Just four days after Jen McCreight wrote about awful comments being made about her by people on the r/atheism group on Reddit I logged into my website stats and noticed a huge amount of hits from r/atheism, and my heart sank. Especially when I read the link through which people were hitting my site:
http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/smwu8/vote_is_hayley_stevens_a_stupid_british_cunt_id/
Yes. That’s right. A user named ‘BoomBoomPie’ signed up to the site to make a post asking ‘Vote: Is Hayley Sevens a stupid British cunt. I’d say yes’ and further on into the post they explained their statement by stating:
Don’t fret over it. Those of use who read your blogs or listen to your podcasts objectively appreciate your point of view. Don’t forget this is simply a form of ad hominem and therefore a logical fallacy, there is no discussion on their part so the argument is lost before it starts.
The problem is you are a prominent skeptical podcaster who has called out a number of woo peddlers and they will try to troll as a response. If their only rejoinder is trolling then you must be doing something right.
Keep up the good work!
Good article, well said.
Hello Haley, don’t worry about those silly people. They must just be jealous.
This is Darrel with the Faytteville Freethinkers in Fayetteville Arkansas. I was so inspired by your article in the May/June issue of Skeptical Inquirer that I gave a presentation about it at our April freethinker meeting today (we are the largest skeptic club in our state, have over 430 members and had about 60 in attendance today). We so appreciate your efforts to stand up for what is right we made you “Fayetteville Freethinker of the Month.” Go here to watch a video clip of everyone showing their appreciation after my presentation about you.
http://fayfreethinkers.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=25316#p25316
Keep up the good work!
What a lovely, lovely thing to do! I’ve just sent you an email to say thanks
I have never been to r/atheism.
Blog posts like this one mean I probably never will.
I do not imagine my life will be massively altered by this decision.
However, a brief note of caution – you ( and Jen McCreight ) have successfully fed some Trolls. When you rise to trollbait (which this blatantly was) they automatically win. All they are looking for is a response from their Target.
I’m not saying you should not confront them; however, if you want them to go away, the best response is often not to respond. Rise above it. It is childish playground name-calling. Do you really care what someone you have probably never met has to say about you, especially when they don’t have the balls to at least use their real name.
IMHO, Blogging about it is just going to encourage them.
You are not alone! This is something from a blog I published TODAY on a completely different topic (still relevant):
I find that there is always a way to slice the pie so that your experience is not relevant. Oh, you don’t have kids? Oh, you don’t have boys? Oh, your not raising kids NOW? Oh, you never worked? Oh, you never drove across country? Oh, you are young? Oh, you are old? Oh, you are blahblahblah? Sometimes these are relevant and sometimes they are simply protective shields so that you can discount another’s input.
I find it unfortunate that r/atheism is beginning to be seen on blogs and forums as being representative of atheism (this isn’t something you do in this post, it just brought up the topic of r/atheism again). The community there is typical of atheists who are also redditors, a vanishingly small subset of atheists.
I go to skeptic and atheist events less and less often these days *because* they are dominated by white middle class males. I already know that perspective and gain relatively little new insight from talking with them. I’m more interested in listening to women, LGBT, and ethnic/religious minorities. I have much I can learn from them and it’s frustrating that they aren’t invited to speak or actively recruited to participate more.
Hi Hayley and HIG readers,
First off, congratulations on being named Faytteville skeptic of the month. If you can make it in Arkansas, you can make it anywhere, just ask Bill Clinton.
Second, I suppose some people who read this comment will describe me as “one of Hayley’s sycophants” which is not true. I do respect you tremendously and enjoy our Twitter friendship but I’m more than willing to challenge you when I think differently from you. I think this is essential to being a skeptic but, as I’ve written in the past, some people in the “movement” believe that some are above criticism but that you and other women prominent in the “community” should just shut up and take the shit you are being fed by grey haired, potbellied middle aged nerds like me.
As for your age, I don’t care. You and our very young friend Mr. Morgan are leaders in skepticism and skeptical activism and should be shown the same level of respect as of the older male “talking heads” who seem to never do anything beyond writing the odd blog post but get invited to speak at conference after conference where they recite the same things that they’ve said at events in the past. Rhys’ work on a bizarre “remedy” for Crohn’s disease and the fraudulent Burzynski Clinic and your efforts on Healing On the Streets (HOTS) and various real paranormal investigations demonstrates that you younger people are not just doing important work but are leading the “community” into areas previously unexplored by the movement. Combined, your age plus that of Rhys add up to ten years less than me alone but I would look to either of you for advice on activism before most everyone else in the community.
People who accuse you of “seeking publicity” obviously don’t know you at all. Since the HOTS story hit, I’ve seen you refuse a number of interviews in the big time mainstream media. All of this extra exposure would certainly have helped you increase your visibility and fame among skeptics and civilians alike if that was your goal. Instead, very graciously, you told the world that your part was done and left the publicity to the same old talking heads.
Comments people make about your sexuality are completely out of line. Around the skeptics community, I often hear George Hrab do his Q & A sessions and inevitably, someone asks if he and Ms Information are a couple. I never hear anyone ask if Geo and Phil Plate are lovers even though they have both tweeted about sharing a hotel room at conferences. I find the hate filled comments directed at you, Rebecca Watson and other women involved in skepticism so disgusting that I question if this is a community I want to be part of, then, I remember that really good people, of which you are one, are also at the heart of this movement and I grow comfortable again.
Lastly, the respect and kindness you show people with whom you disagree is a lesson I think everyone involved in skepticism or any other kind of activism can learn from and, yes, you’re a leader in this area as well. While I admit, I can find the mocking of silly ideas very funny, I don’t enjoy hearing individuals bing treated poorly for the beliefs they hold. You, with some of your really awesome interviews on RI, demonstrate how a cordial conversation can occur in this area of interest among people with highly divergent points of view. Certainly, Marsh deserves credit for this too but I find that your commitment to civility can teach everyone in the community a real lot.
Surely, I can go on and on about your admirable characteristics but I’ll end here as I’ve hit the high points. Remember, no matter what the haters say, Hayley M. Stevens is terrific and I’m sure she will remain so well into the future without becoming a cranky old cynic like me.
Happy Hacking,
cdh
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