Feminism is More Than Equality

Woman-power symbol (clenched fist in Venus sign). עברית: כוח נשים (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I believe that some - but not all - of the difficulty the secular community is having with feminism is due to (1) the inherent complexity and dynamic nature of the feminist movement, (2) widespread misconceptions about the nature and meaning of feminism, and (3) the behavior of a small group of atheists who identify themselves as feminists yet behave in ways that seem markedly inconsistent with many forms of feminism. I've already addressed #3 and will not repeat myself here. Instead, I'd like to take a look at some of the challenges involved in one popular way of defining feminism.

One of the most popular lay definitions of feminism is that it is simply the belief in the equality of women and nothing more. By this definition, we would say that anyone who believes that women are equal to men is a feminist. This would mean that the overwhelming majority of us are feminists, regardless of how we choose to label ourselves.

There are at least two problems with this narrow definition of feminism that I will examine in this post. The good news is that both are fairly easy to fix. In fact, all that is required is some added precision in our language and a willingness to explain the terms we are using in conversations with others.

Humanist Funerals in Ireland

Political map of Ireland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Religion News Service had an interesting story out of Ireland yesterday. As you probably remember, the Catholic Church in Ireland was finally exposed for "decades of rapes, humiliation and beatings at Catholic Church-run reform schools for Ireland's castaway children." As evidence emerged that the Vatican knew about the child rapists among them at least as far back as the 1930s, I suppose you could say the church faced a bit of a PR nightmare in Ireland.

As often seems to be the case, the manner in which Church officials responded to the news made it worse. These scandals and the response to them, appear to have done exactly what one would think they should: drive growing numbers of Irish away from the church.

According to the Religion News Service, non-religious funerals have become popular in Ireland after one too many Catholic abuse scandals.

Although many observers have noted the impact of secularization and child abuse scandals on church membership and finances, only now are the Irish seeing the cultural and socioeconomic reverberations. These include a class of people willing to observe life’s most significant milestones outside the church.

Help Oklahoma City

English: Downtown Oklahoma City from the northwest. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can file this one under things that piss me off about politics. But it would probably be more accurate to file it under things that piss me off about what happens when we buy into ideologies that lead us to view the world as if we are competing against an opponent in a zero-sum sort of contest. As you know, Oklahoma City was hit by a major tornado yesterday in which at least 24 people lost their lives. As encouraging as it was to see the public outpouring of support and many people advocating for donations to the Red Cross, I observed a few things that made me feel more than a little disgusted with my fellow humans:

1. Many Christians took to social media (especially Twitter) to use this as an excuse to promote prayer as if that accomplished any good at all. How about doing something to actually help those who just experienced a tornado?
2. Some people took to social media in what looked primarily like an effort to scold anybody living in tornado-prone areas (e.g., much of the midwest and south). As someone who lives in a tornado prone area, I realize I may be overly sensitive to this, but again, I found the timing of such comments disgusting. Besides, there are not many regions of the U.S. where one can be free from every type of natural disaster.
3. Last and perhaps least of all, some of my fellow progressives decided to use the disaster as an opportunity to bash political opponents. Yes, I agree completely that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) are monstrous hypocrites, but can we at least wait on pointing this out until the situation on the ground is not quite so dire?

Am I just being a big whiner here? Probably. I'm in a foul mood, and this is likely the result. Still, I can't help wonder about our priorities when I see this sort of thing. Here is where you can join me in donating to the Red Cross if you are so inclined.

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Supreme Court to Hear Public Prayer Case

US Supreme Court building, front elevation, steps and portico. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case out of New York involving public prayer at governmental meetings. The case, Town of Greece v. Galloway, may have important implications for efforts to preserve the separation of church and state.

Of particular interest in this case is that the town has adopted what sounds like an inclusive policy in which many different types of prayers or invocations are acceptable. Instead of the usual sectarian prayers in Jesus' name which are so common where I live, Greece's policy permits atheists and Wiccans to give invocations too.

Policy aside, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has noted that only two of the prayers given at these meetings during the past 10 years have been non-Christian. Moreover, most of the prayers given have not been nonsectarian but explicitly Christian.

The problem I have with this sort of thing is that while an inclusive policy is better than an exclusive one, it still amounts to the government promoting religion. Governmental meetings should not include prayer of any kind.

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My Letter to the CFI in Support of Ron Lindsay

A number of people have taken to Twitter to call for the resignation or ouster of Ron Lindsay from the Center for Inquiry (CFI). He has even been labeled a misogynist for his remarks at Women in Secularism 2. I am concerned that he may be forced out, and so I wrote to the CFI to express my support. If you feel similarly, please consider contacting the CFI to express your support too.

To: info@centerforinquiry.net, tflynn@centerforinquiry.net
Cc: rlindsay@centerforinquiry.net
Subject: In Support of Ron Lindsay

Dear Secretary Flynn and CFI Board of Directors:

I am writing to express my support for Ron Lindsay and my agreement with the comments he made at Women in Secularism 2.

The Center for Inquiry is almost certainly receiving a high volume of angry complaints about remarks made by Dr. Lindsay at Women in Secularism 2. I fear that some complainants may even be demanding his resignation or removal. I believe these complaints are based on a serious and willful misinterpretation of what Dr. Lindsay said, fueled by an ideologically-driven perspective which is at odds with CFI's core mission. Unfortunately, there are some people in the secular community who have made a name for themselves by attacking others with outrageous accusations. Dr. Lindsay mentioned a couple of them by name in a follow-up post, and so they and their supporters are now trying to remove him.

I want to make sure you are aware that there are many of us in the secular community who support Dr. Lindsay and appreciate his willingness to address some important issues regarding the use of privilege to silence others. I sincerely hope that the CFI continues to support him as he weathers this unfortunate storm. Thank you for your consideration.


Sincerely,

vjack
Atheist Revolution (http://www.atheistrev.com/)

Update: It sounds like the Center for Inquiry's Board of Directors is planning to discuss the matter of Ron Lindsay's comments at their June meeting. If you are going to contact the Board to express your support, I recommend doing it sooner than later.