My essay in the WisCon Chronicles about religion

[izzybelbooks]

This post is a response to comments in the WisCon LJ about my essay in the WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 4.  It is very long, and even includes a p.s. and excerpts from panel descriptions at the end.

Comments

Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[ide_cyan]

I was curious to find out what the full descriptions of those panels whose descriptions you & others found offensive. I think it would be useful to include them in full, for context, especially for those like me who weren't there and do not have the pocket programs at hand for reference. Took me a while to locate the archives for WisCon 33, but here they are:

60 We Are the Apes Who Pray
Spirituality, Organized Religion & Politics • Caucus • Friday, 10:30-11:45 PM
To explore the evolution and purpose of the supernatural
worldview (in all its forms) as purely a matter of human invention.
As an atheist, it is often challenging to foster an uncompromised
discussion of religion and spirituality without bowing to the social
pressure to ‘respect’ or treat ‘seriously’ beliefs and opinions
which, ultimately, have no basis in scientifi c fact. Beginning with
the acknowledgement that human beings are, without exception,
products of biological evolution, how do we move forward
to discuss religion and belief for what they are: neurological,
anthropological, psychological and sociological aspects of the
human condition whose true value rests in what they reveal about
us as apes who pray?
M: Richard F. Dutcher, Erin Cashier, Catherine Anne Crowe,
Janet M. Lafl er, Keith R. Watson

118 Are We Done Believing in God Yet?
Spirituality, Organized Religion & Politics • Assembly • Saturday, 4-5:15 PM
The freakish antics of true believers, the willful naiveté of not-so-
true-believers, and on the other side “Society Without God,” the
President of the United States acknowledging “non-believers,”
Darwin’s 200th birthday, and the possible discovery of simple life
on Mars. Are we fi nally going to shake off the institutionalized
fears of our ancestors? What will we replace it with? Is “replacing
it” even a valid point of discussion?
M: K. S. Latta, Kerrie Hughes, Jack McDevitt, Steven H. Silver,
Doselle Young

Source: http://www.wiscon.info/downloads/w33pocketprogram.pdf

Re: Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[izzybelbooks]

Thanks for posting these. I was using my pocket program and I didn't think to go to the archives!

Re: Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[ide_cyan]

You expanded the quotations in your entry without marking the edits. But you keep leaving out the "As an atheist" start of the sentence from panel 60.

Re: Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[izzybelbooks]

I haven't edited the entry, so I'm not sure to what you're referring.

Re: Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[ide_cyan]

My mistake -- I thought you'd added more quotations from the panel descriptions.

But what I'm referring to is -- leaving off the "as an atheist" part of the sentence you quote from panel 60 completely changes the implications of that sentence: by removing the subject, you shift what follows from being said about the position of atheists in theist-dominated societies to being a generalised statement. Removing the dynamics of that statement gives the impression that it speaks for everyone, and that looks to me like you're making it offensive.

Re: Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[izzybelbooks]

To clarify, I excerpted the descriptions for the reasons mentioned in my response to ide_cyan.

Re: Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[izzybelbooks]

At the beginning of that section I say "some excerpts from their descriptions" to make it clear that I am not including the whole thing. I excerpted for 2 reasons: 1-I didn't want to type out all the descriptions since it would make an already long post longer, and 2-I don't feel that the description is justifiable with or without the atheist reference.

Re: Full descriptions for the panels that caused offense

[icecreamempress]

Wow, ugh. "The institutionalized fears of our ancestors"? Really?