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How to Answer 4 Anti-Refugee Sentiments

I’m disgusted at the anti-refugee sentiments I’ve seen online. This is something I’d expect from racist rednecks not educated people on social media. Here’s an answer to four common anti-refugee sentiments.

1) “Why should we be the ones to help Syrian refugees?” Because in our efforts to combat ISIS we have been dropping bombs on their cities and destroying their homes. Many civilian children have died or lost their parents. We did this in the name of “helping” them and now they show up at our door asking for real help and you want to turn them away?

2) “What about the homeless?” Where was that question when we spent over $122 million on fighter jets and bombs that displaced these people in the first place? This is not a one or the other situation. The government can help the homeless and refugees. How much time and money have you spent this year on eating out or seeing movies? If you feel the homeless deserve more help, feel free to donate that time and money to a local NGO.

3) “We have to take care of our own first.” Who exactly is “our own”? This country has always been a nation of immigrants and refugees. Like many others, my grandparents came to Canada after WWII decimated Europe. What makes this situation any different?

4) “We might be letting in covert terrorists!” The people who want to fight for ISIS are joining them in Syria. When there’s a suspected terrorist in our country, we confiscate their passport to keep them here and prevent them from going to Syria. Refugees aren’t the people trying to join ISIS, they are the people fleeing from them. The more people who leave Syria, the less resources ISIS has to survive and the less people they have to hurt. This is how you defeat ISIS, and we should be doing everything in our power to make it happen.

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If the Flying Spaghetti Monster isn’t real then how do explain a sunset?

#ChurchOfTheFlyingSpaghettiMonster #FlyingSpaghettiMonster #FSM #Pastafarian #PastafarianPride #LordPasta

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My Thoughts on Islamic Terrorism

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Feminist Feedback

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Why This Video Hurts Feminism

*This is literally the top comment on YouTube at the time of writing.  Way to show your girl power by giving $500 to a for-profit clothing company like it's a charity.* The End Doesn’t Justify The Means The thrust of the video is that we shouldn’t care if these little girls are dropping f-bombs because the issues they’re highlighting are much more offensive.  I agree.  That’s why I’m going to randomly punch strangers in the face and tell them they should be more offended by global nuclear proliferation.  The two things are not related.  A smaller offense doesn’t mean it’s not an offense.  Personally, I don’t give a fuck about swearing.  But I don’t approve of people swearing around my daughter.  I don’t want her picking up that kind language.  She’s not mature enough to make that choice.  Neither are the girls in this video mature enough to weigh the decision of dropping f-bombs on a recording seen by millions.  They’re certainly too young to be the faces of public discourse on issues as serious as sexual assault.  Adults coaxed these kids into appearing in the video and expressing ideas not their own. Princess Does Not Equal Powerless “I'm not some pretty fuckin' helpless princess in distress!” declare the girls.  Great.  Good for you.  I would have actually been quite surprised if you were part of a genuine monarchy.  Now can we please stop pretending the image of a princess is that of a helpless girl who needs to be rescued?!  That archetype faded by the time I was a child. My daughter loves princesses.  She loves Disney movies and dressing up like a princess.  Do I have a problem with this?  No, because her favourite princesses include Pocahontas, Mulan, Jasmine, Rapunzel, and Elsa (yes, I know, Elsa’s a Queen).  These are all strong, well-rounded, positive, female characters who save the lives of their male counterparts. The video goes on to suggest calling a girl "pretty" teaches her to value appearance over intelligence.  This is true only if the focus is exclusively on appearance.  I tell my little girl that she’s beautiful but I also tell her she’s smart.  I nurture her intelligence, critical thinking skills, and most of all, her character.  These attributes are absolutely more important but there’s nothing wrong with teaching a person to value their appearance as part of the complete package in who they are as an individual.  In the quest to raise our daughters to be more than beautiful we don’t have to vilify beauty. Unequal Is Not Necessarily Inequitable Moving on from the horrors of being called “pretty,” the f-bomb dropping girls bring up a common argument about unequal pay.  Do women on average make less money than men?  On average, yes but that’s simply adding up incomes from all occupations and finding an average.  When you examine all the necessary variables, the reason for this discrepancy is more complicated. Let’s say I’m a male accountant working at Accounting Firm A and getting paid $70,000 a year while a female accountant working at Accounting Firm B is getting paid $50,000 for the exact same job.  Is that sexism?  What if Firm A just happens to offer a more competitive wage?  Perhaps the larger wage is part of a compensation for a longer commute?  What if we both work at the same company?  What if we do the exact same job but the pay discrepancy remains the same?  Is that sexism?  Maybe, or perhaps I work more hours?  Perhaps I’ve been at the company longer?  There are a lot of factors to consider before immediately pulling the victim card.  Now, am I naïve enough to think there's no such thing as discrimination?  Of course not.  Are there instances of women being paid less than a male in their workplace even when all other variables are equal?  I don't doubt it.  Those are serious cases of discrimination and should be dealt with at a human resource or even legal level.  Society has deemed these situations unacceptable and provided recourse to the discriminated party.  As a whole, the data does not suggest a cultural conspiracy against women in the workplace.  Rather, the wage variance is the result of overall choices made by both sexes.

It Oversimplifyies & Blames Men for Issues of Violence "Start teaching BOYS not to fucking rape!" another cheery comment from the poor girls in this video.  It's both ridiculous and incredibly offensive.  "BOYS" is spoken with an embellished, accusatory tone.  I’m completely against victim blaming and slut shaming – but this is blame shifting.  Don’t put issues of violence onto an entire gender!  Men are also the victims of rape, both by other men and by women. Regardless of who is committing the offense, how common is it for criminal acts to occur because the perpetrator is ignorant of the action being illicit?  Do we really have all these people running around raping because they've never been told it was wrong?!  I'm not saying there's no room for consciousness raising on college campuses but criminal motivations are a combination of complex social and psychological factors. Another gross oversimplification comes from the statement, "Equality's next step is walking to the car without fear!"  Let's say we eliminated all rape from the planet from now till the end of time.  Would that make it risk free for a woman to walk alone to her car at night.  Of course not!  There's still the possibility of mugging, carjacking, unprovoked violence by gang activity or even psychotic killers.  What makes a person a target for violence depends on a lot more than their gender. There is a difference between using information for the sake of prevention and inflating or oversimplifying stats to emotionally manipulate.  Bad feminism is disappointed unless the statistics point toward a bleak outlook.  For instance, did the section on pay discrepancy evoke in you a consideration of the evidence, relief that discrimination is less prevalent than some believe, or a blind rage based on a dogma of persecution?  It reminds me of my past as a religious fundamentalist.  My church relished the idea of being the persecuted underdog.  It gave us a form of twisted self-congratulatory justification.  I remember having a conversation with another believer and bringing up a statistic which painted the world in a positive light.  My friend reacted as if I had spoken blasphemy.  In his eyes it was better to view the world as a martyr than admit you didn't have to be one.  This is the kind of dogma one expects to see within religious fundamentalism.  When it comes to feminism we can do better. Let’s Move Toward Something Better I’ve seen internet comments where it's argued that a husband waking his wife up with a kiss is part of rape culture.  Really?  Is that where you’re going to focus your energy?  That’s the battle you want to fight for women’s rights?  You realize in some countries a woman can be killed for the “crime” of being raped?  That’s a real rape culture.  There are places where women are threatened with death if they pursue an education.  That’s a battle worth fighting.  If we can elevate and empower women in the developing world, we can help raise entire nations out of poverty.  FCKH8.com wants women to get mad at a man for calling them “pretty” (mad enough to buy a t-shirt).  I say, let’s direct our activism away from these distractions and towards aiding women around the globe who face life-altering struggles.  This is “good” feminism.  This is real feminism.  This is a cause worthy of your time.

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"If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her." - Deuteronomy 22:28-29 (NLT)

Photo Credit

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Isn't it a remarkable coincidence almost everyone has the same religion as their parents? And it always just happens to be the right one.

Richard Dawkins

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How Did We Get The Bible?

Of the disputed books which are nevertheless known to most are the Epistle called James, that of Jude, the second Epistle of Peter, and the so-called second and third Epistles of John which may be the work of the evangelist or of some other with the same name. Among the books which are not genuine must be reckoned the Acts of Paul, the work entitled the Shepherd, the Apocalypse of Peter, and in addition to them the letter called of Barnabas and the so-called Teachings of the Apostles. And in addition, as I have said, the Revelation of John, if this view prevail. For, as I said, some reject it, but others count it among the Recognized Books. (Ecclesiastical History 3.25.3-4)

Note that five of the current New Testament books appear among those that were disputed and the book of Revelationis listed among those “which are not genuine.”  Revelation is the last book in the modern Bible and the source of most Christian doctrine surrounding Armageddon and the afterlife.  Belief in its prophecies has even influenced American foreign policy in the Israel/Palestine conflict.  Yet for the first 400 years of Christianity it was predominantly considered to be disingenuous.  Eusebius ultimately came to include Revelation in his collection for Constantine, not because he personally supported the book but because the Emperor had an affinity for it. Eusebius’ collections strongly influenced later decisions of the church when it came to rejecting or accepting scriptures.  However, the process by which various lists became whittled down is long, complicated, and ongoing.  To this day there are still at least ten different Bibles in use within Christianity. Step 6: Sola Scriptura

The early church viewed their scriptures as inspired by God, but inspiration was not synonymous with infallibility as Evangelicals interpret it today.  The early church defined anything theologically true as inspired.  A sermon or commentary could be considered as equally inspired as the scriptures.  So how did Evangelicals get to the point where the Bible alone was seen as the exclusive and inerrant inspired Word of God? It arose during the Protestant Reformation with the advent of the doctrine sola scriptura or “scripture alone.”  Reformers had a dilemma in breaking away from the Catholic Church.  They saw the corruption in church leadership yet Apostolic Tradition gave those leaders supreme authority.  How could reformers make a case against those who held power over the interpretation and application of the Bible?  Their solution was to reject Apostolic Tradition and elevate the Bible as the ultimate source of truth.  Catholics held the Pope as infallibly inspired by God.  Protestant faith necessitated the assertion that the scripture alone was infallible.  Of course the irony is that in rejecting Apostolic Tradition, Protestants rejected the very authority used to establish the Biblical Canon.  People like Augustine and Jerome who compiled Canonical lists were supporters of doctrines Protestants opposed such as the transubstantiation and veneration of saints. Consider the above steps.  Each one contains its own compelling reason to doubt the reliability of the Bible.  Combine those reasons and the Bible becomes utterly untrustworthy as a source for truth let alone the infallible Word of God.  It is no wonder the majority of believers are kept in the dark when it comes to Biblical Canonization. Still think the Bible is a supernatural book?  Consider my articles on Christianity’s cultural origins, Biblical Slavery, Hell, Moses, and the Virgin Birth. Sources: McDonald, Lee Martin. The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission and Authority. Hendrickson Publishers. 2007 Metzger, Bruce, F.F. The Canon of Scripture. p.268. InterVarsity Press. 1988 Bruce M. The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. Oxford University Press. 1997 Yale Course: New Testament History and Literature with Dale B. Martin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon

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YouTube's DarkMatter2525 does it again.  An intelligent look at Biblical contradictions framed with over-the-top humour.

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if they called everything divine which they do not understand, why, there would be no end of divine things.

Hippocrates