Mythcon, this conference by Mythicist Milwaukee, has lost another one. Aron Ra withdrew from participation over the fact that the con was featuring a trio of alt-right-leaning, incompetent pseudoskeptics, the Armoured Skeptic, Shoe0nHead, and worst of all, Sargon of Akkad (see previous post on the bad history of the alt-right). Now, surprisingly, Seth Andrews has announced his withdrawal as well. I say “surprisingly” because he was the one lashing out most viciously against critics of the conference. Like this:
Agreed. It's the frothing hyperbole and fear-pimping by bad-faith agents of chaos that I stand against.
— Seth Andrews (@SethAndrewsTTA) September 15, 2017
He wasn’t accusing alt-right neo-Nazis of frothing hyperbole and fear-pimping by bad-faith agents of chaos
: the bad-faith agents of chaos
were those fellow atheists who saw him being exploited by people who wanted his name on a roster just to legitimize those three awful people. That’s been his reaction ever since — accusing anyone who said he should not use his (formerly) good name to support this group as part of the Outrage Brigade
, among numerous other insults.
Unfortunately, while announcing that he is respectfully
withdrawing from the conference, a large chunk of his tirade is, once again, aimed at everyone who told him this was a bad idea. Here is his third and longest point in his announcement.
The hysterics (who I’ve winkingly dubbed The Outrage Brigade) warned that MythCon would be some kind of frothing Thunderdome, a roiling cauldron of racism and misogyny, a white male circle jerk, and (my favorite) a neo-Nazi training camp. (Of course, the participation of Iraq-born Faisal Saeed Al Mutar and Singapore-born Melissa Chen would make this the most bizarre Klan camp in history.)
Extreme voices like Dan Arel – who broadcasts from his latest residence in the town of Oblivion – gleefully poured gasoline on every spark, going so far as to call the hotel with alarmist tales of possible disaster. (Remember that this is the same guy who thinks we should punch Nazis, and that all police officers are terrorists. We can move on, folks. Nothing to see here.)
I watched with my jaw on the floor as The Outrage Brigade digitally tarred and feathered friends, fellow activists and wonderful humanists (Dillahunty, etc) with accusations of being white supremacists, rape apologists, and a long laundry list of other disgraceful slanders. It’s unconscionable.
Beyond the ALL CAP, profanity-spewing freak-out fringe, there has also been a swell of legitimate, good, mature, and genuinely concerned people who feel, correctly, that Sargon doesn’t represent good faith and respectful dialogue, but has instead demonstrated a penchant for inflammatory, click-bait, shock-jock controversy unworthy of a seat at the adult table.
Man. The thing is, that he is now being compelled to admit that all of his critics were right about this conference, that Sargon is a disgrace, the other two are “vague, lazy, hyperbolic”, and Jesus but does he resent being exposed as wrong. If hyperbole is a sin, what does he call what he just wrote? Maybe he thinks pettiness is his salvation. I’ll also note that he threw me into his Outrage Brigade, and here is what I wrote about the event. I forgot to include the ALL CAPs. I even forgot the profanity. I must have been sick that day.
And then he ends with this sentiment.
We have a long way to go, but I desperately want for us to find and travel the High Road toward a more rational, more compassionate, more beautiful world.
Sorry, guy. Your High Road looks rather ugly. That you’re oblivious to it doesn’t make it attractive to the rest of us.
Jeezus. I get the defensiveness, to a point. It’s got to be a cold fucking douse of water, reflexively dismissing and mocking those who were telling you that you are wrong and then having to admit you are, indeed, wrong. But for someone who again and again and again presents himself as reasoned, rational, and skeptical to not just fucking admit he was wrong without throwing those who were right the whole time under the bus is classless, mean spirited, and just small. How about this, instead:
“Folks, I now know I was wrong. And though it pissed me off — truly and seriously pissed me off — that you came at me so hard and loudly and apparently without charity, I now understand that you were doing it because you have higher expectations of me than I was demonstrating to you. It hurt and I know I was acting defensively. But you are right to be passionate about these incredibly important subjects, and you are right to expect folks like me to get it right, too, so thank you for finally speaking up loud enough so that I could eventually hear and understand. And thank you from seeing that my tacit endorsement of these heinous views would have done damage not only to my reputation but to the reputation of our movement. I’m still smarting from how vicious some of your comments felt, and I don’t expect a lot of us will ever be best buds, but I do thank you for helping me get this call right.”
It’s not perfect, but it’s far, far better than what he did.
If we’re the Outrage Brigade does that mean he’s part of the Pusillanimous Platoon?
The “high road” remark is so especially galling not just for the self-righteousness but for the flaming hypocrisy of how he’s at least as hyperbolic while wrong as those he’s upset with who were right.
I do have to give Seth Andrews credit for one thing, though: not many people would de-escalate a situation by shooting themselves in the foot. Those on the side of social justice aren’t going to give him cookies for this statement, and the bigots are going to turn on him for caving in. By trying to satisfy everyone, he’s pleased no one.
Well said, Tonyinbatavia. Perhaps not perfect, as you recognize yourself, but way, WAY better than the whining screed Andrews wrote.
Not all of his critics were right about everything they said, such as:
Because, no, agreeing to speak at this event doesn’t warrant this kind of accusation. And it isn’t a guilt anywhere near that kind of level, if it can even be called an error at all (and all the attempts that I’ve seen which try to establish it as some kind of error are themselves errors of thinking, sometimes also ignorant of the facts).
@tonyinbatavia
If you are “seeing” that, you are in error. It just doesn’t follow at all. This kind of error is a problem.
So apparently it’s fine to dismiss SOME views out of hand.
“Wonderful humanists” do not moderate panels at conferences that platform racists, misogynists, and harassers of rape victims. Not only is Matt Dillahunty not a wonderful humanist, he’s failing a pretty simple basic human decency test.
Brian Pansky @6
Accusations that never actually happened; and yeah, if you agree to do an event with rape apologists and white supremacists and assorted other documented hate philosophies, it does warrant “that kind of accusation”.
The ridiculous drama surrounding this reminds me why, despite being an outspoken atheist, I don’t see myself as part of the “atheist community”.
Sometimes it’s ok to appear on stage with another person who has especially wrong-headed views, if your goal and plan is to spend your own stage time to denounce their views. I assume Matt Dillahunty will be doing large amounts of this. If he doesn’t, then bad on him. However, Matt has been pretty consistently on the good side, AFAIK.
Seth: Why did MythCon invite Sargon, etc instead of a respected, reasonable critic of feminism, social causes, the Left, the atheist movement itself…someone who could temper disagreement with respect, who didn’t gleefully inflame so they could bask in the smoke, and who genuinely ached to pursue the best ideas?
Me: Because there are no such people?