Archive for the ‘blogs’ Category
Letter of Support for Bangladesh Bloggers
Mr Ambassador,
I am dismayed and angry to hear reports that fellow humanist and atheist bloggers have been incarcerated for publicly airing their views and concerns on matters regarding Islam and the prophet in Bangladesh. The sensitivities of believers are being placed ahead of the freedom of people.
Such concern over free people expressing their conscience and views the world over are part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,”
When thousands gather calling for the death penalty of bloggers, and the murderer of an atheist blogger remains at large, fear tramples on the freedom and aspirations of those that would share their views and discuss such matters of conscience openly. The mentality of the mob strangles our right to hear dissenting views we may benefit from when peacefully heard.
I am pleased that the Bangladesh Government has resisted thus far attempts to introduce the death penalty. I hope that the charges now brought against bloggers maybe looked at leniently, and that they may soon return to their loved ones.
May the Bangladesh Government use all it’s resources to prevent further brutality and victimisation of atheists. I hope that free speech for the devout and the skeptic may be tolerated and freely expressed without fear. I urge peace and reconciliation in the country.
Mr Ambassador please pass on my views to your government, mentioned out of solidarity with fellow bloggers and freethinkers. Please use the powers of your office and influence to support universal human rights which all the people of Bangladesh deserve. I urge my own Government to assist you in that endeavour and to make all diplomatic efforts and representations in support of human rights.
Kind regards,
John Sargeant
Atheist Blogger
British Citizen
Previous blog on atheist bloggers in Bangladesh
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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Time for us all to stand together
The latest in Bangladesh is the government is not prepared to change the blasphemy law to include the death penalty, despite threats from Islamist groups to blockade the capital if this and other demands (including declaring a sect heretical and Islamic education in primary and secondary school) are not met. The deadline Hefajat-e-Islam have set for Sheikh Hasina’s government to cave in is the end of this month.
With violence, the forced closure of businesses and schools by strikes, not to mention the number of intimidating protestors calling for the death of the atheist bloggers it may be too much to hope the secular government may look to leniency. With a maximum sentence of ten years if found guilty of blasphemy through their blogs, it seems those that believe in freedom of religion, free speech and the humanist community have till the end of this month to show their support for universal human rights.
PZ Myers has blogged about what is happening and agreed with my suggestion we follow Hemant’s idea of having the Scarlet B flying on our atheist blogs. Gentlemen, may I humbly suggest that you include the Zapfino B permanently in your side bar? A small gesture in the face of a government determined to try, and an Islamist group to kill, the four bloggers thus far arrested.
In the face of that, what Myers says is what all of us are no doubt feeling:
I feel helpless in the face of this oppression, unable to do anything for people in a distant country who are being abused by their own government.
I mentioned earlier that Andrew Copson (Chief Executive British Humanist Association) was going to raise with International Humanist European Union (IHEU) about coordinating a mass solidarity event. IHEU have responded to me today on twitter when I was asking if @MrOzAtheist may know how to get a solidarity/protest event happening in Australia:
I appreciate efforts are happening behind the scenes and lobbying of governments. What I think would mean something also for the bloggers, family, friends and supporters in Bangladesh is a visible show of support from the international community. If world wide on the same day, liberty, religious (yes they too can suffer from blasphemy laws) and humanist groups could show solidarity outside the Bangladesh Embassy.
That would I am sure mean something. I am also thinking of direct letters of support to those incarcerated as well. In addition to letters to Bangladesh Ambassador protesting the arrests and asking for leniency. We can also ask the groups in Bangladesh what the international community can do to help. Maybe even writing to the Islamic groups themselves.
Will it change anything? Bottom line is we show our fellow freethinkers in Bangladesh that we did not throw our hands in the air but did our best to show solidarity with them and recognise what has happened. If successful, the balance of pros and cons the judiciary and government weigh up may take more account of international reaction to events.
How do you benefit? When people that thought, say and write the things you would were imprisoned you acted with empathy and spoke out. No one can be assured of their rights when no one protests or raises their voice to speak up for those denied. Solidarity is more than a thought, it is an action.
Otherwise you may as well get on your knees and pray, prepare to roll over, and be walked over, for all the good thoughts will do you in the face of oppression.
UPDATE: within minutes of posting blog IHEU tweeted me that members will receive email of campaign tomorrow.
UPDATE 9/4/2013 IHEU web page
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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Solidarity For Bloggers in Bangladesh
Today I have been using twitter to encourage the humanist community and all who support free speech and freedom of religion to show solidarity for bloggers and their supporters in Bangladesh (see previous blog).
Please feel free to use this meme in social media, placards and blogs to show your support.
On twitter spoke to Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association asking if an organised solidarity/protest event would happen outside Bangladesh Embassies.
He has said he will contact IHEU (International Humanist European Union) to help coordinate such an action. UPDATE 9/4/13: IHEU campaign page
In the meantime please encourage your own national humanist, atheist and free thinker groups to speak out. Write to the Bangladesh Ambassador – a bulging mailbag gets reported back.
Write to your Foreign Secretary demanding he conveys in the strongest possible terms disapproval for the imprisonment of these bloggers.
FOLLOW UP BLOG: Time for us all to stand together
UPDATE: Letter to High Commission and Foreign Office
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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Top Ten Posts 2012 and thanks
As this month and next are the time when contenders for awards for the past year vie for each other, and thank those involved, here are the top ten most read blogs that were written in 2012 in descending order:
Islamic fundamentalists gunning for Malala again (as if once was not enough)
Darwin Awards 2012 – too young to include? (Supposed age criteria not applied – no email reply yet as to why)
Jose Mestre – facing a brighter future
(finally has operation for face covering tumour after fear of blood transfusion due to Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Genital Mutilation of Women in Malaysia
Seven Year Old Beaten to Death
(Child beaten to death for failing to memorise Koran in UK)
Doug Wright Facebook Viral Post
(Friends voting against his rights as a Gay man)
Sex, Intimacy and God (better relationships with partner and god via the sack)
Richard Dawkins Foundation remove post (inaccurate information on other religions and Christmas/Christian similarities taken down after Facebook users point out)
Malala Day – 10 November (the Taliban failing to silence her, the world community came together to make her message heard).
Special mention to Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, Andrew Copson and the British Humanist Association, Council for Ex Muslims, International Humanist EU, and @NoFGM for retweeting blogs. Also special thanks to Henmant Mehta for crediting me for stories he picked up from the blog – a very nice touch.
Then there are the comments and reblogs for 2012 so special thanks to those that stand out for continual support are John Zande, R.L Culper, Gary William Murning and Glen Carrigan. Cheers guys reassured me people were reading 
Retweets on twitter and facebook posts allow a far bigger readership to know about these things than otherwise would have been possible. So a big thank you to all readers that did so who I may have missed.
Appreciate you all reading, and getting involved. In the words of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation complaints division “Share and Enjoy!”
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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Why do I blog?
In my conversion with Yasmin in the comments on “Islam and the infidel” it occurred to me that not everybody reads the page that says “About the blog”, “About Me” or “From Jehovah to Dawkins”. These will leave you in no doubt what I am trying to write about.
However, the “About the blog” is rarely read compared to the other two. So I thought I would put that on the main page. In short it is about secularism and individual liberty to be of faith or an infidel, with the separation of church and state:
2B3 A Freethinking Space
There are many issues which impact on us as individuals – religion, politics, economics, science, philosophy – in essence it is the power of ideas manifested in such areas which have profound effects on the society that we are a part of.
The world has enough problems without religion adding to them
In the pluralism of ideas decisions are made by those that show up – and while I am not saying I have all the answers this is an opportunity to stand up for those views that I have. Namely that religious freedom needs protecting just as the rights of infidels and those without religious belief do too – that a secular state is the only mechanism which safeguards these liberties. That science is an exploration of the observable and the universe around us based on evidence and empirical observation – which we undermine at a cost to humanity. Innovations which improve our existence and knowledge about the universe we live in depend on science. To deny these advances or the learning of what science tells us is nothing short of a scandal.
Yet people will claim, on the basis of religion or ignorance, to know the truth of these things. That medical research should not go ahead, that vaccinations in schools should not happen, that science classrooms should not teach evolution. The basis of this is a conviction that they have something called truth, verified in text sanctified by their conviction of authorship. On this basis people who do not believe render themselves to eternal torment in hell or are blown up. With circular reasoning their argument in a nutshell is you are going to hell if you do not – yet by their actions they would make it hell for us on earth right now.
No doubt some people are very comforted by their religious belief, and that for them it motivates good deeds where they would not wish to harm a fly much less wish harm on other people. It would be a mistake to consider all people of religion to hold views that endanger the human rights of people in society or to bring destruction to life on earth. Indeed it was persecuted religious minorities that were so vocal for a secular state. For those that treat their faith as metaphor rather than the last word and think for themselves is not the problem.
Those using violence or intimidation are outside public reason
If the moderates cannot hold back those that would in the name of their faith add to the suffering of people, that with God on their side there is no question of democracy deciding these things, then we have a problem. Because evaluating the consequences and impact of their policies on women, the poor and spread of disease is not how they score these things; any suffering that may happen is incidental compared to obeying God. That we are free as long as we follow this supernatural being, that cannot be verified accept by faith, telling them what we should be doing.
The only defense of public reason is to protect ourselves from supposed mandates from God – the secular state. That prevents people imposing their religion on others. That public policy serves the citizens who politicians are ultimately responsible to. On the basis that all citizens are free and equal.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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WordPress statistics – the well traveled visitor
WordPress have introduced a new statistic which now differentiates between how many views your blog has from how many people visited. In the last few days that has shown that on average each person reads at least two articles.
In the last few moments though it looks like one visitor has read seventeen articles while zig zagging across the Atlantic with a pit stop in Ireland and Canada:
Either superman is reading this blog on the fly or something is not computing here for visitors.
Reason suggests the later.
Very grateful for all the support out there since I resumed blogging full-time a few months ago. Hope you enjoy reading, and if so please share. The blog makes a thoughtful if cheap Christmas present.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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Following by email
A great way to follow the blog. However you do need to confirm via the email that is sent to you before you can start receiving the blog this way. The figures suggest lots of you want to follow but do not confirm.
So please be sure to hit the “Confirm Follow” button when the email comes.
The initial email should be immediate – if not then do check your spam/junk folder as it may have ended up in there.
You will then receive an email confirming successful, with suggested articles you may have missed, and option to change the frequency of notifications.
To follow by email see the option on the right side bar near the top. On a mobile device you will find the option scrolling down this page.
However you follow, thanks for your support!
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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Civil Discourse
The freedom to speak does imply the ability to listen. By that logic you will hear things that may offend you. That you may benefit from hearing such things is a right no one should deprive you of.
Brought up in the Jehovah’s Witnesses from nine to fourteen, there was no Internet let alone mobile phones around. Had they been, the opportunity to engage by witnessing (preaching) to Darwinists would have been tempting. I am certain that would have been considered trolling, rather than a genuine attempt to save people.
That is one reason evidence and explaining science is not enough. Al Gore in “An Inconvenient Truth” uses the quote:
It is difficult to get someone to understand something when their salary depends upon them not understanding it.
Replace the word salary with salvation, you might appreciate what is at stake for someone. Equally, why they seem so intent trying to talk you out of it.
Civility can be difficult at these times. On PZ Myers’ (pictured above, the one on the left) blog “Pharyngula” a clear line was drawn and he made a ruling where a detractor was being harassed by other commentators:
StevOr has received threats to disclose his identity if he doesn’t leave Pharyngula permanently. You may not like him, you may oppose what he says, but anyone who pulls that kind of stunt will find themselves banned.
SteveOr having thanked PZ Myers made this reply:
For what its worth I’ll certainly admit that in the past I have said some things I now no longer believe and aren’t proud of and suspect this is probably true of just about everybody.
I’m the first person to admit that I’m fallible, sometimes mistaken and have said a few silly things and been carried away when drunk and overtired and will try to do better in future.
Humanism, as mentioned in the previous blog, requires an open exchange of views. Without we cannot develop our thoughts and ideas. Threats and a lack of civility go against that.
The House of Lords will hopefully today remove the word “insult” from section 5 of the Public Order Act.
Related Blogs: Reform Section 5 now
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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Brad Pitt on comfort and faith
No blogs till next week; brother’s birthday tomorrow sadly had a seizure today so hopefully he will be up for it. Will leave you with a thought from Brad Pitt that ties in with my previous blog on The Comfort of the Supernatural.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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To Tweet or not to Tweet
A massive thank you to Richard Dawkins and followers on twitter for sharing the previous blog about how Islamic extremists hope to subject Malala to sharia law in the courts and a fatwa for another touch of religious poisoning to humanity.
I have only been tweeting seriously for about four weeks, though blogging (with occasional leave of absence) for four years. In that short space of time PZ Meyers, the British Humanist Association and now Richard Dawkins have shared the blog reaching a wider audience that care about the same things I do.
Which brings me to the question Libby Purves poses that some twitters are not living the good life waving back at us but are actually drowning in misspent time savouring glamour and tittle tattle, drowning in a sea of maliciousness.
“Blogging is graffiti with punctuation” as Elliott Gould says in Contagion. The thing that strikes me about these sort of observations is that with every advance in publishing people have been concerned about how people will make use of the new format.
From pain staking copying by hand to instant publishing from an electrical device to potentially a global audience in seconds, the ease with which we can share our views – and more crucially search out views with a few taps of the fingers – is a tremendous advancement for knowledge, sharing culture and communication. That has had governments, and movements determined to use these techniques to both control and spread the word.
The printing press was a revolution in thought but considered an engine of immorality. Jefferson stated that adverts were the only thing telling truth in newspapers to be relied upon. Groucho Marx said:
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
Yet with digital media, more than ever the choice to be informed is there with the ability to instantly share that information. Twitter # feeds exist for most television programmes to discuss what is being broadcast as it happens.
That instant contact is perhaps what is getting people into trouble, and no thought of consequences for what they say on themselves and others. Those that have made slanderous accusations involving naming political figures as child abusers may well hope to be out to sea when writs start circling.
People want their lives witnessed, and have a self image to present to the world at large. Just remember twitter, Facebook and blog sites are publishing formats, like those of old. Increasingly they are leading to legal action for hate speech, slander and libel.
Those values of civility, integrity and truth are not outdated concepts for the social media age. They are essential for civilisation, whatever age humans have lived in, and for the continued good health of human discourse.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
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