The landlord of a women's reproductive health clinic in Maryland had endured years of harassment by forced-birth protesters. Todd Stave is a firm believer in the Constitutional right to freedom of speech, so over the years he has tolerated what to most people would be a level of harassment and personal abuse that would be intolerable.
Stave has a long history of standing up for women's reproductive rights in his own quiet way. He was only five years old when Roe v Wade was decided, but his family has upheld the right of women to choose what happens to their own bodies from the beginning. Stave's father and sister were the landlords of the clinic before he was, and he carries on the proud family tradition of supporting the right of women to be treated as fully human - with all the rights that men enjoy over their bodily autonomy.
In late 2010, the forced-birth protesters crossed what even the patient and patriotic Stave considered to be a bridge too far. They began to appear at his children's' school events, published the names, addresses and contact information of friends and family members, encouraging protesters to harass them, too, and made it clear that if he wasn't frightened by their stalking tactics for himself, then they would up the pressure and threaten his children and his extended family.
Stave asked a few friends to help him keep track of the phone numbers of the telephone stalkers and they began to phone the stalkers back. In spite of the terrorist tactics that he had been subjected to, Stave refused to stoop to the level of the forced-birthers. Instead of uttering threats and calling the stalkers names, Stave and his friends calmly acknowledged the harassing phone calls and thanked the phone stalkers for their "prayers".
At first, there was just a small circle of friends, but the group grew quickly as people heard about Stave's idea of flipping the forced-birthers tactics back on them - only without the terrorism, the threats and the vitriol. Eventually, more information was gleaned about the phone and street stalkers, and so the friends of Stave began to drop names and places into their phone calls with pleasant wishes for a good day. This was a direct turnaround of the forced-birth stalkers tactic of threatening the family and friends of pro-choice front liners. Except without the threatening.
Stories like this restore one's faith in humanity, if only a little bit at a time. Well done, Voice of Choice. Bravo, Todd Stave!
Could next year's Reason Rally look like this? Hell yeah!
Hate to be dragging this out over days, but some video links have been hard to come by. P.Z. Myers helpfully provided a link to video of his talk at the Reason Rally this morning. Until now, these videos had been scarcer than hen's teeth. There is going to be an official spiffy Rally video released later, so I can sort of see why it has been so difficult.
But here's the thing: the excitement is out there right now. We need to use that energy to spread the encouraging message that was sent to closeted atheists everywhere on Saturday now. The official video will be great, I am sure, and I will certainly be buying a copy of it (or downloading if it is freely accessible - which I hope it will be (are you listening Reason Rally organizers?).
First up, P.Z. Myers, the tentacled overlord of Pharyngula fame (blog link on the right).
Julian Baggini published an atheist "manifesto" in the Guardian (U.K.) which I have not yet read in full, but which looks meaty and interesting. There is a 'Series: Heathens Progress' above the author's byline and under the Guardian banner which gave me a momentary thrill. Could heathenish writing actually have scored series status in the U.K. media? Excellent, if true!
Canada's National Post has published a story about Richard Dawkins' talk at the Reason Rally.
The Friendly Atheist made a herculean effort and posted a Rally recap with his impressions, photos and videos.
USA Today published a hatchet job using every atheist trope the hopelessly bigoted Religion writer could cram into the piece. I only include such verbal excrement in the interest of fair and balanced reporting. :-/
Video of Tim Minchin has been really hard to find online, but Kylee Sturgess (Token Skeptic) managed to find this one from UStream (David Singer). The first 58 seconds are broken (perhaps Penn Jillette broke it, heh) but then it works and Tim Minchin's bit comes right after:
These screeds don't just clutter up your INBOX. They don't just stink up mine. They infest email inboxes all over the country - all over the world - and they spread dirty lies. They are sent via email "trees" to thousands of people who receive them frompeople they trust. Some of the recipients may just delete these emails without opening them, but many others' attention is snagged by the catchy subject lines, so they open the emails and read the poisonous contents. All too usually, the recipients suspend their disbelief. They suspend all critical thinking skills. They accept these vile messages as gospel truth because it comes to them from a friend or relative. None of us wants to believe that a trusted source like a friend or relative would send us frightening or disgusting lies, and most of us still hold fast to the "where there is smoke, there is fire" folk wisdom. These groups depend on that general tendency to trust; they create the smoke using unconscious and conscious bigotry, photoshop and sheer blatant lies. Then they disseminate the disgusting product throughout the inter web via unsuspecting networks of friends, coworkers and families.
Most progressives simply delete these awful emails and try not to think of them when we see the friends or relatives who sent or forwarded them to us. But is there something more we could or should be doing? I am inclined to think that yes, we could and, more importantly, we should do something more about this. These emails are not benign. They are not in the same league as the "Let's celebrate girlfriends!" chain mail, but I think the strategy is to have them fly under the radar pretending to be just as harmless and/or benignly "informative" as those.
What?!
No. These emails are like the spreading of a cancer. Email tree chains quickly spread to thousands and then millions of people. This is a propaganda tool which we have ignored at our peril. Most of the time, we ignore it because we do not want uncomfortable confrontations with friends or relatives. But here's the thing: the groups spreading this vicious garbage are counting on that.
I think there is at least one way that we can fight back. One way to counteract this sort of vicious campaign of lies which most progressives can get behind. Fight the lies with - it's so obvious - the truth! Of course, if it were that simple, the truth would have worked all along. Unfortunately, people who are caught up in this sort of chain mailing propaganda - mail coming from trusted friends and relatives remember - are often caught with their guards down, therefore prime targets for lies and smear tactics.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.George Orwell
Getting people to accept the truth - when it contradicts what trusted friends and relatives are telling them - is a challenge, but it can be done.
Photo may cause apoplexy
Here is advice I've adapted from the excellent methods shared by Aratina Cage, a blogger and frequent commenter on Pharyngula. I think it is brilliant.
-Create an anonymous email account (a nice touch - and truthful! - might be to give your new email account a patriotic-sounding moniker. Something like trueblueamerican@?mail.com). You will have to give the email server your info, but the recipients of the mass emails will just see the patriotic sender's address. Maintain your usual email for your regular email.
-Generate a new mass emailing to all recipients of the original obnoxious "patriotic" hate email. Include yourself and the sender of the original email.
-Copy and paste the Time cover photo of Obama and Reagan (pictured left).
-Beneath the picture, remind the recipients that President Obama is the current head of state, and you just know that they are all very interested in his accomplishments.
-Helpfully provide links to political tracking sites such as PolitiFact. The Obameter there keeps track of the President's accomplishments and his fulfillment of campaign promises. It also keeps track of where he has failed to deliver.
-Encourage the recipients to keep tabs on the President's daily activities via the White House Blog. There, they will be kept informed of news, videos and ideas directly from the administration.
-Last, provide a link to Snopes where you can urge the recipients to fact-check chain emails to be sure that they are always armed with the truth and can never be fooled by fiction presented as fact.
-Keep everything in a file labeled "nuisance emails" and repeat every time you receive a propaganda email.
Aratina Cage has come up with a great idea and I plan to start using it immediately. In fact, I now find that I welcome these types of emailings! With this method, freethinkers and progressives can refute the destructive, fear-mongering false claims of the anti-Obama reactionaries using their own methods. And for those of us who shy away from confrontation with relatives and friends, it is all anonymous.
These mass emailings spread lies and frighteningly damaging propaganda. It's time to fight fire with water. Or, more appropriately perhaps, we ought to fight filthy garbage with powerful cleansers!
(Courtesy of chigau, Pharyngula commenter) Check out the name on the plumbing truck the white knight is charging towards. Classic:
Greta Christina's exhilarated and uplifting post on the Reason Rally here. "If you came to the Reason Rally, and you do just one thing for atheism that you haven’t done before? If you tell one person that you’re an atheist? If you start wearing atheist T-shirts? If you start crossing “In God We Trust” off your money? If you start hanging out with your local atheist group? If you organize one event with the local atheist group you already hang out with? If you donate money to one atheist organization? If you run for public office as an out atheist? If you start re-tweeting things about atheism?
If you do just one thing for atheism that you haven’t done before… this movement will be radically changed."
This video is painful to watch. A United States Marine, a veteran, arrives at his small Tennessee polling place on Super Tuesday, prepared to vote, but not prepared to produce a photo ID. He has brought his state issued voter card and he wants to vote as he has done every election for nearly forty years.
He confronts the unassuming bureaucrats, telling them that, while he does possess photo ID, he is refusing to present it. He is refusing to present a photo ID on principle - and that principle is that a law requiring a photo ID from citizens before permitting them to exercise their right to vote is a bad law. It is the same thing as charging a fee. He is protesting on behalf of his fellow citizens who may be prevented from voting because of this law.
The Marine has brought a camera person with him to record his protest. He insists that the bureaucrat to whom he is registering his protest tell him to his face - and on camera - that he, a US Marine who has served his country honorably, will not be permitted to vote unless he produces a valid photo ID. The bureaucrat finally does so, and the Marine, barely keeping his composure, leaves.
The Tennessee Legislature passed a new law requiring voters to present a state-approved voter ID. While the state promised on its website to provide eligible voters with valid photo ID free of charge, there are several impediments to access for many eligible citizens.
Poor people and people who do not have birth certificates face taxing hurdles to obtaining this state ID. Many poor people cannot afford to pay for a birth certificate (which the "free" ID requires), and a significant number of others have never had a birth certificate for various reasons usually related to extreme poverty and other social deprivations. Some of the people who are disenfranchised by these laws are veterans who have fought for this country.
This video is not pretty. It is not slick nor is it scripted and smoothly delivered. This is an extraordinary citizen who is fighting for his country. He fought for his country as a Marine and now he is fighting for justice at home.
