{"id":3745,"date":"2016-01-31T22:22:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T04:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/backgroundprobability\/?p=3745"},"modified":"2016-01-31T21:23:03","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T03:23:03","slug":"secular-sacred-cows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/backgroundprobability\/2016\/01\/31\/secular-sacred-cows\/","title":{"rendered":"Secular Sacred Cows"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a relatively\u00a0recent\u00a0post<\/a>, science blogger\u00a0Paul Zachary Myers made note of a few “sacred cows of the atheist worldview” such as “Science!” “Skepticism!” and “Scientific literacy!” I suppose these are all sacred<\/em> in some sense, inasmuch as they are the core causes which bind the skeptical community together. Atheists are often fans of these as well, but not invariably so. I’ve met more than a few\u00a0godless people who are content\u00a0to subject themselves (and their children) to quack medicine\u00a0while foregoing proven treatments, including vaccination. Alas,\u00a0seeing one’s way out of theism does not ensure a thoroughgoing devotion to scientific reasoning.<\/p>\n

Back to PZ’s so-called sacred cows, for a moment. The usual\u00a0meaning of that idiomatic\u00a0phrase is along the lines of something\u00a0which may not be questioned or criticized<\/em>. I am skeptical of whether a\u00a0recursively self-correcting process such\u00a0as the scientific method<\/a>\u00a0can possibly be made to fit the description of a sacred cow,\u00a0seeing as it has questioning, testing, and criticism essentially baked in:<\/p>\n

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Via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is possible that someone could refuse to brook any debate\u00a0as to\u00a0whether science is a worthwhile endeavor, but I cannot think of why anyone would want to take that approach. I’m more than happy to put\u00a0scientific inquiry up against any other method of discovering truth about the world. It can hold its own just fine\u00a0without any\u00a0taboos on discussion and debate.<\/p>\n

Not every set of ideas is so robust,\u00a0of course. Later in the same post Professor Myers\u00a0makes it clear that he considers certain\u00a0notions respecting feminism to be\u00a0completely beyond question:<\/p>\n

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This is not a topic for debate. It\u2019s time to stop pretending that it is.<\/div>\n
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Here\u2019s reality.<\/div>\n
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You are not a feminist if you think an anti-feminist working for a far right wing, climate change denying think tank is your ideal feminist.<\/div>\n
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You are not a feminist if you are judging women by their tone, and whether they agree with you or not. If someone is angry about an injustice, you don\u2019t get to argue that they, and not the injustice, deserves ridicule.<\/div>\n
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You are not for equality of men and women if you propagate the myth that feminism is a religion, that feminists hate men, that their goal is to exploit men. \u201cEquity feminist\u201d is not a real thing; it\u2019s an imaginary distinction set up to allow anti-feminists to reject activists working to break down discrimination.<\/div>\n
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If someone pushes that nonsense at me, I\u2019m not going to calmly suggest that maybe they have some valid points that we should discuss in a meeting. I\u2019m going to simply say, “GET THE FUCK<\/strong> AWAY FROM ME<\/em>“.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When it comes to PZ’s ideas about feminism, some issues\u00a0are\u00a0simply not\u00a0up for debate. There really are\u00a0such things as\u00a0secular sacred cows<\/em>, after all.<\/p>\n

The power of our collective\u00a0taboo against\u00a0criticizing (certain varieties of) feminism has\u00a0been on vulgar display\u00a0most recently in the hasty removal of Richard Dawkins<\/a> from the NECSS lineup for posting an offensive satirical cartoon:<\/a><\/p>\n

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Dr. Dawkins has deleted his tweet. We will not link to the video, but here is a screen grab of the tweet and video. pic.twitter.com\/kzr1BqCTIG<\/a><\/p>\n

— NECSS (@NECSS) January 28, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n