I was asked to sit on a panel for the Skep Tech conference and discuss online harassment and anonymity. The reason I was invited was because the person who suggested my name wanted me to address the issue from a “marketing perspective.”
So, in preparation for my time on this panel, I’ve researched. I’ve read. I’ve had to pick my jaw off the floor more than once. To be honest, I’ve never seen adults act so… so… unprofessional (I’ll be kind) in a very long time.
Here’s the thing; We’re supposed to be the smart ones. The skeptics. The thinkers. The educated folk.
You’d never know this from reading various blog posts, and certainly many comment threads. I read examples of dog piling, name calling, twisted communication, cherry picking, quote mining, you name it.
And yes, I visited a wide range of sites and forums.
To be fair, we have a number of skeptic bloggers who are doing a fantastic job. Their sites are professional, their comment threads are courteous, it’s a joy to visit them and witness lively discussion minus the vitriol.
But then we have those few who seem to dominate discussion, fare well in Google results, and are, quite honestly, a marketer’s PR nightmare.
Basic marketing 101: You’ll never bully, cajole, harass, dog pile, shame, or name call your prospective client into purchasing your product. Ever. You’ll never bring them to your “side” using those techniques either. We’re selling skepticism whether we like it or not.
That’s why I found this article so refreshing.
A local group of atheists wants to have some lively and friendly discussion about the existence or non-existence of God over omelettes and orange juice this Saturday morning.
[snip]
“We, as a group, don’t really believe in proselytizing atheism,” he explained. “From our standpoint, we believe that the education in comparative religion is important and that scientific literacy is important. People can arrive at their own conclusions.”
I’m impressed. This is how it came about:
To prove the point that he doesn’t have a problem with the devoutly religious members of the community, he explained that he has recently made the acquaintance of Serge Poirier, the associate pastor at the Sturgeon Valley Baptist Church.
Last year, the church held a presentation called Unpacking Atheism. Fevin and some of the society’s other members asked to attend and were welcomed with open arms. The dialogue was cordial and pleasant enough that the two men continued the discussion as peers and as friends.
“We get together about once a month for coffee or a bite to eat and debate our differences, discuss our similarities and perhaps most importantly, we laugh a lot,” he said.
Ha. Sounds like one of our local freethinker meetings.
I found this comment from Luke Fevin particularly interesting:
Thanks to (the around 20) people that attended our brunch this morning. Was happy to welcome ‘new’ members to our group from St Albert. Also a shout out to Pastor Serge & his posse from the Sturgeon Valley Baptist Church for joining us. They were a welcome addition to the conversation.
In this shrinking World, with many (often conflicting) beliefs it is becoming more & more imperative that we be able to discuss religion comfortably & disagree respectfully. I Thank Pastor Serge for his example that this is not only possible, but can be enjoyable.
I think this is a stellar example on how to build a community. Old marketers say the way to make sales is by using this mantra: Know me, like me, trust me, buy from me. I think this would work well in the skeptic community as well.
