Two Questions for DJ Grothe
January 9, 2012 at 3:18 pm Greta Christina
UPDATE: D.J. Grothe has replied to this post in the comments, and has requested that I link to that response here in the original post. I will respond as soon as possible; it may not be until tomorrow.
I have two questions for JREF President D.J. Grothe. They’re questions that I find unsettling and upsetting to even consider, questions I wouldn’t have thought I’d have to ask a leader of a major organization in this movement. But I’ve been reading some things Grothe has been saying recently… and apparently, I have to ask.
Question #1: Do you really think there is any context in which making threats of gender-based, sexualized violence — towards a person of any gender, but especially towards a female writer and her readers — can be justified?
Question #2: Do you really think that feminist bloggers in the atheist/skeptical movements are writing about sexism and misogyny, and pointing out examples of it in our communities, primarily so we can manufacture controversy and draw traffic?
http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/01/09/two-questions-for-dj-grothe/#comment-51593
D.J. Grothe is President of the James Randi Educational Foundation. There's been quite a discussion going on. Apparently there is more here than simply a conversation on the absence of belief. I suppose it's inevitable when atheism is framed in the context of "a major organization in this movement". If that is in fact the case, a description of the movement, beyond the simple definition of atheism, is in order. This discussion looks to be part of that defining process.
