“Do not meddle in the affairs of atheists, for they are unsubtle and quick to anger”0

Edgar Allan Poe - has nothing to do with this post

Poe’s Law

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Poe’s Law states:[1]

“ Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won’t mistake for the real thing. ”

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Poe’s Law is an axiom suggesting that it’s difficult to distinguish between parodies of religious fundamentalism (or, more generally, parodies of any crackpot or extremist belief) and genuine proponents of religious fundamentalism, since they both seem equally insane. Conversely, real fundamentalism can easily be mistaken for a parody of fundamentalism. For example, some conservatives consider noted homophobe Fred Phelps to be so over-the-top that they argue he’s a “deep cover liberal” trying to discredit more mainstream homophobes. [full article]

Poe’s Law was birthed in August 2005 by Nathan Poe, purportedly in this post on Christian Forums. Poe’s Law really needs to be complemented by Felch’s First Law –

“Atheist” and “stupid” are not mutually exclusive

The truly bizarre thing about Poe is, despite being a prized tool in the godless counter-terrorism arsenal, the overwhelming majority of those taken in by well crafted Poe are atheists… Actually, that’s more depressing than bizarre – by far the more difficult battle is that against the dumbness within than that which is without.

Populism comes at a price – greater atheism has chosen to embrace it, and while superficially it is grass-roots and egalitarian, the hidden demons within any populist movement are invariably tinged with anti-intellectualism1 and reactionary bogus morality every bit as stupid and puritanical (in its own ways)2 as any theistic movement.

Both the stupidity and the nauseating displays of faux morality within what calls itself the “atheist community” reached its nadir this week all because of some silly little girl that goes went by the Youtube handle of TamTamPamela and a video she posted about praying for god to smite atheists and then thanking him for the Japanese earthquake.

This is the extended play version that has been preserved by Thunderf00t on his Youtube channel. She kicks in at 2:363 after what I assume is his preamble framing the context –

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and there is also some extra content at the end that is particularly relevant. Thunderf00t’s very first comment is –

Now to an extent the mere fact if this girl is for real or not is irrelevant. The mere fact that you cannot tell shows just how messed up this is.

To even pause and question this point was lost in the immediate reaction from the overwhelming majority of the atheists viewing this vid. He then proceeds to cite both Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson making worse comments about 9/11 just two days after the attacks to underscore the point that reality is about as deranged as you can get.

Now I do not know if Thunderf00t was the first to express skepticism or not about Pamela’s religiosity, but he posted his vid around the same time as the first expressions of outrage began flooding every social media outlet there is. And the outrage was as predictable as that of the god freaks whenever the latest item in the ongoing War on Christmas surfaces. In other words, it was a fucking tape loop. Pavlovian dogs slobbering uncontrollably at pre-conditioned stimulus. This is par for the course –

This Christian bitch is happy that over 10,000 people died. She is pure evil

Zero thought, maximum reaction. Dumb animals recoiling from flame. That was just the first to splatter across my screen – it was by no means the loudest nor the dumbest either. But the outrage, largely impersonal and dispersed against fundamentalist theism as a whole soon changed to an anger and hostility that was very personal and direct once the cat was out of the bag and everyone was left looking very foolish. “Hatred” is in fact closer to the mark (though it is denied) – from “enlightened” atheists who are nothing at all like their loathsome theist counterparts. Not at all, nosirreebob. Not. At. All.

You have to bear in mind that xtians didn’t jump on the lets-lynch-Pamela bandwagon immediately (which says a lot about them – if she was sincere, she was apparently acceptable). It was not until the fact she was a Poe had been blasted out on the web to the point that it penetrated even their brutish consciousness that they added their voices to the chorus of outrage. Bearing that in mind, atheists cannot plead innocent to behaving like a violent mob by –

  • publicising her home address and phone number
  • mass ordering pizza and other home delivery food
  • threatening her with death
  • telling her she deserves to get raped
  • telling people to send her feces in the mail

and most of the ones that did not participate in these direct actions of holy vengeance just babbled incoherently much like this (again, far from the worst and entirely sic) –

Colin Rogers what a air head freak of nature, plant her under a falling building or colapsing tunnle or sunammie, dont think that spelt right but you get the message

Rocket scientists at play. As repugnant as all of these histrionics are, nothing nauseated me quite like the following rational diagnosis –

this is a brainless little twit who went way over the line – although I suspect from her comments as NMEI

Obscure acronym, more a mutant appeal to authority of the “shut up and don’t question; I’m smarter than you, I know more complex terminology” variety, implying that Pamela is not normal, she has a form of myoclonic epilepsy. This is just plain obscene.

All of the religions, even buddhism, when faced with behaviour that is beyond the limits of their comprehension, and therefore alien and an aberration, conjure up demons and explain it all away as demonic possession. Atheists have no supernatural horde to summon at their convenience. It matters not. Who needs them when you have neurology and psychiatry? This is becoming far too regular an occurance4. Though they have no gods, they still have the ancestral urges to demonise the other which they are incapable of comprehending by implying neurological disorder. It is lame. It is pseudo-religious derangement.

As for Pamela’s crime itself – that is lost on me. But then again, I have no desperate neo-puritan need to proclaim my decency and humanity in loud shrieking tones in very public places to anyone who will listen. When I saw Pamela’s video (brand me a heretic), I didn’t see laughter at the Japanese dead nor their mourning survivors. I saw Pat Robertson proclaiming Haiti “Cursed” After “Pact to the Devil”. That I expected my fellow godless to likewise make this connection is yet another instance of my inviting disappointment by overestimating median intellect. Even so, let us assume she was deliberately using the Japanese tragedy as her first cause for mockery – she was still making fun of the religious, not the victims – and it is still lost on me. This is what Poe is. To highlight the monstrous, absurd derangement of the theistic mind.

Pamela came up with a piece of performance art. Scripting, 2.5/5 – meh. Not that particularly great or thought out, but it was making a very real and valid point. Execution, 4.5/5. Excellent. Believable (proven over and over and over). Extremely well done. And it is art, as per the fitting definition given by the cesspit of lies –

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.
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It is also art by the other definition: an act of trickery or cunning. It can in fact be called classic Cynic street theatre that would not have been out of place in Athens over two millenia ago. It strove to, and succeeded, in blowing away the typhos and exposing the true essence of the audience, turning the tables and placing them on stage, denuded in all their glory for all to see. And behold! What do we see?

With the theists it derides, we can assume most folks get it. If you don’t, go read some Hitchens. But it casts a rather unflattering light on the atheist coal face – those that claim to represent us vociferously in the visible and public world of social media. What we can see quite plainly is –

  • Most aren’t exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer, despite claiming the high ground of intellectual exceptionalism after decorating their coffee tables with the scribblings of the New Atheism (read or unread)
  • Beneath the glossy sheen of “enlightened” and “evolved” humanism / liberalism is one really nasty, spiteful, humourless and vicious bitch who’s temper is real old school old testament – especially when it is the butt of the joke
  • What can only be described as the uncontrollable puritan impulse – the same sanctimonious, finger-pointing, moral panic ridden, shame obsessed wowserism that populates talk-back radio and Oprah studio audiences. We demand the right to be offended.

Face it, Pamela’s 15 minutes of fame simply aren’t that big a deal. Her humour was tasteless, yes. So what? Since when is that a crime? And if you are that hypersensitive, Derek & Clive laughing it up about cancer would be fatal. So would Piss Christ.

There is no reason or logic here at all – we are looking at a very large number of people that are trapped by the vestiges of their puritan roots and can’t let go, or worse, have an atavistic yearning to return to the days where shame ruled every minute action. These folks not only demand the right to be deeply offended, they feel duty bound to do so, and are compelled to engage in a vile game of one-upmanship to see who can put on the greatest display of outrage. It’s all so church-like I want to vomit.

This sour taste is not something that can be easily washed away, if at all. I think atheism can now be consigned to the long list of other -isms that have been broken beyond redemption and no longer have any relation to their basic meaning – liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism, feminism… – by being loaded up with all manner of ideological baggage and irrelevant nonsense. It’s a long, long list.

And the puritans can rest content and congratulate themselves on a job well done. They have succeeded in driving Pamela from the web.

I hope you all feel proud of yourselves.

PS – Pamela, I’m still happy to be your friend.

0 – Bastardised LotR quote.

1 -Yes they cling to science, but far too many cling to it as though it’s scripture to be rote learned without making any real effort to gain understanding. The anti-intellectualism though is generally more of the kind of elite-ophobia seen in segments of the conservative right, and is in itself extremely conservative. Populist atheism has no stomach for nuanced language or complex, heretical concepts. Like Poe.

2 – Whilst superficially atheism claims to be enlightened, non-judgemental and egalitarian, the state of the nation now is one of general hysteria. While the dust religions primarily obsess about gender roles and human sexuality and atheism claims to be free of this nonsense, atheist puritanism manifests itself in a myriad of other ways – hypersensitive reactionary sexism (analysing every word and inflection), food politics (the fucking vegans of course), porn and adult sex work, and very noticably, the issues of alcohol and drugs, boasting large numbers of rabid teetotallers who in Temperance Union fashion decry anyone who partakes as a moral failure (and correspondingly, that the abstainers are some kind of master race).

3 – Just for a laugh, and also because I am a great believer in inexplicable quantum sarcasm, I punched “bible 2:36” into google and it ralphed up Acts 2:36 –

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

Pamela is the Second Coming, and everyone missed it. I am easily amused.

4 -It is actually appalling how often this happens – the more you look for it the more you will see it. Some atheist Dunning-Krugerite up on a pedestal condemning someone over some kind of, invariably, moral shortcoming, and for lack of coherent reasoning to explain their positions, will fall back to accusations of neurological disorder. It is pretty disgusting. The godless equivalent of “sorceror” or “witch”.