Humanist, All Too Humanist

We're branded. Worse than just labeled, we're branded. This is, people don't know who we are when we say we are atheist- they know what we think and what we'll say and where we've been. That's how branding works. They probably even know which Christopher Hitchens videos we have favorited on Youtube.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with unpopular beliefs, our branders are not ourselves. We have been branded by the majority, by theists and believers; we have been branded by those who have no idea how we wonder at the universe, let alone that we wonder at all. And so, we are considered empty. We are viewed as loveless and prideful. We are seen as selfish and without imagination.

I fear we are to blame.

We've made this too easy for them to do. After all, we are atheists. Our label itself infers a "non." A non belief in god. We're making a non claim.

So why not take it a step further?

We do not believe in god. This leaves one real option for us. We believe in people. Every breakthrough our species has made has been through the power of one. We know that.

We are humanists.

It is through the power, prescience, and propensity of the individual that our species has been able to commandeer and cull an entire planet. That there is, at least, one corner of all reality which is governed and sustained by an erect, bipedal mammal is a stunning fact. And it is a fact because of the power of the individual.

Not only is it important to accept the label of humanist because it's time, but also because of the difficulty the opposition will have in speaking down the term "humanist." And the moment of hesitation that it will take for them to mock the term "humanist," a term which exploits the integrity and autonomy in each of us, may be all that it takes to force them into questioning their own label as well.

Questioning beliefs is when answers start changing.

And changing our very label jolts the starting position of our interactions and conversations from, "why don't you do believe?" to "how could people have done all of this on their own?" That difference alone may provide the vantage point necessary to instill some doubt. And that's before the dialogue really begins.

The point is we need to force change for the world we live in, not simply create tolerance for our beliefs.

If we embrace the responsibility of a positive claim instead of running from it going forward, we can surely find some islands of common ground.

 From there we stress the importance of science and children who read voraciously. These values, when stated seriously, are extremely difficult to dispute. They are also values that the theist position has not treated as premier in the past.

But so long as the majority debits the prestige of our species to some meddling teller in the sky, we cannot agree on the value of this life.

The value of this life is incalculable.

This is what it means to be humanist.



Also, don't forget to get your shopping in for Hitchens-Jefferson Day.

ADRIAN FORT is a writer, blogger, and essayist from Kansas City, Missouri. Follow him on twitter @adriananyway. His work has appeared in Existere, decomP magazinE, The Bluest Aye, Bareback Magazine, Gadfly Online, Chrome Baby, The Eunoia Review, Linguistic Erosion, and Smashed Cat Magazine. His Master's Degree is from Lindenwood University. 

Spider-Man, the Sexist Pig

Some time late last night Marvel Studios regained cinematic access to one of the three most popular comic-book characters of all time. They moved swiftly to employ him into their plans, plans which already included movies that fit Spider-Man both thematically and as timelines/story lines which are true to the comics. There was also nary a fan who didn't clamor for the Webslinger to be included in the fold at Marvel. Because Marvel is moving immediately with Spider-Man, the Thor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Inhumans movies were bumped a bit later in the timeline. In short, almost everyone was elated.

I barely need to tell you what happened next.

If you've ever been on twitter, or tumblr, or reddit, or any of a number of other time wasting sites, you know that this clearly means-

SPIDER-MAN IS A SEXIST AND A RACIST, BUT MAINLY A SEXIST!!!!!

This is the latest "feminist" rallying cry from people who don't understand what feminism really is. Captain Marvel, for those who don't know, is a woman. And Black Panther is a Black man.

I pointed out to several of these "intellectuals" that Spider-Man's popularity is unparalleled in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was promptly told that my gender afforded me little or no opinion on the matter.

Upset that my gender was addressed and not my argument, I point out that this is actually a sexist take.

Pop Quiz, what happens when you point out obvious sexist tropes in a "feminist" argument?

You get accused of "playing the reverse-sexist card." This is a statement which means less than nothing. First, "reverse-sexism" insinuates that the mechanism which necessitates the sexist act is inherently masculine. This is an obvious self-defeating argument, if it is an argument at all. Second, and perhaps more contemptible, is the fact that "playing the X card" is a cliche. And a bad one. But matters of taste aside, dismissing/denying someone's opinion/argument based on gender is sexist. Guess what happens if you point that out?

Well, I was talked down to, called uneducated, and told that I should "get a liberal arts education." I don't think I need to relay the shame that my Associates in Arts, my Bachelor's in English Literature, and my Master's in Creative Writing  felt that I had let them down so forthrightly.

Now, apparently, I've been added to some type of internet list which was clearly so important that it warranted capital letters. Which I must say is truly terrifying as I have never been to the website. The worst part of these types of exchanges is that the troglodytes remain completely oblivious that they are instituting the same type of ignorant and boorish behavior that they claim to be combating.

Besides, the Thor movie was pushed back as well. Did these social justice warriors bash Marvel for being Norse-ist? The Inhumans movie was delayed as well, clearly this means that Marvel is Inhumanist. But the inclusiveness of those arguments does not match the internet "feminists" M.O.

Also, Batman will be rebooted in the D.C. Cinematic Universe and appear either concurrently or slightly before (he does already share a title card...) Wonder Woman, and a probably Black character in Green Lantern. Does this draw cyber-"feminist" ire? No, the information is too nuanced.

Though I do have testicles, I dare say that true feminists would be disgusted with such disorganized, malformed garble, and especially that it was shot-gunned into the public sphere under the banner which they labored to erect. In fact, perhaps the true argument here is that these characters should get their films when the characters and their directions fit thematically, and not in order to meet some imaginary quota. As that type of shoehorning is both degrading and self-congratulatory in a white-man's-burden sort of way, no?

But perhaps my testosterone is effecting my thinking as I have been doing extra pushups and drinking more beers and catcalling at an inordinate rate recently.

It is that type of situation that makes me claim humanism rather than feminism. What was once known as feminism has been hijacked by individuals who are careless with their words, unfocused with their anger, and simply unskilled in the art of criticism.

The self-congratulatory nature of these "feminists" is a far cry from the mettle of intellectual warriors that sparked a revolution.

When individuals enter the arena of public discourse with an "education" that outweighs their critical thinking skills and observational faculties the argument can only suffer.


ADRIAN FORT is a writer, blogger, and essayist from Kansas City, Missouri. Follow him on twitter @adriananyway. His work has appeared in Existere, decomP magazinE, The Bluest Aye, Bareback Magazine, Gadfly Online, Chrome Baby, The Eunoia Review, Linguistic Erosion, and Smashed Cat Magazine. His Master's Degree is from Lindenwood University.