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Old 5th May 2013, 08:47 AM   #1
Antiquehunter
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Musings on Skepticism and A+

Reading now, that PZ Myers has decided to spit the dummy, throw his toys out of the sandbox and leave the 'Skeptic movement' over an apparent disagreement with one of the most likeable people on the planet (Jamy Ian Swiss) - I just wanted to vent my spleen for a bit.

Trying to organize people who are all generally a) intelligent, b) good thinkers, c) very often atheists, or at least generally not annoyingly religious - shouldn't have to be that difficult a thing.

In my own case, I came to the Skeptical 'movement' probably about 12 years ago. I have been at times, very 'active' insofar as my attendance of events, and I've taken vacations from the same. I'm currently in vacation mode.

I'm not sure any one organization of skeptics matches 100% with my view of the world, and what I would like to see from such an organization. JREF overlaps with about 75% of that, so I guess that is as good as its going to get for now. The A+ movement has so much mumbo-jumbo and dogma wrapped up around it, that I can't find any motivation to pick and choose any bits and pieces of what they have to say for themselves as representative of my view of the world. Which is sad on many levels.

A number of people whom I like & respect, have also taken a step out of organized 'skepticism' (or organized 'atheism') - I recently spent a nice holiday with many of these folks. On a certain level, I wish there was a way to find a movement that could once again capture the interest of these people who currently find themselves with a foot in several camps, or a general disappointment with what the camps currently offer.

I guess I could try to start my own movement, but the last thing this place needs is another one. Indeed, all these sub-categorizations are making the 'movement' weaker.
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Old 6th May 2013, 12:05 AM   #2
Squeegee Beckenheim
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There's a massive A+ thread here: http://www.internationalskeptics.com...d.php?t=242361
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Old 8th May 2013, 07:57 PM   #3
PixyMisa
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Originally Posted by Antiquehunter View Post
Trying to organize people who are all generally a) intelligent, b) good thinkers, c) very often atheists, or at least generally not annoyingly religious - shouldn't have to be that difficult a thing.
Herding cats. Those three points are exactly what you don't want if you are trying to organise people.
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