This is a quick source document for anyone who “hates drama” and doesn’t want to do much work to investigate what all the hubub is about. Why did Atheist Ireland write a dishonest disassociation letter against PZ Myers, and why did gullible nice guy Hemant Mehta fall for it? Details below.

Basic Principles: Drama vs. Truth

In the atheist movement over the past five years or so what people call “drama” the rest of us call fighting for respect for minorities and victims of harassment and sexual assault. The people who hate that we do that are the ones who have caused almost all the drama you have ever called drama. Pretty much entirely.

The enemies of truth and justice do this by counting on people who don’t care enough about the truth to check and find out what’s really going on. Because out of an apathetic aversion to “drama,” such people will just believe whatever bullshit anyone says loudly enough or officially enough.

But remember, avoiding drama, more often than not means avoiding the truth. So you might not like the choices. But you have to pick one. You can’t just dismiss something as drama. In doing so, you are saying you are not interested in the truth. And if there is anything atheists should never stand for (much less defend), it’s a disinterest in the truth.

Summary of the Present Issue

Atheist Ireland (more like just Dublin) is essentially a fiefdom wielded by Michael Nugent. He (or possibly they, if really anyone else at AI had their hand in this) received or collected propaganda from an anti-feminist hate-site (literally called the Slymepit) and used it to attack PZ Myers. It seems that Nugent did this for really only one actual reason: Nugent defends Michael Shermer instead of Allison Smith, the woman who has a credible claim of rape or at least extreme sexual misconduct against Shermer (one better evidenced than many such claims against Catholic priests), and people who see things the other way around have said Nugent is defending a rapist, at which he took such offense as to spiral out into the most extraordinary example of high dudgeon.

That is literally all this is about. Because Nugent has no problems with appalling rhetoric when it appears from supporters in his own blog comments; or with controversy when it is raised by people he likes. So he is being disingenuous when he quote mines PZ to grossly misrepresent reality. Hemant Mehta did not do his due diligence to check Nugent’s claims, he just believed everything his statement said, because Hemant is overly trusting I guess, or else he is one of those folks who cares more about avoiding drama than learning the truth, in which case his values are exactly ass backwards.

Links to everything mentioned or claimed above are provided below or within the articles linked below.

Primary Resources

Want to vet the claims I just made but can’t find the time? You’re in luck. Because all the groundwork demonstrating everything I just said has already been done for you.

  • If you read nothing else, you must read Ashley Miller’s summary in The Background of Atheist Ireland’s Breakup with PZ: It’s about Michael Shermer. This is a short read, it will get you up to speed, and it has links to several other supporting resources.
  • Next most essential is Alex Gabriel’s hyperlinked edition of Atheist Ireland’s announcement, Atheist Ireland’s Statement on PZ Myers, with Added Links to Actual Things He Actually Said. That exposes Nugent’s deceit by allowing you to actually go and check the context of each thing Nugent represents Myers as saying, showing that they are actually far more reasonable than represented–and even include cases where Myers already apologized ages ago (e.g., after PZ said something sexist about Bill Maher’s girlfriend, he footnoted the post with an apology and correction, a fact duly not mentioned by Nugent).
  • Next most important is the official statement on this matter released by the organization Secular Woman: Where We Stand – Voicing Our Priorities. This establishes the wider context of Nugent’s reckless obsession that’s crucial for anyone who wants to understand what is going on.
  • Then there is the demonstration by M.A. Melby, in The Melby Foundation Official Statement of Disassociation, that Nugent doesn’t actually care about tone or rhetoric, because he supports all the same kind of writing when it appears in comments on his blog. So his pretending to be concerned about it on Myers’ blog is an evident ruse, disguising the real issue, the one documented by Miller. (As if to prove her point, the very first comment there, from a Nugent supporter, says “PZ is a c***. You are a dipshit.” Yep. The asterisks are mine, BTW.)
  • Finally, you should cap your reading at least no sooner than Ashley Miller’s More on Shermer, PZ, and Michael Nugent. This illustrates the breakdown of Nugent’s attempt to subvert Myers because of Nugent’s own desire to defend an accused rapist, and how parties involved are now scrambling to rationalize what happened into a historical revisionism akin to the Gamergate saga.
  • Last but not least, two other prominent folks hitched their wagon to Nugent’s cause: JT Eberhard and Republican sometimes-lobbyist Edwina Rogers (through her quasi-fake atheist organization the Secular Policy Institute…oh, and yes, that’s this Edwina Rogers). They say nearly the same things, which I personally find disturbing, and very alienating. But no need to fisk that. If you are curious, you can explore and judge for yourself. On both, though only explicitly addressing the latter, essential reading is the succinct analysis of Alex Gabriel. And then supplement that with a survey of JT Eberhard’s hypocrisy: like this; this; this; this; this; and this. Just for starters. Because it illustrates one of Alex’s general points: JT does all the same things PZ does…when it comes to religion. He just doesn’t like it when the same confrontationalism is turned on atheists. And assuming your own people should be immune to criticism and should be subject to a protectionist double standard? That’s a character flaw. And you know who is most famous for acting like that? The Catholic Church. Even Fake Jesus said remove the plank from your own eye first…

-:-

That’s the sum of it.

If additional developments of significance arise in this matter I’ll include them below.

1. Michael Nugent responds with “Richard Carrier’s latest smears are poorly researched, insulting to women activists, and defamatory” (seriously, that’s its title, complete with lower caps), in which he dodges every substantive issue and just engages in an old-school honor defense of his and his organization’s dignity. So bizarre, in fact, that he even asks me to apologize to certain women I never mentioned and said nothing about. There is hardly any more worth addressing in it.

2. In “An Open Letter to Michael Nugent,” Ashley Miller notices that Nugent responded to my article right away, but has continually ignored hers, and in fact that of every other woman who has written on this matter (even though most of what I wrote here is just a summary of and reaction and referral to their work). Miller correctly notes that Nugent chose to answer mine because of its harsh tone. So he will only respond to harsh tone. While arguing no one should use a harsh tone. Meanwhile the people who write in the tone he likes get no notice or response. Well isn’t that interesting. This is often, indeed, why activists get so vocal and angry: the privileged only notice anger and provocation; they ignore polite criticism. While insisting everyone be polite. Do you notice a power dynamic there?

3. One member of Atheist Ireland resigns in protest over Nugent’s behavior, with valuable further observations.

4. Jadehawk builds a Storify that documents and verifies everything I’ve said about the Slymepit and Nugent’s association with them: [Part 1][Part 2]. Greta Christina then documents continuing examples after that.

5. Dubito Ergo Sum, in “Michael Nugent, Vice Principal of Atheism,” fisks the original letter with their own hyperlinked commentary that is top-notch excellent and a valuable resource for exploring and understanding this event in atheism history.

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