Atheists turning to cult behaviour?

[Jenny A]

What is bullshit? What Watkins said happened? My reaction to it? What Dawkins did next?

First of all the name is Watson, so that gives me the impression you aren't excessively informed about the story, and yet your knee jerk reaction is that probably the so rational good man wassurely right, and the woman involved probably hysterical again. You may not have meant that, but that's exactly how it sounds, and it's the type of thing that triggers my rage mode. Anyways, I remember it happening roughly like that: in the end of a video that was about something else, Watson made a quick remark how she was approached in that damn elevator when she was alone and tired, and that it made her feel uncomfortable, and she advised maybe not to do that. Whether you agree with that is beside the point now, it was a very minor side remark in some video, I had watched the vid back then and had instantly forgotten about it. The frustrated male atheist internet however exploded with rage, and that's when the really nasty threats starte. After probably days of all the blogs going up in a flame war, this huge outrage was long about something else entirely, namely droves of people harassing her full time while she really didn't do anything. At that point, clueless Richard Dawkins comes barging in on some of these blogs or forums, and decides to scold this silly woman for starting an internet war because of some harmless guy. To illustrate his position that her concerns are ridiculous, he wrote that ingenious "Dear Muslima" letter with which he both outed himself as a huge hypocrite on matters of activism, and also basically, though his ignorance, poured gasoline on the flames of these harassers. And that's that. I say that as someone who has all of this guy's books and have been a fan since before he wrote TGD, he's acting like a giant buffoon.

No I'm not particularly informed about this little spat or Watson, though I've read her blog a couple of times in the past without much enthusiasm. So given the reference, I just went to her blog and read and what I read there informed what I said. And no my knee jerk reaction isn't that Dawkins is right. I read her point of view first and wasn't overly impressed with either her or Dawkins as regards the elevator incident and their mutual reactions to it and each other.

I don't think feminist complaining about propositions (regardless of hour) that don't include threats (even if they are socially inane, stupid, or even insensitive) particularly made in public places as opposed to say calling in the wee hours, merit the fuss she made. I've fielded those in a variety of circumstances including in the back alley leading out of a hotel at two a.m. and while misguided the man was inept he was not evil. Her's doesn't sound dangerous either.

I agree, her over-reaction certainly wasn't justification for Dawkins remark. But it does reflect his age as much as anything. If it ignited anything, that anything was just waiting for a match. Or as you note, it was already burning.

As for the harassers, yeah they're stupid, and dumb, and sexist, and a number of less kind names, but they aren't anything new or even remotely limited to atheism. They are there wherever men are in the majority and a woman says boo about feminism. I wish it weren't so, but I also wish we could stick to discussing comments made about teen holding atheist books, and not minor incidents in elevators. Or better yet get more women on panels.