and the piece of shit of the day award goes to...

Evening all,

So to those who haven't been following the news, there was a massive shooting in Orlando, Florida at around 3am on Sunday. A piece of shit (who I will not name purposefully) had taken as a personal insult the sight of a happy couple kissing in front of him and his family a few days earlier. Spurred on by his holy book and imam, he took it upon himself to end the lives of 49 innocent homosexuals. My heart breaks at the thought that innocent people are having to deal with the pain and suffering of losing a loved one in such a terrible manner. Should anyone reading this know of anyone affected, please let them know that they have sympathies and support from as far away as South Africa. Rather than give the piece of shit who committed these heinous crimes any recognition, I've attached a link below to celebrate the lives of those who were senselessly murdered.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-orlando-nightclub-victims-who-they-were-snap-htmlstory.html

In other troubling, (though far less so) news, Penny Sparrow has been ordered by a court of law to pay a fine of R150,000.00 to the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, whose official mission is to "Impact on the quality of life by consolidating and promoting a value based society" whatever the fuck that means. Now anyone who knows me, or has read previous posts of mine, knows that I think that Penny's conduct was despicable, but I cannot see how it in any way constitutes hate speech and thus is lawful, I have defended the idiot that went on at the white waitress about giving back land under the same banner, freedom of speech. It doesn't end just because I disagree with you.

Lastly I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight an incredible human being, a young man by the name of Shagam Newman. Shagam's living situation is less than ideal, currently homeless, he lives in a two bedroom shack on the slopes of Table Mountain, along with around 10 dogs and more than a few cats. Despite his own desperate situation, Shagam loves animals and spends his days trying to help as many as he can, often manning a trolley outside the local spa asking for donations of dog and cat food. Once he has a full trolley this legend then goes around his local neighborhood and helps anyone that has animals and is short on cash to feed them. He is currently working together with DARG (https://www.facebook.com/DARG.org.za/?fref=nf) so if anyone wants to donate or just offer messages of encouragement, please send them through DARG.

Youtube clip of the day, talented Canadian rapper Baba Brinkman with his song titled "Darwin's Acid":


As usual, I don't own the media, please visit Baba's official page and download his music here: http://www.bababrinkman.com/

Well, that's my piece for today, please remember to comment, subscribe as well as like the facebook page (www.facebook.com/theangryafricanatheist) and remember, the world may be full to the brim with hate and violence, but the only thing that can make a positive change is you.

Ta,
G

Discrimination in modern South Africa

Evening all,

Well, I'm the sad sack sitting at home trying to think of a first topic, and why not dive right in to something that affects every South African, discrimination. I've chosen to label it that specifically because I intend to touch on more than just racism, though being an obvious point, I'll take the easy way and start there.

Racism:

I think it's fair to say that every South African faces it on a daily basis, though rarely overtly, (the fucking morons who were been charged with forcing one of their workers to rape their dog comes to mind). Whether it's the white man turned down for a job because of his race, (please note that I am by no stretch of the imagination against affirmative action, though that's a topic for a later discussion) or the innocent black domestic worker who is accused of stealing and fired because her boss refuses to admit to himself that his kid has a drug addiction, we all experience it every day in some form or another.

Before I continue I feel I need to clarify what I mean when I say discrimination. Discrimination is an act, not a thought or vocalization, I agree wholeheartedly that Penny Sparrows opinions are vile and that we, the people of South Africa should boycott any business that even vaguely associates itself with her.

What I disagree with on a fundamental level is the South African governments attempt to criminalize hate speech. Incitement to violence is a very different animal all together and is and should be grounds for a criminal conviction. Criminalizing hate speech on the other hand is censorship at the very least. South Africans enjoy, (or endure, depending on your point of view), the fact that our government is bound by one of the most progressive constitution in the world, a constitution that specifically protects freedom of speech.

(http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-2-bill-rights#16)

Comparatively, if we are happy to criminalize Penny Sparrow because of her personal convictions and utterances regarding race, we open the flood gates to include the religious right for speaking out against homosexuality. I admit again that not all of the religious right are outspoken against homosexuality but let's be honest, that's a pretty hefty majority.

Note that the constitution specifically excludes the right to freedom of speech should it constitute advocacy of hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, AND that constitutes incitement to cause harm, (I will point out the glaring absence of the mention of sexual orientation). The point is that Penny Sparrow cannot be effectively accused of inciting to cause harm. Are her views backward and idiotic? Of that I have no doubt, but I for one believe that she is entitled to her opinion, and to express he opinion in whatever medium that she chooses, provided that she doesn't also incite others that share her opinion to cause harm.

I've used a few choice words and I hope that by reading the above, the reader gets a good idea on what my point of view regarding racism is. Something that I always try and do is back my opinions up with a few hard facts and/or case studies. I've recently had the disconcerting experience of being subjected to the kind of vitriol that one often encounters, sadly enough, particularly in older, white South Africans and realized that, much like homophobia and sexism, is VERY difficult to debate from a logical point of view with people who hold to the irrational ideas of yesteryear. Having said that, I do feel it's my duty to try:

1. There is not a single study using the modern scientific method that links race with a propensity towards violent crime. Indeed, a study conducted between 1995 and 2002 in America found that far and away the biggest contributing factor towards a life of violent crime was socio-economic circumstances. (https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/www/external/labor/seminars/adp/pdfs/adp_ajph.pdf)
2. The idea that particular races are either superior or inferior is simply absurd. Humans have studied the genome to the point where we can tell individuals within our species apart and have come to the following conclusion: "IT'S JUST FUCKING SKIN COLOUR!!!" There is NO reason on a genetic level to believe that a Nigerian is all that much different to a Thai. Indeed, the Thai may well have more genetically in common with an Ethiopian than the Ethiopian to the Nigerian, (or German, or Indian, or Native American) Race is indeed nought more than a human construct. For a more in depth look at research pertaining to this:
   (http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36/n11s/full/ng1435.html)

In short, there is absolutely no scientific data that correlates the feelings and opinions of those who discriminate based on nothing but race with reality.

Onto a lighter subject, though no less frustrating for me, smoking;

Is it just me, or do we smokers seem to be driven further and further away from the rest of society? I've noticed, (in Gauteng particularly) that there seems to be less and less smoker friendly restaurants, and when they do have a smoking section, (I'm looking at you Wimpy in Centurion Mall), it's absolutely tiny, and stuck next to the children's play area. It used to be that you could enjoy a smoke and some nice peace and quiet, now, not only do you have to put up with being squeezed in like sardines but also have to endure the eardrum popping squeals, crying and shouts of, "mommy, look at ME!" that comes with being seated next the play area for the spawn of others.

Here's a tip for restaurateurs, yes, we may be in the minority, but I'd be willing to bet that if you properly looked at it, your smoking section generates more money for your business than any other section of equivalent size. And yes, we get it, smoking is harmful, I'm not saying that we need to be able to sit in the non-smoking section and puff away, but we as consenting adults have decided to continue smoking despite knowing the consequences. It's essentially the same as deaminizing overweight people because of the choices they make. In short, discrimination.

Homophobia;

If you've been watching the news coming out of America for the past while you will have noticed this has reared it's ugly head again, personally I hate the word, it's not a phobia, you aren't afraid, you're just an arsehole, and I think that some of the more popular psychological theories on the subject are correct, homophobes are simply secretly worried that dicks are delicious, perhaps the better word would then be sexualism? 

Something I've noticed is the prevalence of sexualism within the christian black community. I'll be honest and say that black christians confuse the fuck out of me for a start. You are worshipping the very god that ordered your enslavement in the first place! IF the Abrahamic god exists, (and that's a pretty fucking huge if) why the fuck wouldn't you tell him to go fuck himself? Many a time I've had discussions regarding homosexuality with black people and the bible is almost always pointed at as the reason they feel that it should be criminalized, yet when I point out that the very same bible not only advocates slavery but gives specific guidelines on how to practice it, I'm suddenly taking scripture out of context.

Unfortunately sexualism in South Africa is alive and well, from "corrective" rape of lesbians to the physical assaults and murders of gay men, it's something that in our country ruled by a wonderfully progressive constitution needs to be rectified with immediate effect.

Another thing that irks me about both sides of the debate is the heavy importance put on choice. What difference does it make? In almost all other aspects of our lives we are given the right to choose, provided that our choices do not have negative consequences to those around us. I would love for someone to explain to me how my decision as to where to stick my dick has any bearing on their life whatsoever. In fact, there are many studies that show that statistically speaking, homosexuals make better, more considerate citizens than their straight counterparts.

As a side rant to this is the flip side to the coin, I know of people, (straight guys specifically) who have been accused of homophobia purely because they turned down a gay man hitting on them. WTF??? You have extra parts where I don't like extra parts, period. Just because I don't want to fuck you doesn't mean I think you are a freak, it just means I don't think dicks are delicious!

Sexism;

Another form of discrimination based on absolutely zero evidence whatsoever is sexism. I'd like to preface this section by saying that I am by no stretch of the imagination a feminist, (at least not in the modern sense of the word).

Men and women are different on a biological level, that's a fact that cannot be escaped. Do I believe that women should be afforded the same opportunities as their male counterparts? Of course I do, your life, your choice. Having said that, I'd love to challenge any feminist that insists that women are the same as men to find a female rugby team that would be able to PHYSICALLY match the Springboks. Not gonna happen. Why? Because physiologically, men are stronger than women.

With that in mind, one need only look at the world of business to realise that women are just as, (if not often more) competent as men are in their chosen field.

Religious intolerance, (apparently there is no 'ism' regarding religion);

As an atheist, this is something that I personally face on a reasonably regular basis. I've been told I'm going to burn in hell if I don't repent, (the irony of which seemed lost on the person I was speaking to at the time). My girlfriend has been told by friends parents the same thing because at the time she held to the wiccan beliefs, (it was only out of respect to the friend that I managed to bite my tongue and not ask why her parents imaginary friend was any better than my girlfriends).

As mentioned in the bit about racism above, I have no problem with my friends parents right to hold their opinion, sure it made dinner a little awkward, (and diminished my view of them as people) but whatever. What I DO have an issue with is when that religious intolerance manifests itself in real world situations, I know of people who have been fired for "coming out" as atheists, I've seen video footage of muslims being assaulted and we've all seen the terrible things muslim extremists do to people of other faiths, (I've mentioned the two biggest Abrahamic religions but you can find similar examples globally by *insert random religion here* against *insert another random religion here*).

Something I do want to do is comment on something I have found good in the world for every post, as such I guess I should give a shout-out to this kid: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/im-not-gifted-sa-pupil-who-scored-highest-maths-mark-in-the-world-20160419 who blew international competition away to score the highest mark for maths in the world, (as measured by the international Cambridge AS levels.)

Another thing I’m going to try and do is find videos that I find amusing and are hopefully pertinent to the topic at hand, as such, I give you, Tim Minchin’s Cont(exct). It should go without saying that I don't own the content, and please do check Tim's other work out, the man is damn funny.

Well, I think I'm going to leave it there for the moment, if anyone disagrees with anything I've mentioned above, or just wants to add a rant of their own, please feel free to comment. If you like what you read, please subscribe and share.

Ta,

G