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Condescension or Surety? It Isn’t Bragging if You’re Right

Condescension or Surety? It Isn’t Bragging if You’re Right

Shit storm.

Get a little fervent about a subject in this day and age, and suddenly they label you condescending when they figure out you’re a woman.  Maybe I should read the Bible where woman are told to shut the Hel up?  You know, the one with this little passage:

“Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” (I Timothy 2:11-14)

A friend of mine posted one of my posts on a Facebook Odinism group, and true to form, the first thing called out was that it was condescending.  Really?  Might it be because it came from a woman? Even the Havamal has this nasty piece when talking about women:

83: The speech of a maiden should no man trust
nor the words which a woman says;
for their hearts were shaped on a whirling wheel
and falsehood fixed in their breasts.

Thanks, Odin.  Thanks a lot. This is why Tyr is my god. But even if this were inspired by Odin, humans still had a hand in writing this down, and we can just imagine what kind of axe to grind when it was put to paper in the Codex Regius.  This is actually a compilation of works that were written down around 1270 CE, more than 200 years after the age of the Vikings.  We have no idea if the monks who wrote it down followed the true verse or whether it was highly influenced by Christianity.  Or whether this is really what Odin thinks.  I suspect not, even though he is a fickle god.

Critical Thinking and Confidence

I get a little emphatic when I discuss something that I know I’m in the right about and when I have documented evidence to back my assertions up. I sound confident when I provide that evidence so it is “as clear as is the summer sun…”, and when I read idiotic posts by others who seem to think they have the world figured out, but basically have never been taught critical thinking and can’t use it to save their lives.  In these cases, yes, I get a bit fervent. Guess what? Our ancestors did too.

At one time it was actually accepted to hear someone be confident when they spoke.  Our Northern ancestors actually relished hearing the deeds and opinions of others. Somebody got out of line?  Well, there were plenty of people willing to take the person down a notch or two.

Calling Out Confidence

Our society is full of stupid, irrational behaviors brought about by none other than Christianity.  If someone gets in your face about being wrong, she is called out for being condescending, even when the points are valid.  Would it have the same effect if I didn’t sound so angry because people act stupid (yes, stupid) and refuse to believe scientific facts?  Yes, I suspect so.  Hel, someone was kind enough to go down the same road to mansplain me what a Theory is. Seriously?

When a woman actually calls out men for being idiots, she’s being told she’s being rude, she’s a Marxist (oh, that’s rich!), being condescending, and saying, implicitly, that she should have said it nicer.  Really?  When a man says it, we might say he’s being confident, or maybe arrogant.  But again, the person doesn’t worry about the tone so much, but rather the message. Nobody says, “geez, you could be a little less condescending.”

Bullies–in the Internet Sense

How does Christianity play into this?  Just look at all the freakin passages that tell you to listen to your elders, obey, and otherwise behave ourselves. Let me tell you a little secret: I grew up Catholic. You were never supposed to get angry, challenge authority, or do anything that might cause strife.  I grew up in a fucking wolf pack of a school where I was singled out for being quiet, smart, and not the norm.  Because of this, I had to deal with bullying. Yep, bullying.  And I did so poorly because I was told to “turn the other cheek.”

When I post something on a blog, I expect a reaction.  Good, bad, indifferent. I sure as shit am not going to let some whiny people change my behavior because my words make them feel uncomfortable.  Don’t like it?  That’s okay.  But don’t think your words will make me change any of mine.

“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” ― Benjamin Franklin

Blaming the Messenger–Just Because You Don’t Want to Hear It

Yes, there were people who complained about the message, but didn’t bother to point out WHERE my sources were incorrect.  (They weren’t, BTW.)  I was very careful to use sources that were legitimate.  Note using some piece on the Internet that my neighbor would call fact isn’t a valid source. He  believes in the Illuminati and Chemtrails, which pretty much throws out any part of rational thought.

22.  The miserable man and evil minded
makes of all things mockery,
and knows not that which he best should know,
that he is not free from faults.

Yep, that’s the Havamal again.  I do agree with this passage when it comes to ignorant people mansplaining things to me.  Look, I don’t know everything.  I don’t claim to know everything.  That’s why I read and look shit up.  That’s why I can talk with some certainty.  If you aren’t willing to have a rational discussion (with the Rational Heathen–get it? Get it?), then we really have nothing to talk about and you need to go to your little corner of the vast Internet and lick your wounds.  Go play with the other uneducated idiots out there.   The sandbox is plenty big for us both.

So, where do we go from here?  Obviously, I don’t back down when it comes to a fight.  That’s my nature.  If you’re going to have a battle of wits with me, bring your A-Game.  Otherwise, you just might have more than you bargained for.

We Evolved and We Came from Africa Originally. Get Over It

We Evolved and We Came from Africa Originally. Get Over It

Yes, it is time for the Rational Heathen to pitch a fit at those who 1. Deny evolution and 2. Don’t think humans migrated from Africa.

Theory Isn’t Only a Theory

First, let get things straight: science isn’t a belief system. It is a way of logically analyzing the world and proving, using the scientific method a statement as fact or theory.  The word “theory” in science used to describe an explanation of why and how things happen. For gravity, we use Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity to explain why things fall. “Theory” is not synonymous with “unproven.”  “Theory” means that the statement is consistent with everything we know, including facts. However, if a new fact were to arrive that changes our understanding of the world, it may change the Theory. For example, depending on how you use gravity varies the terminology. If you’re using it in mathematics, it’s a Law. But if you’re talking about gravity and how it interacts with things, it’s a Theory.

Science Isn’t the Sith

I’ve never figured out how people could be so brainless when it comes to the term “theory.” It’s almost as if they start arguing semantics just to justify their ignorance. If scientists came up with another term other than “theory,” we might actually have the chance at getting people to understand that proven theories are just that: proven. Until something else comes along to prove otherwise, this is really the best information we have.

Writing in books by iron age cultures doesn’t constitute facts. Until things can be proven and can be repeated using the scientific method, it’s belief, and not fact. Yep, that includes religions, including Christianity and Asatru.  Even though we may hold our beliefs as truth, the reality is our beliefs are simply beliefs. Our beliefs hand us absolutes which comfort us in some way. Humans hate not have a definitive answer for things. That’s why religion has such power.

Science, OTOH,  isn’t the Sith.  It doesn’t deal in absolutes. Scientists are aware that facts change and our understanding of the world changes with new discoveries and new information. Maybe if we call it Sith and not Theory, we might get some headway.  The Sith of Gravity.  The Sith of Evolution.  Hey, that’s kind of catchy.  I think I’ll use that.

Out of Africa

Fossils have clearly shown that humans evolved from common ancestors with other primates. Genetics and other studies have pretty much confirmed the Out of Africa Theory.  Yes, there are constant twiddling when it comes to how exactly humans spread around the globe, but our origins are still from Africa.  Lots of different people migrated at different times. Otzi the Iceman was found to have Lyme disease — a disease that originated in North Africa and not the central part.  Other DNA from remains put Denisovans and Homo Sapiens in Asia for a while.

This doesn’t mean people originated there.  It just means people traveled there. We always think that modern day humans are the only ones who can travel vast distances, but our ancestors prove time and time again that they could and have traveled vast distances with little more than their feet or a wooden canoe.

Why are People so Quick to Debate the Out of Africa Theory?

I suspect there are two reasons for why people argue there’s no way people could have evolved in Africa. The first reason has to do with the bible-thumping, evolution deniers. You know who you are. These folks believe that their god created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. They believe in a real Adam and a real Eve, although how on earth their kids would’ve found mates is annoying obvious. (Does anyone hear banjos?)

If you’re Heathen and you believe strictly in the Norse creation myths, you’re being an idiot.  There.  I’ve said it.  We have our own version of Adam and Eve called Ask and Embla, and we have the same damn problem with banjos and Luke and Leia kisses.

The Norse creation myths are simply metaphors and an explanation for people who just didn’t have all the information handy. What’s more, even if they were confronted with the facts, they had no reference on how fossils, evolution, and other bits of science worked together to come up with a rational explanation. Hel, many educated people (and not so educated) understand how evolution works.

The second reason for why people argue that there’s no way people could have evolved in Africa is a bit more sinister. You’re racist, pure and simple. I’m not throwing the “R” word around lightly, either. You don’t like the idea that your origins are where black people reside.  Don’t believe me? Then ask yourself if you’d have problems that humans evolved in Northern Europe, even though there isn’t a shred of evidence to prove it.  Haters are going to hate.

Now, if you could come up with scientific proof that humans did evolve in Northern Europe, along with fossils, etc, I’d listen. I’m talking actual science–peer reviewed science. Not the crazy, space-alien, Illuminati crap that I can see on the pages of the Enquirer.

So, there you have it.  My take on evolution and the “Out of Africa” theory.  Get over it.