One reader's rave

"Thanks for the newspaper with your book review. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with this terrific piece of writing. It is beautiful, complex, scholarly. Only sorry Mr. Freire cannot read it!" -- Ailene

Cassie Jaye, the day before I met her at the _Red Pill_ world premiere

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Fund Created for Social Mobbing Victims

                                                                                                                                                                                                        
                                                       https://www.gofundme.com/jonkay

"This fund has been initiated by Jonathan Kay, and seeded with his own $2,500 donation. All donations (including his) will be held, in trust, by the Toronto-based Levitt LLP law firm and its Financial Administrator. Upon the dissolution of the fund, any unspent funds will be returned, on a pro rata basis, to donors. Interested parties may learn more about the fund by contacting us through Twitter .  

"A number of Canadian academics, artists, authors, journalists and politicians recently have been targeted by ideologically-motivated mob attacks on social media. In some cases, these attacks have led to the threat of job loss—and have continued even after the mobbing target has been largely cleared of significant wrongdoing by a neutral fact-finder. These same mobs also have focused their attacks on third parties who have urged due process for the accused.

"Because of the increasingly precarious nature of work in creative industries and academia, those who stand accused of offensive words or actions often have scant means or institutional support to assist in their self-defence. To the extent these individuals have access to legal representation, it may be provided by third parties—such as a union—that exhibit divided loyalties. Even some NGOs that traditionally have stood in support of free speech and academic freedom have fallen mute, intimidated by the barrage of online criticism they will endure if they champion the civil liberties of mobbed individuals. As a result, there is an emerging sense on campuses, and within some businesses, that Canadians with controversial opinions or reputations may be terminated, bullied or libeled without legal consequence. 

"This is something I learned first-hand in the Spring of 2017. Thanks to some good luck, I was able to fight back successfully. But others have been less fortunate, which is why I have created a fund to defray the legal costs of those who have been attacked by ideologically motivated mobs.  

"Legal advice will be provided to fund beneficiaries by Howard Levitt, a well-known Toronto-based authority in labour-and-employment-related matters. Mr. Levitt also has experience in areas of law—such as libel and breach of contract—that sometimes arise in labour disputes. It is foreseen that Howard will provide fund beneficiaries with advice or representation, as circumstances may warrant. In other cases, he will direct beneficiaries to other legal resources that he believes are more suitable. As beneficiary candidates present themselves, Mr. Levitt will help ovsersee a small committee to assist in funding decisions. (I will not be on it.)

"In all cases, the purpose will be to help encourage all parties to pursue a just resolution of any underlying dispute. Where circumstances warrant, journalistic avenues may be pursued so as to highlight elements of these cases that raise concerns in regard to the treatment of unpopular individuals or opinions by schools, business entities and other institutions.     

"The purpose of the fund is not to advance an ideological agenda, except insofar as the protection of due process, freedom of speech, and freedom of intellectual inquiry may be taken to represent matters of ideological preference.

"It is not intended that the fund will be used to protect any and all parties who are fired, disciplined or censured on the basis of their expressed viewpoints—as some forms of speech truly do go beyond the boundaries of legally acceptable discourse. Mr. Levitt will exercise discretion in directing the fund's resources, but will do so without any defined ideological or partisan litmus test in mind."       

Jonathan Kay

Monday, February 19, 2018

Understanding Abusive Spiritual Systems and Relationships

The International Cultic Studies Association is holding a conference on Understanding Abusive Spiritual Systems and Relationships which qualifies as continuing education.

Understanding Abusive Spiritual Systems and Relationships

Indiana University -- Purdue University
Hine Hall, President's Room

This event will bring together mental health professionals and other helping professionals who currently work with those who have experienced spiritual abuse. Spiritual abuse may be viewed as being situated within the broader umbrella of psychological abuse but is a unique and often unrecognized aspect of this broader phenomenon. The societal value placed on religion can sometimes hinder critical evaluation of harmful dynamics and coercive control within religious frameworks. This workshop will explore spiritual abuse and the underlying mechanism of coercive control, and explore counseling interventions for clinicians working with those who have experienced abusive spiritual systems and relationships, and their loved ones.

Introduction to Spiritual Abuse (Ashley Allen, MSW, LMSW, .25 CE hours)
Panel: Born and/or Raised in Spiritually Abusive Groups (Debby Schriver, MS, 1.0 CE hour)
God Images, Implicit Religions, and Multiplicity of the Self: New
Conceptual Models for Understanding the Experience of Spiritually Abusive Groups (Peter Malinoski, PhD, 1.0 CE hour)
Early Trauma, Spirituality, and Serious Mental Illness: Exploring Intersecting Factors (Vincent Starnino, PhD, 1.0 CE hour)
Applying Cultural Competency to Work With Former Members (Matthew Staton, MDiv Counseling, .75 CE hours)
Choosing Self-Advocacy: An Attorney's Journey Through Spiritual Abuse

Panel: Support Groups (Dawn
Racine, M.S.Ed., Donna Lark, and Gina Harding, MBA)
Roundtable Discussions (Donna
Backstrom; Anna Holmquist; Stephen Martin, MDiv;
Peter Malinoski, PhD)

  • Attendees will be able to identify clinically relevant effects of spiritual abuse.
  • Attendees will be able to describe areas of clinical focus with this population.
  • Attendees will be able to utilize effective skills for assessing spiritual abuse.
  • Attendees will be able to identify the unique clinical needs of children raised in spiritually abusive groups.

Registration

ICSA Members including Institutional Members: $25.00 + $7.00 for parking voucher
6 CE credits are available with registration
(Please check with your individual board to be sure NBCC CE hours are accepted)

Financial Assistance
Scholarships are available for those with financial need, e.g., unemployment, disability. Contact ICSA at mail@icsamail.com

Information on spiritual abuse: www.spiritualabuseresources.com/

Saturday, February 03, 2018

Patriarchy, or Self-Responsibility?

So, this morning I was hanging out in the lobby of Planned Parenthood, where a number of volunteer patient escorts were waiting to see if any protesters would show up and oblige us to go out into the freezing cold to escort patients (none did). The conversation turned to the choices people make about changing their names, and naming their children, after getting married. And one woman complained about how, when she'd gotten a divorce, the law had required her to get her husband's permission to get her maiden name back after the divorce.

She described this as "patriarchy," and thought she should be able to do this all on her own -- even though she acknowledged that she could have done so anyway once the divorce was completed; she just couldn't get it done as part of the divorce process by a unilateral choice.

I sensed that her logic was flawed, but didn't feel like trying to argue the case on the fly. But, upon reflection, I'd point to at least two problems with it:

I haven't read the law in question, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that it applies exactly the same to men and women; after all, if it didn't I surely would have heard it mentioned as a feminist talking point by now. I expect that if this women's ex-husband had taken her name when they married, and not she his, it would have been he that needed her permission to get his family name back as part of the divorce process. If that doesn't happen much, it's just because wives take their husband's names far more often than vice versa, not because there's anything sexist about the law.

The other symmetry she's overlooking is that between the marriage and the divorce. She got her husband's name not by unilateral action, but a mutual agreement resulting from a negotiation (at least an informal one) between the parties. Why, then, does she think undoing the results of that agreement shouldn't also require negotiation -- especially as part of a process that in its entirety is negotiated?

It strikes me that this is a very typical example of how feminism induces women to refuse responsibility for the consequences of their own choices. No one forced her to take her husband's name when she married; she presumably did so because it was agreeable and convenient for her. Yet, she doesn't accept that making that choice logically also meant that, if she later decided to divorce, she'd have to negotiate to undo all the same things she'd negotiated to do -- simply because that wasn't convenient for her.

Instead of acknowledging that she'd brought this inconvenience on herself by her earlier choice, feminism gave her an easy out from that responsibility, by blaming "patriarchy" instead. And that could be seen as a microcosm of what a lot of feminism is about these days.