gdp's Comments

Godheval.com : Anti-Religionism and White Supremacy

Sun, 9 Sep 2012 22:51:23 +0000

Thanks for the thorough comment. I didn't even know people visited this site anymore. But to clarify, the title of the article is "Anti-Religionism and White Supremacy". I make the distinction between simple "atheism" and the particularly virulent anti-religionist strain of it. People like Hitchens in particular, use their atheism as a fig leaf for anti-Muslim prejudice. That's the connection I'm making.

Womanist Musings : Sunday Shame: When the love of Bacon Goes to Far

Mon, 5 Apr 2010 05:59:50 +0000

Hm...you guys are so tame. Chocolate covered bacon? Chili-chocolate? Those are all child's play. Obviously you've never seen: http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ Just search "bacon" on the front - or pretty much ANY - page of this blog and you'll see horrors enough to blast your soul. For those not bold enough to take the journey, I need only two words to give you the gyst: "Bacon Bouquet" Oh, and Renee - you'll notice that in all of the bacon concoctions, not a one of them is using you Canadians' silly misnamed HAM. Ahem.

Womanist Musings : RapeLay Speaks About More Than Japanese Culture

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 19:03:54 +0000

Oh... Gross.

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 23:18:28 +0000

It's not the same, but it's hardly unrelated when we consider that the white beauty standard - and truly that is global - is a part of the white/color dichotomy, in devaluing black and brown bodies.

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 22:52:35 +0000

Hm, seems you are right. I was confusing Iranians with Iraqis. Iraqis are mostly Arab, and so maybe Shallal is as well. But it should not surprise Broadsnark that Ms. Boof would not have heard of Shallal, as his efforts are mostly here in the United States, and do not intersect at all with her work in Sudan.

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 22:49:21 +0000

"For their beauty." Indeed. I would doubt that even for their seemingly mutual plight aboard those Arab slave ships that the experience of the Scandinavians was the same as that of the Black Africans. As you said, they were valued for their beauty; what then, was the value of the Black slaves? Let us not pretend that there was not a white/color dichotomy even there, aboard those ships. I am wary of the "everyone struggles" argument, because almost invariably it leads to the invalidation of one struggle or another - like how white people love to bring up the farmers in Zimbabwe as evidence that black people can be racist against white people, too. Well, bully for them, but it doesn't change anything in the discussion of white racism. Getting off track, here, but I just wanted to make sure that's not where you were going with all of this.

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 22:39:08 +0000

But I will not abandon my belief in the need for solidarity amongst people of color. I just have to recognize that that solidarity may only be possible within the temporal/geographic context of the white/color dichotomy.

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 22:35:46 +0000

Hm. I can't really argue with that. I suppose the struggle is, has been, and always will be between those with power and those without? That it fell along color lines, then, just a matter of circumstance?

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 22:29:57 +0000

Andy Shallal - just did a moment of research - is Iraqi, which makes him Persian, not Arab.

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 22:27:50 +0000

No kidding. But None of that, and none of what you said, invalidates the white/color power dynamic, any more than the white/color dynamic invalidates the Israeli/Arab, or the Arab/African, or the Japanese/Ainu. They are each local to their times and places, and each of great importance to those who suffer under them.

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 22:10:19 +0000

I resent the implication that I am some delusional Westerner. I wouldn't say that it's a false dichotomy, only a localized one - temporally and geographically. And yes, it does make Westerners ignorant to the plights of others. But let's not pretend that such myopia is particular to Westerners. Ms. Boof's post suggests how Palestinians may operate under an Israeli/Arab dichotomy, which is also not false, but specific to them and their circumstances and that would necessarily make them ignorant and indifferent to other struggles. And "before our species itself existed"? Huh?

Womanist Musings : A Spark of Wisdom: What Counts as Sex?

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 21:41:50 +0000

Sparky wrote: "It shows we have a very heteronormative view of sex" I struggle with this all the time. I have to admit that I still regard heterosexual sex as "the norm", but without any qualitative or moral judgments towards gay sex. My thoughts are that sex is fundamentally - at its root - for the purpose of procreation, and from there a "culture of sex" particular to humans emerged. Included in that would be the practice of sex for pleasure, oral sex, anal sex, and gay sex if we even need to make the latter distinction. By this I do not mean to imply that homosexuality has no biological basis, but biology is necessarily practical and purposive - and homosexual sex does not appear to serve at the behest of the genes as does heterosexual sex. Now, human beings are made up of two replicators, however - genes and memes - and the argument has been made that it is for memes (those units of culture) that we have evolved the way we have, that we have the big brains that we do. And it would certainly seem to be true that human beings operate more at the service of memes than genes - meaning that homosexual sex, in spite of having no reproductive utility, is no less valid or significant within the context of the entire human experience. Because sex for humans now serves a memetic as well as genetic purpose - the practice evolving along with humans themselves. But I do not think any of this changes the fact that sex has a biological basis, thereby making heterosexuality the "norm". I'll probably get torn apart for this, but that's what I expect - because I feel that any misunderstanding in this on my part inhibits my ability to advocate for gay rights as a straight man. And I would rather be unchained, so to speak. (Side note: I should also point out that I mostly don't even agree with the distinction between gay and straight, that all people fall along a scale - like Kinsey suggested; but it is by way our polarizing nature as humans that we need to devise these categories)

Womanist Musings : Coming to Terms with PETA

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 21:20:41 +0000

Yeah, I know. I'm usually not very good with jokes in general, and after reading that Kola Boof piece, I'm in a real dark place right now. I'll probably think it's funnier tomorrow.

Womanist Musings : Coming to Terms with PETA

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 21:18:33 +0000

I mean...I don't really follow PETA, but I am in support of animal rights. Are you against PETA in particular, or animal rights? And if against PETA, is it because they operate from a place of privilege - made up almost entirely of white people who can ignore the plights of oppressed and disenfranchised humans - to take on the cause of animals? If it's something along those lines, then yeah, f**k PETA, and f**k all sorts of activist gentrification, but...none of those things are the animals' fault. Is it impossibly idealistic to want good for everyone, all "livingkind" ? Sometimes (often) I really hate the world...

Womanist Musings : Coming to Terms with PETA

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 21:14:45 +0000

Hrm, this is kind of disappointing...

Womanist Musings : Kola Speaks: “The Third Eye Report: Israel Vs. Palestine”

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 20:50:59 +0000

Damn...this evokes so many different and conflicting feelings in me that I don' t know where to begin. I suppose I should begin with the acknowledgment that even as a man of visible African descent in the U.S., and all the baggage that comes with that, I could not even pretend to understand the struggle of the people in Sudan, or even of the author herself. It is with that in the back of my mind that I write the rest of my comment. My first feeling is a pang of...regret, frustration...something along those lines, because it is my wholehearted belief that solidarity amongst people of color is essential to the well-being of all of us. But I would not even think to deny or reject the claims of Ms. Boof, because I have never been to Palestine, to any Arab country, nor have I ever spoke candidly with any Arab person about any of the issues - in Palestine, in Sudan, or anywhere. All of my information has always ever come from a third party and I always try to keep in mind that it is delivered to me with a particular bias. So I struggle with the idea that oppressed Palestinians, under their deplorable living and political conditions, would even have the ability to look down upon others - Black Africans in Sudan, for example. It is inconceivable to me, because I want to believe that common struggle begets automatic allies, if only the lines of communication are opened. But again, I would not deny Ms. Boof's account; I would certainly assume that she knows better than I do. I am also wholeheartedly against Israel, especially its policies towards Palestinians. I would not call myself an activist, because I do not DO anything short of voicing or writing my opinion on the matter. For this I am not critical of Ms. Boof for making the obviously necessary decision to receive help from Israel, but I am aware that Netanyahu's support must stem from some sort of anti-Arab agenda. And then I think again about "divide and conquer", how those in power will employ all sorts of devious tricks to weaken those without power, or those who compete with them for power. So the people who are critical of Ms. Boof have it all wrong, in my opinion. They should be even MORE critical of Israel for exploiting the desperate needs of the Sudanese for political gain; the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And they should also be equally critical of the Arab elite who would do the same thing under different circumstances. I have no doubt that the Arab elite in any place do not share my interests, are not concerned with the plight of people of color in general - and especially not Black Africans. I would not be so naive to think that anyone with money or power would give a damn about those without just for some hazy qualifier like "color". I have experienced quite the culture shock moving to the western U.S. from the east, and finding African-Americans sharing ideology with white Americans as it applies to the larger disenfranchised minority over here - Mexicans. It turned inside out any preconceptions I had about "solidarity". For what little capital and privilege African-Americans in the west (and elsewhere) have amassed, they are willing to align themselves with power, rather than those I thought should be their kin - not for skin color, but for a mutual understanding of white supremacy. Apparently I was wrong to think that. I would like to believe that those suffering in Palestine, where they exhibit indifference or even a derisive attitude towards Black Africans, it is partially because of long-held prejudices embedded in their culture since even before Israel's existence, and also because for their struggle they are not able to give consideration to that of another group - and resent any attention being turned away from their own struggle. I have to believe that solidarity amongst those around the world who struggle - invariably people of color, invariably the darker amongst any group - is possible, because otherwise nothing will ever change. So while I do not begrudge Ms. Boof her indifference towards Palestine, I mourn it, because it represents just how difficult the path to solidarity may be...

Womanist Musings : All Lesbians Are Redheads

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 18:58:32 +0000

Ha ha, well that's pretty interesting. When my girlfriend and I were talking about having children, I had the idea of allowing them to choose their own middle name when they got older - adding a sort of democratic process to what is otherwise entirely dictatorial. So I totally think you should let them know about Mayhem and Destruction and give them the option to keep those awesome names! =)

Womanist Musings : Anne Coulter Gets Shut Down in Canada

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 06:12:10 +0000

...aw man, why did you guys send her BACK? Damn Canadians!

Womanist Musings : All Lesbians Are Redheads

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 06:09:22 +0000

I'm sorry, but did I miss when you explained why your child's name is Destruction? ...yeah, I agree with everything else, so this is the best I could come up with.