Dear Conference Organizers: A No-Fooling-Around Note About Diversity

chairs at conference
Dear conference organizers:

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak at your conference. I would love to make this happen if it’s possible! I like speaking at conferences: I like meeting new people and re-connecting with old friends, and I especially enjoy meeting with organizers of local community groups. And, of course, I like selling books. 🙂 I’m happy to speak at local conferences, regional conferences, national and international conferences. My honorarium is low, and my travel requirements are pretty minimal. If I can fit this event into my schedule, I’d love to do it.

However.

If your speaker lineup is overwhelmingly white, I am not willing to speak at your conference.

And when I say this, I mean it. I am not fooling around. Specifically, I mean this:

If you send me a confirmation with a list of scheduled speakers, and that list is overwhelmingly white, I will withdraw from your conference.

I’m sorry to come across like a hardass. But experience has taught me that I have to be. Experience has taught me that if I don’t say something ahead of time, I will often wind up on an overwhelmingly white speaker lineup. Not always — a lot of conference organizers already get this, and are on it — but often. Experience has taught me that, even if I do say something ahead of time, I will still sometimes wind up on an overwhelmingly white speaker lineup. We will then have to have an awkward conversation, where I explain that I’m withdrawing from the conference and why.

Here is a list of prominent atheists of color, and organizations of atheists of color. Many of them are excellent speakers, as are many of the organization leaders. Many of them, like me, have low honoraria and minimal travel requirements. If you book me for your conference, and you then put together an overwhelmingly white speaker lineup, you will have an open slot in your schedule. Please consider filling it with one of these people. Better yet: Please look at this list before you start putting together your speaker lineup, so you have a diverse lineup to begin with.

I understand that event organizing is very difficult, and conference organizing is especially difficult. I understand that it’s hard to co-ordinate schedules, balance content, and arrange for travel and honoraria that will fit your budget. So here’s a tip: When you’re putting together a speaker lineup, START with diversity. START by inviting African-Americans, Latinos, women, disabled people, transgender people, people of Asian descent, people of Middle Eastern descent, other people of color, lesbian and gay and bisexual people, people who have left religions other than Christianity. Don’t just invite the usual suspects, fill up three-quarters of your lineup — and then go, “Crap! Diversity!” and scramble to fill in the last two or three open slots with people who aren’t white, middle-class, college-educated, cisgender, straight, able-bodied, ex-Christian or lifelong-atheist men.

Again, I’m sorry to be a hardass. Generally speaking, I’m an easy speaker to work with: again, my honorarium is low, my travel requirements are pretty minimal, and I try to be as flexible as possible. But this is an extremely high priority for me. In my opinion, this issue — making our communities more welcoming and more supportive of a wider variety of people than are currently participating — is the most important issue currently facing organized atheism in the United States. Diverse speaker lineups at conferences isn’t the only thing we need to do to address this issue, of course, or even the most important thing. Very, very far from it. But it’s one of the things I can do something about. So I’m doing it. Thanks for understanding. Hope we can make this work!

Sincerely,
Greta Christina

P.S. This also applies to harassment policies/ codes of conduct. I won’t speak at a conference that doesn’t have one. That’s been less of an issue lately, though — almost all atheist and skeptic conferences have them now — so I didn’t feel a need to write a whole thing about it.

Note: Yes, this is in reference to a specific event — and no, I’m not going to tell you which one. It was a private conversation, and I’m going to respect that.

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

Dear Conference Organizers: A No-Fooling-Around Note About Diversity
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Steven Universe Episode 4: Together Breakfast

Steven Universe Together Breakfast

Ingrid and I are watching the entire Steven Universe series for the third time, and since we’ve been spending so much talking about it the first two times, I thought I’d blog some of my observations about it. Please note: I’m not writing these Steven Universe posts as a series summary or recap. I’m just writing down some of my observations and reactions (not necessarily coherently), both to the show as a whole and to the individual episodes. These posts will probably make more sense to people who are already watching/ have already watched the show, but I hope they inspire the rest of you to check out the show, as it really is one of the richest and most emotionally intense things I’ve seen on TV. Note: This post may contain spoilers about Steven Universe: the show as a whole, and/or about Episode 4: Together Breakfast.

“Now it has all the power of a breakfast. We have to destroy it!”

This episode really hits home for me. Steven wants the Gems to have a nice breakfast together — not just any nice breakfast, but the specific nice breakfast that he made for them. And he wants them to have it right away. “I can’t let this become together brunch!” He’s so attached to this that he doesn’t pay attention to the fact that this particular moment is not a good one: the Gems are distracted and have other things to take care of. As a result, the breakfast gets transformed into a hideous monster that he has to destroy.

In other words: Steven wants connection and togetherness. But he’s super attached to that connection taking a particular form. He creates the form of the connection first, and then tries to force the connection into that form. And this attachment actually interferes with the connection he’s seeking, and turns it ugly and unpleasant. Steven himself says it best, when he’s destroying the breakfast monster: “I made you to bring us together — not to tear us apart!”

steven universe together breakfast monster
At age 53, I’m still learning this. I totally get it about having a vision of a particular form of togetherness — a special dinner, a party, even just a quiet evening at home — and being so invested in it turning out exactly the way I want it to, I get stressed and miserable and horrible to be around. When I catch myself doing this in the future — when I catch myself prioritizing a particular form of connection and togetherness over the actual connection itself — I am going to try to remember the image of the breakfast monster trying to destroy everything.

This episode also touches on yet another repeating theme of the show: the ways that adults and children often have a hard time understanding each other, and in particular understanding each other’s priorities. Steven doesn’t understand why the Gems can’t drop everything to have breakfast together; the Gems don’t understand why the breakfast is so important to Steven. And the ways the different Gems tune Steven out are very iconically representative of who they are. Garnet can’t have breakfast because she has important, genuinely urgent business to attend to. Pearl isn’t very good at listening to things she doesn’t understand, and much like Steven in the episode, she isn’t willing to let go of doing the thing she wants to do (putting her sword away) right this second. And Amethyst is insensitive and self-involved: she hears Steven say that he wants a together breakfast, but she’s hungry and wants the waffles. Either that, or she wants to play a game of chase with Steven, and doesn’t catch on to the fact that he doesn’t want to be chased and is really worried about the breakfast. (I’ll get into this more later — but Amethyst can sometimes be a serious jerk. The other gems are merely oblivious to what Steven wants, but Amethyst actually hears and knows what Steven wants, and still ignores it.)

Other notes:

At some point, I totally want to make this breakfast. In much the same way, I also want to make Homer Simpon’s Patented Moon Waffles. (I clearly need to get a cheap waffle iron that I don’t mind destroying.)

This is the first episode (I think) where we see Amethyst in a male persona.

Ingrid commentary: The opening sequence, where Steven is making the breakfast, totally reminds her of Ren & Stimpy. The animation, the music — everything.

Ingrid and I are both wondering about a possible continuity error here — the fact that later in the series (in “Fusion Cuisine”), it’s made clear that Pearl doesn’t eat, and in fact is repulsed by food. While none of the Gems need to eat, Amethyst enjoys it anyway, and Garnet seems fine with it — but Pearl is so grossed-out by food that the entire “Fusion Cuisine” dinner has to be worked around it. In “Together Breakfast,” though, she seems open to the idea of eating, or at least not repulsed at the very notion. Our question: At the end of “Together Breakfast,” is Pearl just being nice and going along with the idea of the breakfast, even though she’s not going to eat anything? Or is this just a continuity error? Also, it seems like Steven should know that Pearl doesn’t eat. Is he just oblivious about this until “Fusion Cuisine”? (Kids can be weirdly both oblivious and observant — much like adults.) Has he only recently moved in with the Gems, and is still learning about them? (We know from the extended intro that he hasn’t always lived with the Gems.) Or, again, is this just a continuity error? (I’m voting for the latter: food comes up in a few episodes before “Fusion Cuisine,” and while I don’t think we ever see Pearl actually eat, we also never see her super-repulsed by food until then.)

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

Steven Universe Episode 4: Together Breakfast

Steven Universe Episode 3: Cheeseburger Backpack

Steven Universe Episode 3 Cheeseburger Backpack

Ingrid and I are watching the entire Steven Universe series for the third time, and since we’ve been spending so much talking about it the first two times, I thought I’d blog some of my observations about it. Please note: I’m not writing these Steven Universe posts as a series summary or recap. I’m just writing down some of my observations and reactions (not necessarily coherently), both to the show as a whole and to the individual episodes. These posts will probably make more sense to people who are already watching/ have already watched the show, but I hope they inspire the rest of you to check out the show, as it really is one of the richest and most emotionally intense things I’ve seen on TV. Note: This post may contain spoilers about Steven Universe: the show as a whole, and/or about Episode 3: Cheeseburger Backback.

“Everything’s a pocket! Even the cheese is a pocket!” I have totally bought purses for this exact reason.

This episode begins to touch on a theme that comes up over and over again throughout the show: a particular paradox of relationships between adults and children. On the one hand: Adults really do know more than children, and generally have better judgment. On the other hand: Children are people, with ideas and observations of their own — and sometimes, they come up with ideas and make observations that adults miss. So when kids have ideas that adults think are ridiculous, or see things that adults don’t see — when should adults take children’s contributions seriously, and when should they say, “We’re the adults, we know better, and we’re going to make the decisions, based on our own knowledge and judgment”?

And when should adults let kids have responsibility for important things? If kids never get to have responsibility, they’ll never learn how to handle it. But if they’re given responsibility for important things too early, they can make big mistakes with serious consequences. (Also, if they’re given too much responsibility too early, they don’t get a chance to be children.)

In this episode, the gems make both mistakes. They don’t trust Steven to have good ideas that will contribute to the mission (at least, not at first). At the same time, they let Steven have too much responsibility — they let him be responsible for the moon goddess statue, the single most important element of the mission. It’s a difficult balance to get right, and no adult is ever going to get it perfect, or even close to perfect.

Other notes:

I love Mr. Queasy. The Steven-verse has the weirdest kids’ stuff. The Mr. Queasy toy; the Crying Breakfast Friends TV show… it’s weird and inexplicable, in exactly the way that kids’ stuff is often weird and inexplicable.

I love Pearl fretting about the water damage to the Lunar Sea Spire.

“I just want everyone to know — my plan would have also worked.” Pearl is so — Pearl. Over-achieving and competitive, even with a small child. Again — a theme that comes up again later in the show, in more serious ways.

Ingrid commentary: What are “goddesses” in this world? The temple they live in is a statue of a goddess, there’s a statue of the moon goddess… is this a religion? Or are the goddesses just gems? They sometimes refer to their gem powers as “magic” — is it supernatural, or is that just a shorthand that makes it easier to talk about their powers with humans? (Greta’s commentary on Ingrid’s commentary: I’m reminded of the Arthur C. Clark quote, about how any sufficiently advanced technology will seem like magic.)

Ingrid also is noticing how young Steven’s voice is in this episode, compared to later episodes. He really does grow and mature as the show progresses.

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

Steven Universe Episode 3: Cheeseburger Backpack

Secular Social Justice Conference, Houston, January 30-31

secular social justice flyer
I don’t often go to conferences if I’m not speaking at them. I’d like to, I just can’t afford it. I did, however, pay my own way to go to Skepticon this year. And I’m going to the Secular Social Justice Conference.

I heard AMAZING things about last year’s predecessor, Moving Social Justice. I wasn’t able to go — I had a previous commitment — but everyone I talked to who did go said it was extraordinary and life-changing. So I am absolutely not going to miss it this year.

Here’s a little more about it, from the conference website:

In a global climate in which the criminalization and economic disenfranchisement of people of color of all genders and sexualities has become more acute, what role can secular humanism play in communities of color in the U.S.?

Last year’s Moving Social Justice conference featured an incredible array of activists, organizers and educators from the secular and social justice communities. Building on that momentum, the 2016 Secular Social Justice conference will be held January 30 and 31st at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The conference will address the lived experiences, cultural context, shared struggle and social history of secular humanist people of color and their allies. It will focus on topics such as economic justice, women of color beyond faith, LGBTQ atheists of color, African American Humanist traditions in hip hop, racial politics and the New Atheism and more.

Speakers include Sikivu Hutchinson, Anthony Pinn, Soraya Chemaly, Heina Dadabhoy, Debbie Goddard, Sincere T. Kirabo, Alix Jules, Donald Wright, Monica Miller, Frank Anderson, Maggie Ardiente, Georgina Capetillo, Daniel Myatt, Juhem Navarro-Rivera, and Secular Sistahs, with more speakers (I believe) still to be announced. And it’s cheap: $40, and $25 for students. January 30 and 31 in Houston (here’s info on courtesy hotel rates). Hope to see you there!

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

Secular Social Justice Conference, Houston, January 30-31

Intransitive Gratitude: Feeling Thankful in a Godless World

I first published this on Thanksgiving 2011, and have decided to make it a Thanksgiving tradition.

thank you
If you don’t believe in God, what does gratitude mean?

I don’t mean specific gratitude towards specific people for specific benevolent acts. I mean that more broad, general, sweeping sense of gratitude: gratitude for things like good health, having food to eat, having friends and family, the mere fact of being alive at all.

I started thinking about this when I was watching the “Thanks for Skepticon” video that the Fellowship of Freethought Dallas put together, where they asked participants at Skepticon 4 to say what they were thankful for. Most of the folks in the video — myself included — took the question at face value, and spoke of our intense gratitude: for science and medicine, for friends and family, for jobs in an unstable economy, for trees, for the very fact that we exist at all.

But some participants — specifically PZ Myers and American Atheists president David Silverman — questioned the entire assumption behind the project. Silverman simply reframed the question: instead of saying what he was thankful for, he spoke about who he was thankful to. And Myers took on the entire enterprise directly. He said that asking people to be thankful for something was an attempt to “anthropomorphize the universe.” He said there were lots of things he liked — being alive, his wife, his kids, squid — but he wasn’t going to express gratitude to the universe, since the universe wasn’t capable of expressing any gratitude back.

Hm. Interesting point.

So this video — and the subsequent discussion of it on my blog — got me thinking: If you don’t believe in God, does it even make sense to say that you’re grateful for stuff? Not to specific people who did specific nice things — that kind of gratitude makes sense, obviously — but just general gratitude for the good things in our lives? Does the emotion of gratitude have to have a specific object, a conscious actor who made choices that affected our lives in positive ways? Or can we feel grateful without an object?

Is there such a thing as intransitive gratitude? Continue reading “Intransitive Gratitude: Feeling Thankful in a Godless World”

Intransitive Gratitude: Feeling Thankful in a Godless World

Greta’s Amazing Chocolate Pie

pi plate
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and the December holidays are coming up. So here is a recap of my renowned chocolate pie recipe!

This is a ridiculously easy, unbelievably delicious recipe for chocolate pie. And it’s not just me saying so: friends have been known to demand it for celebratory events, and will shed hot tears of bitter disappointment if it doesn’t appear at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. It’s very distinctive — most people who try it say they haven’t had anything else quite like it — and it’s one of those rare recipes that seems really elegant and like it would be really complicated, but in fact is absurdly simple. The pie crust is 9/10th of the work.

The recipe came from my mother, but I don’t know where she got it from. I’ve been making it for many years now, and have refined the recipe a bit over the years, mostly in the direction of using better ingredients. I did an experimental version for my birthday a couple of years ago (in addition to a classic version), which was a big hit, so I’m including that variation here as well.

CLASSIC CHOCOLATE PIE
INGREDIENTS

1 single pie crust (this is an open-faced pie). More on pie crust in a moment.
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. evaporated milk
2 squares/ ounces baking chocolate (unsweetened)
Whipped cream (optional in theory, mandatory in my opinion)

chocolate
A quick note on the baking chocolate: For the sweet love of Loki and all the gods in Valhalla, use Scharffen Berger’s if you possibly can, or some other seriously good baking chocolate. I made this pie for years using just regular baking chocolate from the supermarket, and it was perfectly yummy — but once I started using Scharffen Berger’s, it amped up from delicious to transcendent. I frankly don’t much care for Scharffen Berger’s eating chocolate, I think the mouth-feel is insufficiently creamy — but for cooking, their baking chocolate is beyond compare.

Bake the unfilled pie shell for 5-10 minutes at 450 degrees, until it’s starting to firm up a little but isn’t cooked through. Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan. Add the other ingredients (minus the whipped cream) and mix; you can do this in the saucepan. (I add the eggs last, so the melted butter and chocolate have a chance to cool and the eggs don’t scramble.) Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 325 degrees, until the filling is set. (I usually test it at 30 minutes, but it usually still needs another 5-10 minutes. When it’s no longer jiggling in the middle, it’s done.)

That’s it.

No, really.

I told you. Ridiculously easy. Not counting the pie crust, the actual work you put into this pie takes about five minutes.

I always serve this with whipped cream, as the pie is intensely rich and dense, and I think the whipped cream gives it balance. But many people prefer it with the richness and denseness unadulterated, and scoff at the whipped cream as an unnecessary frill for lightweights. My advice: Make whipped cream available, and let your guests decide. (Don’t add too much sugar to the whipped cream; this pie is plenty sweet.)

EXPERIMENTAL CHOCOLATE PIE Continue reading “Greta’s Amazing Chocolate Pie”

Greta’s Amazing Chocolate Pie

Steven Universe Episode 2: Laser Light Cannon

steven universe episode 2 laser light cannon

Ingrid and I are watching the entire Steven Universe series for the third time, and since we’ve been spending so much talking about it the first two times, I thought I’d blog some of my observations about it. Please note: I’m not writing these Steven Universe posts as a series summary or recap. I’m just writing down some of my observations and reactions (not necessarily coherently), both to the show as a whole and to the individual episodes. These posts will probably make more sense to people who are already watching/ have already watched the show, but I hope they inspire the rest of you to check out the show, as it really is one of the richest and most emotionally intense things I’ve seen on TV. Note: This post may contain spoilers about Steven Universe: the show as a whole, and/or about Episode 2: Laser Light Cannon.

The BITS! The BITS! The BITS! The BITS!

I think it’s interesting that the Gems’ dubious, ambivalent, somewhat condescending attitudes about human beings shows up this early in the series. The central theme of the show (in my opinion) — namely, children learning that adults are flawed and limited — is already being explored in Episode 2, both with Greg and his scary hoarder storage locker, and with the Gems. In fact, imperfection, and the acceptance of imperfection, is the main theme of this show (“if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs”). And another ongoing theme of the show is also explored here — the times when imperfection really can’t be accepted. (“I live in there!”)

I love the T-shirt cannon that fires T-shirts that read, “Buy T-shirt Cannons.”

Ingrid commentary: Ingrid, who has been reading more S.U. commentary than I have, says it’s been pointed out that the laser light cannons are very weirdly sexual, both phallic and vulval.

Ingrid asks: What the heck is the Red Eye thing, anyway? She points out that at this stage of the show, they’re not really explaining what the things are that they’re battling, or how they fit into the larger narrative. She also points out that, having watched the entire show already (twice!), it’s weird to be seeing these early episodes with so much exposition and explaining.

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

Steven Universe Episode 2: Laser Light Cannon

Steven Universe Episode 1: Gem Glow

steven universe episode 1 gem glow

Ingrid and I are watching the entire Steven Universe series for the third time, and since we’ve been spending so much talking about it the first two times, I thought I’d blog some of my observations about it. Please note: I’m not writing these Steven Universe posts as a series summary or recap. I’m just writing down some of my observations and reactions (not necessarily coherently), both to the show as a whole and to the individual episodes. These posts will probably make more sense to people who are already watching/ have already watched the show, but I hope they inspire the rest of you to check out the show, as it really is one of the richest and most emotionally intense things I’ve seen on TV. Note: This post may contain spoilers about Steven Universe: the show as a whole, and/or about Episode 1: Gem Glow.

I once read an essay about Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I promise this isn’t a tangent, it really is relevant) that talked about how, in stories about interactions between ordinary people and space aliens or supernatural beings, there are more or less two arcs the stories typically take. The story is either about (a) humans exploring the alien/ supernatural world, or about (b) aliens/ supernatural beings exploring (or invading) the human world. The essay argued that the (b) storyline is almost always the same — shock, disbelief, being forced to accept the reality, often with the aliens/ supernatural beings trying to conceal their non-humanness at first — and as a result, it’s almost always boring. It argued that one of Buffy’s strong points is the main civilian characters go through this (b) arc very, very quickly: for Xander, for instance, it happens in one word, after he overhears a conversation between Buffy and Giles and says to himself, “Vampires?” So while in the most literal sense the show is a (b) arc, it’s about adventure and exploration as much as it’s about shock and defense.

Here’s why I bring this up. One of my favorite things about Steven Universe is the fact that, for the townspeople of Beach City, the (b) storyline is already in the past. The ordinary people have already accepted the existence of the Gems. It’s not clear how long ago this happened, whether it was just a few years ago (maybe shortly after Steven was born?) or whether, in this universe, people have always known about the Gems. But Lars at the donut shop makes a passing reference to Steven’s “magic belly button” in the first minute and a half of the first episode. It’s clear right away that this show is not about the Gems trying to keep their alien-ness from the townspeople. Everyone already knows, and while it’s a bit weird and sometimes scary, it’s not surprising, and really not that big a deal anymore. This makes much more room for more complicated, nuanced, interesting interactions between the townspeople and the gems, and a more complicated, nuanced, interesting exploration of ordinary people’s experiences of the unusual, and unusual people’s experiences of the unusual ordinary.

Some other notes:

Steven’s obsession with Cookie Cats really captures how children’s priorities are so different from adults’. The Gems are battling dangerous, gross centipeetle things, and he cares about that — but he’s so easily distracted by the freezer full of Cookie Cat ice cream treats.

I like how the advice from all three Gems about Steven using his power is all contradictory — and yet, it’s all useful and accurate.

I like how Steven is learning that inspiration and skill can’t necessarily be channeled by re-creating the circumstances of the last time he got inspired. Heck, I’m still learning that.

I love how the Cookie Cat back-story parallels the Gems’ backstory.

I love how Lion Lickers become a thing later (Lion!), even though Steven is angry about them now.

It’s fascinating watching the early episodes again, and seeing how young Steven is. It makes me realize that, among the many ways this show is honest and accurate about childhood (and especially about children’s shifting understanding of adults), it’s accurate about Steven become more mature as the show progresses.

Ingrid commentary: Ingrid is not okay with the fact that Steven doesn’t go to school. Yes, of course he needs to learn about how to be a Gem — but doesn’t he also need to learn human stuff?

She’s also noticing that in this first episode, Pearl has the strongest personality. Garnet and Amethyst take time for their characters to develop.

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

Steven Universe Episode 1: Gem Glow

Letters to the Future on Climate Change: I Hope We Fixed This

letters to the future logo

In December 2015, world leaders are convening in Paris soon for the critical U.N. climate talks. The Letters to the Future project is collecting letters written to future generations of their own families, predicting the success or failure of the Paris talks and what came after. (The letters will be sent to targeted delegates and citizens convening at the Paris talks.)

I was invited to participate in the project (here’s a collection of all the letters). Here’s what I wrote.

*****

To the grandkids of the kids in my life:

I wish I knew how this turned out for you.

Are you living in a reasonably healthy world? I don’t imagine you’re in a Utopia: I know human nature too well. But are you okay? Is there enough water, food, power, medicine? Is your daily life manageable, even joyful?

Or is it too hot, too dry, to sustain human life in any tolerable way? Is the world overrun with famines, mass migrations, epidemics, wars? Does my beautiful city of San Francisco even exist, or have the waters risen and drowned it? Are you not even reading this letter, because the world has disintegrated so badly that “reading letters from the past on the Internet” is not a priority, or even an option?

Did we fix this in time?

I think about social change activists of my day, and I often wonder if we’re all fools. If we don’t fix global warming, every other fight we’re fighting — for fair housing and voting rights, against misogyny and racism and plutocracy — will be a moot point. If we don’t fix global warming, now, today — game over.

I know that’s not fair. I know we all need to do the work that inspires us. And I know all these struggles are connected. Part of the reason I work so hard for a more rational, evidence-based world is that I want more people to acknowledge that global warming is real, and to take it seriously. But I often wonder if all of us — not just all activists, but all humans — are foolish beyond description to work on anything but global warming, with every scrap of power we have.

I’m an atheist and a humanist, and I have no notion that there’s another life, another world, where everything will be okay. I accept that this life is our only one, this planet the only home we have. If we don’t fix global warming, it’s game over. And I love this game. I love life. As terrible as it can be, as much as it’s filled with suffering and brutality, I love life, and humanity, and the world. So I’m working to get this right. I’m persuading as many people as I can to get this right.

I hope it’s enough.

I hope we fixed this.

I love you. I hope you’re okay.

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

Letters to the Future on Climate Change: I Hope We Fixed This

Transgender Day of Remembrance

(Content note: transphobic violence and murder.)

Keyshia Blige. March 7th, 2015. Cause of death: shooting.
Tamara Dominguez. August 15th, 2015. Cause of death: repeatedly run over by vehicle.
Kandis Capri. August 11th, 2015. Cause of death: shooting.
Amber Monroe. August 8th, 2015. Cause of death: shooting.
Ashton O’Hara. July 14th, 2015. Cause of death: stabbed to death, run over by vehicle.
Shade Schuler. July 29th, 2015. Cause of death: unknown, found dead in a field.
K.C. Haggard. July 24th, 2015. Cause of death: multiple stab wounds.
India Clarke. July 21st, 2015. Cause of death: gunshot to the head and arm.
Mercedes Williamson. May 30th, 2015. Cause of death: beaten to death.
Penny Proud. February 10th, 2015. Cause of death: shooting.
Taja Gabrielle DeJesus. Feburary 8th, 2015. Cause of death: multiple stab wounds.
Diosvany Muñoz Robaina. April 26th, 2015. Cause of death: stoning.

And so many more. Far, far too many more.

Every one of these people had selves, consciousness, lives that mattered to them as much as yours does to you.

Remember. Listen. Learn. Speak. Act.

Transgender Day of Remembrance