I first heard of Rebecca Watson in her role as the lone female host on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, on which she appears as one of a quartet of co-hosts led by Dr. Steven Novella, but she first gained notice within the skeptic community because of her work with the collaborative blog she founded, Skepchick.org. Skepchick advocates for the interrelationship between critical thinking, science, secularism, and feminism. One of the most passionate, articulate, and fearless secularists in...
"Studies show that when you ban abortion, abortions don’t decrease; women still have abortions in exactly the same numbers. All that happens is more women die. So you can’t call yourself 'pro-life' and then support bans on abortion."
Contrary to propagandists like Dan Barton, the entire basis of our freedom comes out of the rational skepticism of the Enlightenment and the rational secularism of those who got the country started. If one follows the debates at the time our Constitution was written, one does not find the delegates "praying on" solutions, or quoting the Bible. They are debating the reasons why previous attempts at representative government had failed, and pondering what could be done to make a better attempt. They dealt with the only things involved - Power, human nature, and the interaction of those two.
Evidence-based politics indeed!
Great interview, and great work - anyone working to keep us focused on rational solutions to our problems is making a great contribution just by doing so.
A lot of strong points were made there. Gotta love someone who believes so strongly in what she's doing. Excellent interview. I'm gonna have to check out the blog
I posted the link with the following text on Facebook:
Listen to this. No, seriously. Hey. HEY. YOU. YES, FUCKING YOU. LISTEN TO THIS. If things like "Rights" and "Reality" matter to you, you need to listen to this. Every person who listens to this please post something here. If it's anything less than 100% of my friends, I will be incredibly depressed. I might unfriend everyone who doesn't. Seriously, it's an hour long and you can listen to it on your iPod, or on your computer at work. I'm asking for no investment here! THERE'S THE WATER! DRINK, DAMN YOU! DRINK!
Missy
SUICIDEGIRL
California, USA
JUN 06, 2011 06:00 AM