DRIVE!

As I drove in to work I very nearly pulled out in front of another car while preparing to turn a corner. I didn't make it more than a few inches into the intersection, but the oncoming driver was justifiably startled by my movement and reacted visibly by raising both arms over his head as though he were being robbed at gunpoint. Faced with a situation in which his response might be the difference between a collision and a near miss... he took his hands off the wheel. Suddenly a number of internal debates came into focus and I relaxed a bit for the first time in days.

Anti-vaccine Crusaders, Godbots*, Homophobes, Creationists, Birthers, 9/11 Truthers, "Alternative" Medicine Clients, Holocaust Deniers, "Monster" Hunters, Alien Abductees, the Haunted, supporters of Woo in all it's manifest horror... Confronted with the inherent threat of uncertainty and/or lack of sufficient fantasy a number of individuals seem to lose their grip on the wheel. Some gave up the wheel only when conditions made them doubt their ability, and some gave up the wheel before they even climbed in the car.

The good news is, as social animals, there's always someone in the passenger seat capable of taking over those unguided steering wheels. The bad news is that the individuals most eager to so are often misinformed, guided by less-than-altruistic intentions, or Just. Plain. Nutters.

For once I'm not here to focus attention on the wheel grabbers. I'm here to ask a somber question:

How do we get people to put their fucking hands back on their own fucking wheel and fucking DRIVE?

How do we get them to stop regurgitating creationist lies all over the PTA podium and learn enough science to evaluate the evidence on their own?** How do we get them to understand the proven properties of water so they'll instinctively dismiss the ridiculous claim that if you shake it hard and long enough it'll "remember" other substances? How do we get them to channel the grief of an Autism diagnosis into proven therapies instead of into campaigns that seek to stop routine vaccinations that protect precious lives? How do we get people to value the power of rational thought? Of serious study? Of mutual respect? Of personal conviction and communal responsibility?

Rationalists, Humanists, Scientists... can we be taught to take the wheel from those who have abandoned it, just for a moment, just long enough to help them learn how to drive?

I value the loud mouth.*** I value the PZ Myers' and the Richard Dawkins'; the Orac's and the Skepchicks. I value them because they can be loud, insulting, and brash; because they're irreverent and unapologetic. Those traits have put a spotlight on the tide of nonsense that's crept up over our knees while we weren't looking. (Or, for those in Alabama, up over your trouser tops.) Simply by being who they are and speaking their minds, they've snapped a few thousand drivers back to ten-and-two. I'm willing to bet they've also helped a few thousand to see the wheel in front of them for the very first time.

We can't just leave it to them though, because there are would-be drivers they'll never be able to reach. We need to start thinking about how we can get our communities to start thinking; how we can show people that knowledge IS power, and that power conquers fear; how we can show them that reality is a million times more wondrous than fantasy ever could be. Perhaps we can best do this by taking a good long look at the woo-meisters and see why they're as effective as they are... I don't have the answers, but I have a few notes:

Woo-meisters have community
Yes, I know, we have community too - but for many of us our community ceases to exist the moment we shut down our computers. We need to remember that meat-space is as important as cyber-space. Get involved with your local skeptic community, and if you don't have one, start one. Grassroots Skeptics is a great place to start looking.

Woo-meisters KISS
Keep It Simple, Stupid. Kirk Cameron doesn't lay down a detailed refutation of evolutionary theory, he shows a picture of a Crockoduck. There's a time and place for multifaceted dissection of the latest in biophysics, and the local school board meeting probably isn't it. We need to be able to address our audience at their level, and realize that sometimes their level is a lot lower than we assume.

Woo-meisters divide
This isn't likely to be a very popular point with many of you, but that doesn't mean it's not accurate. Woo-meisters use an Us vs. Them mentality when it suits them - The Godly vs. The Damned, The Enlightened vs. The Deceived, The Naturalist vs. Big Pharma... they name us, then they denigrate us. They're not above condescension, and they're not above ridicule. Where appropriate, I don't think we ought to be either. There is a positive aspect to division, it helps to strengthen the community. A little 1984, yes, but it works.

Woo-meisters proselytize
The pet psychic down the street doesn't hesitate to plaster the town with posters offering a free demonstration, and the godbot* next door has no problem inviting everyone within walking distance to the upcoming revival meeting. They don't do it because it pisses people off, they do it because it works.

Woo-meisters permeate
They're everywhere. But guess what? So are we.


I don't have a pretty bow to wrap this package in. It's just a mass of jumbled thoughts and observations, a stream of consciousness I truly hope coalesces into something workable... something great. Help me out, folks. Talk about it, add your ideas, toss your criticisms - whatever you do, get involved. There are a lot of people out there that deserve to know that they have what it takes to drive.




* Before the faithful among you take offence to my use of the word "Godbot", please know that I use that term only in referring to Fundamentalists. I have no issue with people of faith in general, regardless of the particular religion they might subscribe to.

Of course, if you are a Fundamentalist, you might as well go ahead and take offense. I think you're fucking crazy.


** Anyone, and yes - I mean ANYONE, who's studied the facts that make up evolutionary theory and actually understood them is an evolutionist. Period.

If you've studied the facts and you're still a creationist you either haven't understood them or YOU'RE LYING.

Evolutionary facts, by the way, are found in the writings of Evolutionary Biologists and other scientific professionals not the Discovery Institute and Answers in Genesis. I don't go to biologists for information on apologetics, don't go to apologists for information on biology.


*** As a fellow loud mouth, I'm well aware of my possible bias.