Atonism and Anti-SJW's

The video we watched on the atonist-esque (Fox?) news reporters discussing Beyonce's performance that payed tribute to the black panther party reminded me of a somewhat similar reaction I had seen online. I stumbled upon a YouTube video by Ash Hardell about their return to the platform after a 2 years break, after being bullied and harassed off of the internet for their views and their gender (nonbinary/questioning). While I, of course, felt terrible for the YouTuber, I hadn't been following this discourse when it was happening a few years ago, so I wasn't sure exactly what views Ash had represented to make themselves so hated. Of course, nothing would warrant harassment and transphobia, but I wanted to know if there was reasonable criticism of what Ash had been presenting on their channel (they explained in their video that there were claims of them being manipulative, especially toward children). 

I searched their name, and a few videos from years back came up. I scrolled past the ones with insulting thumbnails or titles, but clicked on more neutrally named videos. The names were misleading though, and I found nothing but transphobia and insults disguised as humor in all of them. This reminded me very much of the backlash we saw to Beyonce's performance. While disguised as criticism, or concerns for the safety and order of society, there were no actual points brought up, and instead both Beyonce and Ash were dismissed by the Atonist-esque responders, by in the first case acting as if the performance was incomprehensible, and in the second case by insulting the looks and gender presentation of the YouTuber (both of these methods paired with attempts at humor, to further dismiss and remove any respect for the subjects of the "criticism"). Both the insults toward Beyonce and Ash, which had to do with Beyonce's dancing and singing an Ash's looks and expression, had to do with culture, which brings us back to Atonism as it functions in Mumbo Jumbo. Going after someone's culture and cultural norms/expression can be a far more jarring, impactful blow than just insulting their views or argument. 

This tactic is way more common in debates and discussions than I had previously noticed, even among educated people who should know that this type of argument does not make a strong point. But that's probably why it's so prevalent there - Atonist arguments, that demean their opponents and make them out to be not only less intelligent but not even worthy of listening to, are done intentionally. These people know that their audience will react most strongly to these emotional, manipulative arguments, and they value an emotional mob mentality over a strong point. And that's a key part of Atonism - it's not even about the arguments which promote order in society over progress or education, to me the demeaning tactics they use is the most striking part.