Chill pill: Ever heard of it?

8/11/2009 | 3:43 PM | Evolved Rationalist

Ok folks, how many of you know that the word 'midget' is a slur? Anyone? Anyoneeee?

Seems like I may need a few more lessons in political correctness. I never knew that the word 'midget' was considered offensive until the recent drama that broke out over a speech by Hemant Mehta.

tl;dr: PZ posts Hemant's talk on his site, commenters BAWWWWWWed, and Hemant issues an apology.

Leaving aside the fact that Hemant was unaware that the word 'midget' was a slur and that 'little person' is the preferred term, many people are claiming that he shouldn't have included the story at all as it was offensive to little people, and that Hemant was wrong for 'making fun of a group of people due to a physical disability beyond their control'.

Now, let's put this whole drama in perspective. Hemant was merely speaking about how internet dating often leads to people not devulging certain important information about themselves, which in turn leads to awkward first dates. Hemant wasn't making fun of the little person for being a little person. He was merely telling a story about how one of his tries at internet dating involved a woman who was not as forthcoming as she should have been in her profile, and how her actions led to some discomfort when they met IRL for the first time. Most of the people BAWWWWing about his talk didn't even care to mention that Hemant didn't just drive off after realizing that his date had been dishonest with him, but he tried his best to not hurt her feelings.

Hemant wasn't making fun of her for being a little person. He was relating a funny dating story that is perhaps an all-too-common occurance in internet dating that happened to involve a little person.

Many atheists are obsessed with being seen as politically correct and to avoid anything that theistards can use as ammunition against them. Face it, theistards can use anything, even lies, regarding atheism as ammunition against us if they want, and as soon as we decide to turn into tight-laced, unsmiling, square-faced uber-politically-correct parodies of ourselves, the theistards have already won. Sometimes atheists need to take a chill pill, relax, and be fucking human instead of worrying about how every little thing other atheists do is going to freak the theistards out and then rag on fellow atheist for it, as the moment we start imposing unrealistic standards on our fellow atheists, we have become a cult - and as a cult, we're no better than the theistards.

For the lulz, here's the Springer fight that Hemant was referencing: