Anjali Ajmani | Oct 20, 2023

“The philosophy of atheism expresses the expansion and growth of the human mind. The philosophy of theism, if we can call it philosophy, is static and fixed.”

–Emma Goldman

It is not difficult to see what is happening in the United States of America—there is a war on information, a war on the causation of this information, and a war on whether or not we should embrace our children learning about such information. This ‘parental bill of rights’ is backed by the evangelical masses as a necessity because it is the only solution to resisting social justice efforts.

Ron DeSantis has attempted to hammer down the minds of college students in the Sunshine State, claiming that he is one of many leaders who are merely protecting children from some sort of woke mind virus. Other red states don’t want kids learning about Anne Frank, school shootings, sex education, Christopher Columbus, climate change, Emmett Till, drag queens, and, penguins, at least not penguins that have two daddies, something that has been observed across other species who share Earth with humans—though, perhaps, ‘share’ is not the right word, at least, humans cannot be labeled as being a species that effectively shares its space with others. Are we truly sharing this planet with other species if it is our species that punish them the most for the faults of our own young? Are we capable of sharing land with others, or are we just capable of sharing land with those who share similar beliefs?

Let’s go back to DeSantis for a moment. Just the other day, DeSantis announced that Gazans would not be allowed to enter the United States under a DeSantis presidency. DeSantis falsely claimed that Gazans hate the Israeli people and that they are anti-Semitic. Look no further than author, Lauren Wise, who verbally attacked a Palestinian woman, declaring that her children ought to watch her being raped in the street.

Are we doing children a favor by shielding them from controversial topics? Are we encouraging them not to question information? Are we encouraging obedience, submission, and ultimately, silence? Are we encouraging only sunshiny topics at the dinner table? Are we quietly encouraging and condoning bullying? Is this behavior instilling lessons of hate in our young ones? Haven’t we all seen the dangers of preaching derogatory and damaging online rhetoric?

Surfer, Bethany Hamilton’s Instagram posts are largely about overcoming and preaching about how God has used her life since her shark attack. I have discussed the white woman stereotype before, but I want to take this further here.

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo, encapsulates the aspect of white female privilege. Below is the passage from Diangelo’s book.

Whether intended or not, when a white woman cries over some aspect of racism, all the attention immediately goes to her, demanding time, energy, and attention from everyone in the room when they should be focused on ameliorating racism. While she is given attention, the people of color are yet again abandoned or blamed.

Now replace the word “racism” with “gender” in this passage. In Bethany’s second Instagram video, with regard to the WSL’s policy decision of permitting transgender surfers to compete in the category that fits their gender identity, Bethany talks about the cruel and harsh things people said to her in response to what she believed was an opinion that ought to be respected. She asked her followers and fans, AM I JUST A HORMONE LEVEL? This is the white woman crying out for sympathy.

After diving into Emma Goldman’s “Philosophy of Atheism,” it is even more obvious in the world of theists that there is an overall lack of responsibility for one’s own decisions, something that Goldman touches upon when she says, “Under the terrific weight of this omnipotence, man has been bowed into dust—a will-less creature, broken and sweating in the dark.”

While I have asked around if there is free will, I am not convinced that free will is frequently encouraged—the only thing that appears to be encouraged is blind acceptance of God and God’s work. Goldman goes on to say that “Beauty as a gift from heaven has proved useless.”

There is nothing beautiful about hiding what other children might be going through. Bethany Hamilton says that she imagines “it must be a lonely place” (she is referring to the transgender lifestyle), but her solution is keeping transgender surfers in a separate category, only reasserting the effort of keeping a marginalized group of people, well, marginalized. There is no path forward for inclusion when people say things like this. It is a false attempt at sympathy. They say, “We see you, but we do not see you enough to let you join us.” They might as well be saying, “We do not see you at all.” It seems like this is the most pivotal realization in the weighing of actions over words. People only seem to care about actions when it is convenient to their agenda.

Those who do speak up for the rights of marginalized people (including themselves) must further explain themselves, or apologize and convince others that they do not want to step on toes, yet they represent a group who must accept all the toe-stepping and then some.

Are you interested in learning more about gender?

Check out Schuyler Bailar’s new book, He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters.

Read Anjali Ajmani’s Feb 27, 2023 editorial, Nicely Transphobic.